[ZF] Proposal: Launchpad code hosting for ZF projects; free commercial support for migration

[Gary Poster]

On Feb 27, 2009, at 3:28 PM, Tres Seaver wrote:

Hi Tres.

...

> Not so.  Having *absolute* control over the repository is how we  
> enforce
> the "joint ownership" part of the copyright management, for instance.
> If we rendted boxes from somebody out on the net, we would still be
> responsible for running the repository, which is just not so if the
> repositories are under launchpad.

It is certainly true that a ZF member would not have physical access  
to the box, to Jens' email.

However, when one sets up a box to serve a repository, one is  
responsible for the software configuration.  When a project uses  
Launchpad, the project administrators are responsible for configuring  
write access to the "blessed" or "canonical" branches.  The ZF would  
have that responsibility.

I personally don't see the material difference.  The ZF will have to  
decide collectively where we stand as an entity.

> The slightly blurred bit until almost this very moment has been that  
> we
> hadn't actually done the copyright transfer:  as of today, the  
> agreement
> is done, with only the exchange of executed documents as the final  
> step.
> At that point, the ZF will be solely responsible, and should indeed
> look at alternatives for hosting:  I'm just against the idea of  
> *turning
> over* the hosting to another entity whose interests don't necessarily
> aligh with the foundation's.

I suspect you didn't mean it this way, but the last phrase sounded  
unnecessarily suggestive (especially given the offer!), and I'm not  
clear on its point.

This is hosting for a distributed revision control system.  As Philipp  
said, the DVCS makes it easier to get your code, and all its  
revisions, safely somewhere else, not harder.

Thanks for your consideration,

Gary