On Fri, 2001-08-24 at 20:58, marc lindahl wrote:
From: Bill Anderson <bill@immosys.com>
Ok, we seem to be expressing a need to differentiate changes that occur without source modificcation (and server restart/refresh), and those that occue via source code change. Otherwise, we would just call them patches and be done. :)
Actually, I'm wondering if there actually is a need to differentiate (via jargon) whether zope needs to be restarted or not...
As I said, I am merely attempting to summarize what I see happening. there is a clear distinction between the method used by the 'hotfixes' and patching the source code, and restarting the server. It seems to be this distinction that has brought us here. The authors of the Online Patches felt there was a need for the distinction, and one has expressed why; hence why they chose the hotfix term. As I thought about it, I saw theneed is there, and that we should address it early. The reason for the distinction is that few other suites like Zope have the capability to do online changes the way Zope does. As a result,, we *should* express that capability, and doing so by establishing a bit of jargon to differentiate between tthese two mehtods is a subtle, yet powerful tool provided we do it eary in the game, so to speak. I have a gut feeling we will see more of these Online Patches. What better way to showcase this feature than a classification system? PHBs love to hear things can be done online. :)
oringinally, I porposed CorePatchHot and CorePatchCold for differentiating the two in this tree. Since you, Brian, have expressed a dislike for hot (I can understsand your argument, but do not agree with the conclusion), I now offer a slight change:
Online CorePatch Offline CorePatch
Wait -- I thought (based on the thread) that hot vs. cold was a measure of 'severity' or 'urgency'? You seem to be saying it's 'restart' vs. 'no-restart'?
No, I am merely trying to get away from the association with 'hot'. Personally, I think hot<whatever> would apply to the non-restart issue, in much the same way that raidBoxes have "HotSwap" drives, and servers have "HotSwap" PCI cards. Someone, I believe Brian, feels "Hot" relates to urgency. He and I are only two of the people who have differeing opinions. By dropping Hot/Cold we can get away from both of these perceptions, and in so doing, sidestep that question. There is, however, a need to distinguish restart-required and no restart required. It seems that it comes from using a method that does it "online", ie. without the restart, that we find ourselves in this discussion.
For those with a secret librarian bend <0.75 wink>, one could further categorize these into:
CorePatch (or ProductPatch) Offline/Online Enhancement/Addon/Fix
So... how do hotfixes or security alerts fit into this scheme?
Well, a classical ZC HotFix would classify itself as a CorePatch Online, under the Fix category. Of course, it could be argued that Security Fix may be it' sown category.
PS. It occurs to me some may not care for the OCP and OPP abbreviations.
Especially since it's not clear if the 'O' is Offline or Online...
Yes, the thought had occured to me. It is true, however, that sometimes dropping things down to acronyms is too much 'jargon'. It is likewise true that On/Off line have been used in other places without confusion. I mention that only becuase it touches upon another feeling I get from the list, that of increased jargon. IMO, whenever we can reuse properly existing 'jargon', we should. This would help smooth out the learning curve. After all, nearly any nternet user understands the concepts of being online vs. being offline, so they could make that step easily. Even PHBs could make that one. ;^) One could also abbreviate OfflineCP or OnlinePP.
Still, CorePatch/ProductPatch seems the right direction, as does the subcategories...
Good, glad to hear I am not totally out in left field. :) The more I think about it, the more I like my latest proposal. IMO, it is not hard to wrap one's brain around it, and has a technically accurate menaing, one that is easy to recognize. CorePatchHot had a bit of an viscous feel to it, but these feel much more fluid. Now we shall see what others think. :^)= Cheers, Bill Anderson