[Dspace-general] Dublin Core Registry quesion: creator, contributor.author, etc.

[Murray Altheim]

Tansley, Robert wrote:
>>So the question now is, when is 1.4 going to become available?  I just
>>searched the tech archive and could not find an answer.  Any idea?
> 
> Hi Jose,
> 
> As you've probably noticed, DSpace doesn't really have a formally
> specified release schedule now!  That's largely because the release
> cycle depends on some unpredictable factors:
> 
> - How much time the committers have to put in patches, liaise with
> contributors
> 
> - How many features we think we can get into the next release.  This is
> a case of drawing a line in the sand somewhere -- there are always new
> features we could include in the next release but each new feature added
> pushes the release cycle further back.
> 
> - How long testing, bug fixing and documentation takes after a 'feature
> freeze'
> 
> Right now, we're approaching a feature freeze; one last thing we (the
> committers) are really hoping to get in is an improved and documented
> add-on mechanism.  As soon as that's done we'll release an alpha. Once
> things have stablised a bit we'll go beta, and once enough QA has been
> done and documentation ready, we'll release the full version.  I'm
> guessing the full release will be some time in March now, but that
> depends on how much the community mucks in to help out with the testing,
> bug reporting/fixing and so forth, so you can speed up the process by
> getting involved in that!

Robert,

One question that is sometimes not asked about a project: when does
one declare it completed? It's possible to continue to add features
ad infinitum, and as with many software projects -- particularly open
source ones managed by many -- they bloat out way beyond their initial
requirements. Is there some sense of a completion schedule for DSPace,
or is it expected to continually enlarge its code base until it has
passed into the great software heaven in the sky (where all the good
software goes), or does it finally end up in software hell, after
that one wafer thin line of code too many?

It would seem that there would reach a point of diminishing returns
regarding features, when consolidation, documentation, and reaching
a point of code stability might be in order. Is there some point in
mind for DSpace?

Thanks very much,

Murray

......................................................................
Murray Altheim                          http://www.altheim.com/murray/
Strategic Systems Development Manager
The Open University Library and Learning Resources Centre
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK               .

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