[mylyn-dev] RE: [tools-pmc] Newsreader project

["Mik Kersten" <mik@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I should clarify, and apologize in advance for responding to something
that's mostly off topic.  CC'ing the Mylyn lists since it's on topic there.

Mylyn is all about providing a task-focused integration framework between
collaboration tools (e.g., change management, issue tracking, email) and the
documents we work with in Eclipse and RCP apps.  We also have components
that add to the framework but are de-coupled, such as the Mylyn Monitor and
WikiText.  However, in order to keep the scope of the project manageable, we
have avoided bringing in the actual implementations of the collaboration
technologies into the scope of the project.  For example, we are not
implementing any issue trackers, email clients, or IM tools.  We consider
ECF as the home for Eclipse-based collaboration tools. 

Regarding the accusation of a "conflict of interest" between some of the
Mylyn committers and the Tasktop tools Eugene is referring to, I just don't
see one.  We have made a point of drawing a very clear line of the project
scope, listed in the first paragraph of our Project Plan, in order to avoid
such a conflict and the resulting need to decide what to do about feature
suggestions on a case-by-case basis.  

The additional challenge with a generic mail/nntp connector is that we
consider it not to be useful without integration with a specific mail client
or newsreader.  For example, Tasktop Pro extends the Mylyn tasks framework
to connect the Task List to Gmail and Outlook/Exchange, but that integration
is coupled very tightly to those proprietary mail clients, and hence out of
scope of Mylyn.  Our generic IMAP integration has very little utility
because it doesn't integrate with a specific email client, we don't
recommend using it on its own, and instead consider it a mechanism for
speaking to Gmail.  I think the same is true for NNTP.  Unless we have an
Eclipse.org hosted newsreader UI to integrate with, I don't think it makes
sense for us to create an nntp connector that's part of Mylyn, and we should
instead leave that up to the ecosystem to provide (e.g., via
Thunderbird/nntp integration with Mylyn).  What was interesting to me about
Wim's newsreader is that if it became a part of ECF, there could be a case
for providing such a connector, since Mylyn could couple to his UI.

Mik

--
Mik Kersten, Ph.D.
CEO: http://tasktop.com/blog
Project Lead: http://eclipse.org/mylyn

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tools-pmc-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tools-pmc-
> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Eugene Kuleshov
> Sent: May-22-09 4:49 AM
> To: Tools PMC mailing list
> Subject: Re: [tools-pmc] Newsreader project
> 
> Mik,
> 
>   For the record, that wasn't a request for nntp connector for Mylyn,
> but a contribution of an universal email and nntp connector which been
> refused by the project. I suppose there is a conflict of interests
> there, since Mylyn owners developed their own email connector as part
> of
> their commercial offerings.
> 
>   regards,
>   Eugene
> 
> 
> Mik Kersten wrote:
> > Neat stuff Wim!  Note that I'm not on the Tools PMC but watch the
> list.
> >
> > The two projects I know of that provide collaboration facilities are
> ECF and
> > Mylyn.  On Mylyn we have been focused on integrating with change
> management
> > and ALM technologies.  A couple of years back there was some point
> there was
> > a request for an nntp connector for Mylyn but we haven't seen much
> since.
> > As such, it seems like ECF could be a more natural fit?  I've CC'd
> Scott
> > Lewis, the ECF lead.  If there were community interest in reading
> news via
> > the Task List, or creating tasks from newsgroup threads, we could
> consider
> > the overlap with Mylyn further.
> >
> > Mik
> >
> > --
> > Mik Kersten, Ph.D.
> > CEO: http://tasktop.com/blog
> > Project Lead: http://eclipse.org/mylyn
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: tools-pmc-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tools-pmc-
> >> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jeff McAffer
> >> Sent: May-21-09 5:49 PM
> >> To: Tools PMC mailing list
> >> Cc: Wayne Beaton
> >> Subject: Re: [tools-pmc] Newsreader project
> >>
> >> Sounds great Wim.  Thanks for considering Eclipse.  The best plan
> imho
> >> would be to find a project at Eclipse that does similar stuff and
> >> contribute it there.  Can you think of one that would fit
> reasonably?
> >> Is the implementation completely stand alone/separate from anything
> >> else?
> >>
> >> Jeff
> >>
> >> Wim Jongman wrote:
> >>
> >>> Dear Tools PMC,
> >>>
> >>> I have created an Eclipse based newsreader and I would like that to
> >>>
> >> be
> >>
> >>> part of Eclipse. Do you think a newsreader would fit in the Tools
> >>> project? If not, could you be so kind to advise me on how to
> proceed?
> >>>
> >>> Here is a link to a small movie and a screenshot of the software
> >>>
> >>> http://screencast.com/t/xJVwt3lgMPD
> >>> http://screencast.com/t/iJHIVdpZv
> >>>
> >>> Best regards,
> >>>
> >>> Wim Jongman
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> tools-pmc mailing list
> >>> tools-pmc@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >>> https://dev.eclipse.org/mailman/listinfo/tools-pmc
> >>>
> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> tools-pmc mailing list
> >> tools-pmc@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >> https://dev.eclipse.org/mailman/listinfo/tools-pmc
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > tools-pmc mailing list
> > tools-pmc@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > https://dev.eclipse.org/mailman/listinfo/tools-pmc
> >
> 
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