[Typo3-dev] The Right Crew

[Jean-Baptiste Rio]

Hi Kasper,

In advance, sorry, my english is too bad to be able to deeply present
all the things i could develop if it was french. I regret it because you
open a real interesting subject.

1 - I've read for many weeks a lot of discussion about technology
architecture (XML vs Typoscript, Smarty concern,...) but finaly, i've
seen nowhere the real true question (IMHO): What is Typo 3 ? Is it a
end-user software, a content management framework, a toolbox, maybe a
little of all three...

You said
> Vision: I have been visionary about concepts that solve realworld CMS problems 
> (TCA / TER / TemplaVoila / TypoScript / ImageProcessing / Workspaces etc). I 
> have also been visionary about the architecture of procedural programming in 
> a language like PHP although unorthodox at times and not classic OOP at all.
But what was your vision about the aim of Typo3 ?

2 - Typo3 an End-user software ? As end-user software, i mean : you
install, you open, you write content, you have your website. That's
people are waiting for a CMS tool but in fact, IMHO Typo3 is NOT a
end-user software, but mainly a very powerful webmaster administrator tool.
> How do we channel all the great resources from 
> the TYPO3 community into a unified effort on the development of TYPO3
So, what community are you talking about ? Developpers community,
webmasters community, users community ?

3 - If the goal of Typo3 is to be a end-user software, the line is
clear: we have to stop to extend it, and use all the resources to make
it simplier to use, improve and multiply the "click and use" functions,
and provide sets of "working together" extensions built for different
sites goal (i.e. offer diffent packs, one for business site, one for
community site, one for art sites, ...). At the same time, we have to
reduce the number of extensions, to have ONE extension per main function
(one newsletter extension, one RTE, one flash, ...).

4 - If the goal of Typo3 is to be an Content Management Framework, we
have to clearly define a whole specification for this framework, define
what technologies are allowed for what letter in the MVC model, state on
a Common Develeloper Interface and mission the core team to be The
Guardian, a sort of Quality Assurance Team who "labellized" the
extensions provided by the community (understood here as the developper
community).

IMHO the two goals imply two different ways of management of pragmatism
and stamina.
A - End User Sofware way :
-> Pragmatism is to use the simpliest technology for the user point of
view, whatever is this technology => XML for example is definitively NOT
an end-user technology, typoscript is simplier except that we need to
improve the way we can assist basic users (error explanation, coding
assistance,...)
-> Stamina is to have good teachers, and intermediate people who
document, explain, show, demonstrate how to.

B - CMF way :
-> Pragmatism is to build Typo3 on standard and open source components
in order to reduce the amount of time people need to spend to produce
good code and quality components : XML, ADOdb, CSS, Javascript, DOM,
LDAP, and other functionnal global components (LaTeX for reporting, or
Flash for example), ruled the development.
-> Stamina is to have a core team which spend time to integrate
components developped by the community, test them and labellized them.

May I just write a few lines of my personal project : At the moment, i'm
deeply looking into Typo3 to see how i can use it as only a data
management framework, in order to have a data management software, not a
website, and to able to develop my own business with an open-source
business solution . And really, i'm not far to believe that IT IS
possible. I only need to add a master-detail screen plugin. I've
delevoped an experimental extension to produce reports based on LaTeX
framework which parses Typoscript in the LaTeX document so that i can
include my database contents, and i can now produce specific reports in
pdf and html.

So, to resume : What is the goal, what is at the end of the road ? If we
know, it'll be easier to have a roadmap.

Just M2P,

Friendly,

Jean-Baptiste