Re: list of contributors [rethought]

+1 on all points! Good thoughts, Goba! --Andrew On Sat, 2003-05-03 at 13:41, Gabor Hojtsy wrote: > 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 -- Andrew Lindeman <alindeman@php.net>