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I think the point of BeautyBrains and the main problem is the initial selection of modules for a website.
He is right, there is a lot of dead modules that dont work anymore in the download area.
There should be some kind of way to distinguish the modules that are working and are still maintained by anyboydy if not the originall developer. So that users will now that those are the modules working 99% as expected and are written in xoops standards.
Perhaps modules could have a 'xoops certification badge', so that users could identify them right away. (just an idea)
i've been around since 2004-2005 or so and have seen the tremendous work of the community. The problems and the sloaps that xoops had to overcome in order to become what it is today.
It is not easy to develop such a project. I think that xoops survived to this day cause of a few that really believed and still believe in it.
It is also not a secret that sometimes xoops is being developed with no backward compatibility whatsoever. I understand that occasionally this must happen in order to move on. php4 to php5 for example. But compatibility is a feature tha should not been taken lightly.
There are a few topics around here by people complaining or frustrated with this. That means there is a gap between the developers opinion and the users.
For example the preloaders is said to be depreceated in the future. So module developers are suggested not to use them.
I'm fine with that but i think there should be a function or something included somewhere in the next versions of xoops that will still support them, at least for a few versions of xoops for the modules that are already using them.
I dont want to start a conversation regarding preloaders.Its just an example.
This way everybody will be able to upgrade (especially if there are security issues in the core), without having to worry if their current modules will work with the new version of xoops.
Moreover it will lift the weight of the module developers of updating as soon as possible to maintain compatibility. It will give them the chance to explore the new features and adapt without being in a hurry. Thus avoiding rush mistakes and one upgrade after the other.
I understand why BeautyBrains is frustrated, and I also understand the amount of work and coordination needed to develop such a project, run the website, write/read the forum, inspect the modules etc. so far so good thanks to a lot of people. I agree Xoops still needs some work to catch up with other cmss on some aspects, but as far as i'm concerned there is no need to hurry. To things simple, stable and as compatible as you can but the end-users should be aware of any incopatibilities (modules). Clearly. To help them build a site with less research and headaches.
I feel like i've been writting this forever!!! :)