[ZWeb] Zope 2 web site

[Geoff Davis]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:07:22 +0000, Chris Withers wrote:

> I hate to say it in this context, but not if it's Plone based. Once 
> bitten, twice shy and all that. Plone was the big promise for the 
> current zope.org and it simply hasn't delivered...

Yes, Chris, your great love for Plone is well-documented.  Without knowing
much about the details, my take is that the current zope.org woes
represent more of a problem with process than one of software.  After
all, Plone doesn't maintain itself, nor is Plone code the source of
problems arising from a mangled Zope migration.

I think the community would be well-served by a Zope 2 site that has the
following properties, regardless of whether it runs on Plone, CPS, or
something else:

* The site's functionality should be sufficiently narrowly defined that
building and maintaining it are straightforward tasks.  I don't think it
makes sense to try to maintain all the stuff that has built up on the
existing zope.org site over the years.  It's fine to keep the old stuff
around in its present form, but I don't see much value in trying to
continue to forward port it.  Splitting the site into an actively
maintained part that focuses on software distribution and documentation
and a minimally maintained part that continues to serve up the old stuff
is one way to accomplish this goal.

* The site should be built largely with off-the-shelf components.  Since
much of the community's energy is focused on Zope 3, it doesn't make sense
to invest a lot of work in custom code for a Zope 2 site.  Given the sorry
state of the current site, having something running sooner rather than
later would make all of us look better.  PloneHelpCenter and
PloneSoftwareCenter work well now.  If there are CPS / Silva / whatever
alternatives, those would be possibilities as well.

* The site should be built with software that is actively maintained
independently of a zope2.org site.  Since a Zope 2 site is unlikely to
receive a lot of ongoing attention, it is best that we use components that
have an active support base from other projects.  PHC and PSC fit the
bill.  If there are CPS / Silva / whatever alternatives, they are worth
considering as well.

Doing nothing means that we are stuck with a broken and unmaintained Plone
1 site as our public face for awhile longer.  I don't think any of us
really want that.

Geoff