Technology PMC:
This note is to formally introduce and receive approval for a
restructuring of the Eclipse Accessibility Tools Framework (ACTF)
project.[1] It follows a number of communications with you and the ACTF
community, including a teleconference for the ACTF community hosted on
Fri Jan 22 9AM EST [2] to discuss this restructuring.
Background
Recently, there have been a number of resource limitations and shifting
internal priorities at the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
(HA&AC). Also, since the inception of the ACTF project in October
2007, we have seen little participation in or consumption of our
contributions to ACTF. We, the HA&AC, cannot continue to shoulder
the requirements that must be satisfied by our componentry that are
necessary to ensure the advancement of the ACTF project to graduation
(e.g. provide and implement a project plan and regular release
schedule, continue to solicit community involvement and requests for
enhancements, etc.). On the other hand, we do not wish to prevent our
colleagues in Tokyo and other members of the ACTF community from
carrying the project to graduation. Thus, Kentarou Fukuda and I, as
co-technical leads of ACTF and Chieko Asakawa, ACTF project lead, are
proposing a restructuring of ACTF.
Proposed solutions:
In discussing this proposal with members of your committee, two
approaches have been recommended:
1. Wayne Beaton, the Technology PMC Lead, suggested dividing ACTF into
subprojects [3], presumably so that all HA&AC-contributed
componentry will reside in one subproject, that subproject then being
archived according to the Eclipse development process.[4]
2. Also from the Technology PMC, Konstantin Komissarchik wrote, "There
is really nothing stopping a project from throwing away chunks of the
code base for a variety of reasons. There is no formal archiving
process as there is for projects. You just delete the source in CVS and
that's
that. Just make sure that you have involved your entire project in the
decision and have communicated your intentions accordingly to any
potential downstream consumers."[5]
Proposed restructuring:
The HA&AC will no longer actively participate in this project and,
therefore, our contributions, which consist entirely of work done by
IBM commiters and contributors and have no down stream dependencies or
consumers of which we are aware, will be removed from the ACTF project
following the guidance of the second recommendation above. In
particular, we are proposing the following:
1. Remove from the Eclipse CVS repository the ACTF Java Validation
Componentry (Javaco) feature and its related plugins and resources. The
ACTF community, with input from the IBM HA&AC, will maintain
control over decisions
about the project's future reactivation or enhancement (should further
requirements arise and resources permit). The last release of this
componentry (v0.4.0), both its binary and SDK versions, will remain on
the Javaco downloads page [6] with a notice that the componentry is no
longer actively developed or supported. No attempt will be made to
archive this codebase on eclipse.org.
2. Remove from the Eclipse CVS repository the ACTF Web Validation
Componentry (Webelo) feature and its related plugins and resources. The
ACTF community, with input from the IBM HA&AC, will maintain
control over decisions
about the projectthe 's reactivation or enhancement (should further
requirements arise and resources permit). The last release of this
componentry (v0.2.0), both its binary and SDK versions, will remain on
the Webelo downloads page [7] with a notice that the componentry is no
longer
actively developed or supported. No attempt will be made to archive
this codebase on eclipse.org.
3. Remove from the Eclipse CVS repository the ACTF Accessibility Probe
(AccProbe) RCP application as well as its related plugins and
resources. AccProbe will remain an Eclipse RCP application but further
development and enhancements will be directed by the IBM HA&AC and
by the IAccessible2 community residing at the Linux Foundation [8] and
in a code repository designated by that organization. The last release
of AccProbe (v0.4.4), both its binary and SDK versions, will remain on
the AccProbe downloads page [9] with a notice that the new home of
AccProbe is the Linux Foundation.
Of course, any plugins or resources that are shared between our
components and components thus far developed by other teams within IBM
or by external committers will remain in the Eclipse CVS repository
hosting ACTF and these can be developed as their leads see fit. We
would like feedback from the members of the ACTF community, the
Technology PMC, and the community at large as well as other interested
parties regarding this proposal.
Time table:
1. host a phone conference for the ACTF community and other interested
parties regarding this matter by the end of January 2010 (see above and
note [1])
2. receive any concerns or questions about this proposal within four
weeks of the date of this proposal being discussed on said
teleconference (Fri Feb 19, 2010)
3. alert the ACTF community of any changes or updates given feedback to
this proposal and adjust time table accordingly
4. once all objections and concerns have been addressed, implement the
above restructuring
We expect the restructuring to be complete by the end of February 2010
and look forward to your comments. Also, please let us know if any type
of review is in order.
[1] http://www.eclipse.org/actf
[2] http://dev.eclipse.org/mhonarc/lists/actf-dev/msg00274.html
[3] http://dev.eclipse.org/mhonarc/lists/technology-pmc/msg02202.html
[4] http://www.eclipse.org/projects/dev_process/development_process.php#6_2_6_Ar
[5] http://dev.eclipse.org/mhonarc/lists/technology-pmc/msg02204.html
[6] http://www.eclipse.org/actf/downloads/components/javaco/index.php
[7] http://www.eclipse.org/actf/downloads/components/webelo/index.php
[8] http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/accessibility/iaccessible2
[9] http://www.eclipse.org/actf/downloads/tools/accprobe/index.php
--> Mike Squillace
IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
W:512.286.8694
M:512.970.0066
External: http://www.ibm.com/able
Internal: http://w3.ibm.com/able
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