[Zope-dev] Re: Zope on Windows - REQUEST for volunteers

[Mark Hammond]

Andreas:

> | there are several open issues in the Zope collector with
> | Zope running on Windows. I can't see anyone worrying
> | about the Windows platform (I also don't care about
> | Windows as UN*X guy). So if you are interested
> | in running Zope on Windows in a reasonable way than *you*
> | should help to fix the outstanding bugs.

A quick search for "windows" doesn't show too many.  As far as I can tell,
all but 2 (1689 and 1728) are fixed with my patches.  I also note that my
patches have been sitting there for a number of months now - so I humbly
suggest the problem is not simply a lack of appropriate fixes :)

> | I heard some remarks (behind my back)
> | that Zope is not a stable solution on Windows...possibly.....

In my experience, that is not true.  Zope on Windows is generally as stable
as Zope on any platform.  Zope on Windows does suffer a form of neglect, but
that doesn't make it "unstable" so much as "unsuitable" - things like
service error handling, lack of log rotation, clean shutdown etc all mean
Zope lacks features necessary for serious consideration on Windows, but is
not "unstable".

So next time you hear those second-hand comments, you can confidently
dismiss them as FUD :)

[Tres]
> I told Alan Runyan at the sprint in Paris that we would be
> glad to have Enfold's "Windows stability" patches folded back
> into upstream.  He was glad to hear it;  I hope to see something
> from Andy / Alan / Sidnei soon.
>
> I'd really like to see our "win32all" story cleaned up, per Mark
> Hammond's issues, too.

In case it isn't well known, I am working for Enfold.  Thus, patches from
Andy, Alan or Sid are all going to be mine anyway :)  All except logfile
rotation have been submitted as patches to the collector, and the motivation
to submit that is low while the other patches remain outstanding.

By way of background, the story behind these patches languishing is:

* I enter the scene with no clue about Zope or the Zope culture.  I slowly
discover Enfold are mainly interested in Plone which is currently stuck at
Zope 2.7.x.  I've still so much to understand :)

* I realize Zope 2.7.x is clearly a "maintenance" branch (from Zope's POV),
but also a "trunk" branch from the POV of Plone (and therefore from mine
<wink>)

* All Zope versions are clearly "broken" (as above) in fundamental (but
generally the same) ways on Windows, but the status of my patches as
"features" vs "bugfixes" is unclear - especially given my lack of
understanding of the culture or the Zope world beyond Plone.

* Being part of Enfold, I try and punt all these issues off to poor Sid, who
also doesn't care for Windows, so doesn't really know how to handle the
issue either.

* Enfold continue to release a "frankenstein" version of Zope 2.7.x on
Windows :)  Occasionally zope-dev sees a bit of noise on Windows issues
before all again goes quiet...

I understand I could probably gain committer privileges but as mentioned, I
wouldn't quite know what to do with them if I did <wink>

Mark.