Forum OpenACS Development: Re: Porting Project/Open (Intranet Module) to OpenACS 5.0

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Posted by Don Baccus on
Frank ... a bit of history ... the e-commerce package, originally an ACS 3.x package, underwent a staged migration to OpenACS 5.0.  The first port was not very "OpenACS 4-ish" at all - it's become better integrated over time as people have had time (and client dollars!) to spend on it.

So my criticism is not of taking a staged approach, because we ourselves have done that, but rather to rejecting (say) the object system or other key elements out of hand.  Not just as something to skip over in the short term but to permanently avoid.

Also in regard to the object system ... no one will suggest you turn every table in your datamodel into an object.  The things that would want to become objects are items that you want to control via permissions, to categorize, to allow comments on, to allow attachments on, etc.  If you want revisioning/auditing (as you might with CRM data, for instance) you may want to go a step further and use the content repository.

*eventually* - I think everyone here would agree that a total integration as a first step is unrealistic.

As to why the intranet module's not been ported over, there's not been sufficient interest in that package as it existed originally within our community.  This probably has more to do with the kind of client most of us work with than anything.

Community people - led by Jade, who posted above - have started .WRK which will include some of the intranet functionality but also other things which they've deemed more important that was NOT implemented in the old intranet.  Real project management tools, in particular.  Jade's work is driven in large part by his employer's needs.

That's kind of how things are driven around here.  In part "scratching an itch" - personal interest - but also to a large degree by our client's or employer's needs.