[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-promo
Subject:    [kde-promo] nepomuk / baloo naming implications
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () kde ! org>
Date:       2014-02-19 1:04:51
Message-ID: 1758539.0SZlSc6UKd () freedom
[Download RAW message or body]

hi...

as the other thread is a bit spread out in terms of topoic, i thought i'd 
start afresh and try to collect the implications in one exhaustive list \
(it's  long .. sorry :/)

== This is a journey ==

This will take a long time to communicate, no matter what happens: name \
change  or not. I expect 6 months of consistent messaging is a bare \
minimum, and it  will likely take longer. This is not a one-time \
communication question, but  something that sets the tone for a 6 month \
trek, and which will easily have  implications for the next 3+ years.

== Established investment nepomuk ==

While we've tried to keep Nepomuk out of the default UI as much as \
possible,  it still shows up in places. It is also required for \
troubleshooting, and as  such exists on our support wikis. We have \
recognized visual identity  components (the nepomuk logo icon) that have \
been more or less visible in  Plasma for some time.

Being able to attach the "bigger, better, faster" story of Baloo to Nepomuk \
is  an easier story to tell than having to explain why Baloo replaces \
Nepomuk. It  also allows us to preserve the above investments already made.

== Existing "common knowledge" of what Nepomuk is ==

The core Free software user community knows what Nepomuk is and does: file 
indexing and desktop search. This is not actually accurate, but it is the 
prevailing common understanding of it since that is what people have 
experienced with it. Usage by Akonadi or Plasma Active is not well known; \
some  even confuse KRunner with Nepomuk since they use KRunner to search \
for things  (!)

IOW, people have a vague understanding of what Nepomuk does. If the details \
 under the hood change, it really doesn't matter. Risk of confusion because \
the  implementation details change but the name stays the same, therefore, \
is low.

We benefit by not having to re-explain what it is Nepomuk did and Baloo \
does  now. In fact, as Carl pointed out: it is really hard to introduce \
Baloo  without talking about Nepomuk .. which says a lot.

== API change ==

Some have noted that there has been significant API changes. This is true \
..  except for the widgets. Keeping the name makes that part of the story \
easier  to communicate, so the question is whether it is significantly \
easier to  communicate an API change with a new name.

If we look at things like Perl 6, Python 3 or Qt4 (or Qt2), or frameworks \
like  node.js as it evolved: API changes are part of life. Developers \
choose a  framework based on what it does ("does this open zip files? \
‘cause I need to  open zip files"), maturity, commitment by the team \
behind it and quality. 

Given people know what Nepomuk does, keeping the name is a win there.

Maturity and commitment are implied by continuity. Changing names and \
saying  "this is essentially a brand new project" doesn't help there, even \
if the new  thing is awesome. Compare the struggles of Linux middleware \
that has changed  names repeatedly to something like NetworkManager which \
has kept its name even  though its API keeps changing from release to \
release rather significantly.  Since it's the same name but just "keeps \
getting better" it avoids much of the  controversy that other API-shifting \
areas of Linux middleware have endured  (fairly or not).

The quality issue is the big remaining issue ... but not limited to API

== The Quality Hump ==

This is an issue from both the end user and developer perspective.

Nepomuk has a relatively poor reputation (fairly or not). Keeping the name 
"Nepomuk" therefore carries some of this negativity. In the "keep the name" \
 situation we then have the job of making the case for why/how the current \
work  has improved .. well .. anything.

If we change the name, we need to still explain why/how the current work \
has  improved anything. We also need to explain why Nepomuk was entirely \
abandoned.  Which also implies "why we stuck with it for so long even \
though it needs  abandoning".

So changing the name doesn't save us much work at all; it may even create 
*more* work. The current article has an entire section called "Why change 
Nepomuk?" That entire section can pretty much be scrapped if the name is \
kept.  It can be recycled into a "how this new version is better" and \
merged with the  content currently under "About Baloo"

== Deprecation story ==

Saying "The Nepomuk project is officially deprecated" is pretty harsh \
sounding.  It leaves an immediate question: 'what to move to if I'm using \
Nepomuk now?'  On the other hand, people are quite used to old versions \
being deprecated  (that's almost axiomatic). Keeping the name makes the \
migration path a lot  more obvious while sounding a lot less like we're \
abandoning things and more  like we're evolving things.

== Migration Story ==

Keeping the name also softens the migration story. Compare:

"Nepomuk and Baloo can coexist without issues. However, it is not optimal \
to  run both of them on the same system. They both would be indexing files, \
emails  and other data, duplicating functions, taxing the system \
unnecessarily,  populating and synchronizing their databases."

with:

"Nepomuk 1 and 2 can coexist without issues, however it is not recommended \
to  run both on the same system. Doing so would result in indexing all \
files,  emails and other data twice, duplicating functions and taxing the \
system  unnecessarily due to populating and synchronizing two separate \
databases."

or

"KDE Applications and Platform 4.13 will not ship with Nepomuk based search \
 integrated. Nepomuk will still be available for distributions to ship as a \
 separate component, but it is recommended that users who depend on 
applications requiring the old version of Nepomuk to hold off upgrading to 
Platform 4.13 until these applications have been ported. Linux \
distributions  will most likely take care of this, ensuring that if any \
component needs  Nepomuk it will be installed and otherwise, Baloo will be \
providing the search  and storage capabilities."

with

"KDE Platform 4.13 will ship with Nepomuk 2 integration only. Likewise, KDE \
 Applications 4.13 has also been upgraded to use Nepomuk 2 exclusively. \
This  covers the majority of Nepomuk applications most people use. However, \
those  relying on applications which have not yet been ported to Nepomuk 2 \
are  strongly recommended to stay with KDE Platform 4.12 until those \
applications  are ported."

It sounds more like migration and upgrade than an awkward replacement.

== Research participation story ==

Up until now we've been able to say "Yes, we have benefited from engaging 
productively in public research projects like Nepomuk in the EU." That has 
gotten us quite a bit of kudos over the years.

If we keep the name, we can demonstrate continuity from that investment and \
 chart from KDE's past efforts in it to where we are now. Yes, it evolved, \
but  it started with that research endeavor brought into KDE. If we toss \
the name,  here's what we end up with something like this:

"We engaged in a EU research project called Nepomuk. It needed significant 
improvements to reach the level of performance we required, so eventeually \
we  replaced it with something called 'Baloo' which has a higher \
performance file  indexer as well as a more focused API better for what \
applications actually  needed. Some of the people who worked on Nepomuk \
also wrote Baloo, so Nepomuk  was a valuable part of the path to our \
current solution."

That's really, really weak for trying to present our research involvement \
and  the value of tossing resources at KDE projects. If we keep the name, \
this same  story becomes:

"We engaged in a EU research project called Nepomuk. Even after the \
research  project ended, we continued to invest in it and evolve the \
framework. Today we  have Nepomuk <N> which has a higher performance file \
indexer as well as a more  focused API that is better suited to what \
desktop applications actually  needed. In this manner, we took the research \
project and turned it into a   production product."

It is really hard to make that same story when the names are changing, 
particularly in front of people who hand out research grants.

== Possible post-baloo name churn == 

From the "pessimists" department: *if* Baloo were not to work out as we \
want  and ends up being replaced / augmented with something else in the \
next years,  we'll have this whole name change issue all over again .. and \
then it would be  3 name changes for the same thing. 

(Which reminds me of Kat and Tenor :)

This will lead to KDE looking like it can't figure out what it is doing ... \
 sort of like the Linux middleware name churn which certainly hasn't helped \
 their cause in getting people to adopt new iterations without screaming \
bloody  murder (and forking in some cases)

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo

_______________________________________________
This message is from the kde-promo mailing list.

Visit https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-promo to unsubscribe, set \
digest on or temporarily stop your subscription.


[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]