list of contributors [rethought]

Hi! After getting back from my usual daily running, I would like to write down some of my thoughts about the things popped up, as some of them are rethoughts ;) Listing of contributors 1. Use the word 'contributor' in the future instead of

    author, as we are talking about a wide range of roles
    here, including authors, note editors and the like :)

2. As someone from the current authors' list said, listing

    any number of people who deserve does not cost anything
    to us, so why not?

3. What drives the contributions to open source projects to

    some extent is appreciation, that you know that you do
    something good and you are credited for it. We used to have
    contributors, who we gave no credit to, and so they went
    away. Some people lucikly stayed here. Reread (2) here :)
    We cannot afford these sad things from happening in the
    future.

4. We cannot list every contributor on the frontpage, there

    is not enough space for it.

Where to list contributors 5. We should have a long list on a 'credits page', (4) implies this.

    But do we need a main authors list as the GTK manual has one for
    example?

    + It would give good recognition to the mainstream people,
      and still would provide a link to the whole credits list
    + There will be a few names at least, which need to be read
      before reading the manual ;)
    - This would mark the guys listed on the credits page
      'secondary', though they may do very important things
      (like technical editing, which should obviously not to be
      listed on the frontpage).
    - Having one list (on the credits page) would also make
      managing the list easier, and grouping the guys or listing
      them under different groups much simpler.

So my conclusions are: -> Everyone should be listed who deserves it -> Therefore a credits page is needed, with as many roles

     as we define, with people with multiple roles listed in
     multiple places

-> A credits page is enough (no need to have a major authors list),

     with the text on the frontpage:

     PHP Manual by the <link>PHP Documentation Group</link>

All this is in respect to those who won't get listed on the frontpage. With this solution we can even list guys who 'only' contribute to extension level documentation, and keep major contributors on top of the list. I am also +1 for the method suggeted by Alexander Aulbach, then Philip and then Jouni, to list 'historical' contributors separately, and give current contributors a better recognition. I hope the current authors/editors will let this go ;) Goba