Posted by Frando on December 23, 2006 at 12:35pm
Distributions
59% (17 votes)
Packages
10% (3 votes)
Installation Profiles
24% (7 votes)
Bundles
3% (1 vote)
None of them / something else (please elaborate!)
3% (1 vote)
Total votes: 29
Comments
Installation profile definition
My understanding, is that an installation profile is the file that we are putting in /profiles to be run at time of installation for configuring drupal. Therefore, any group of contrib modules and themes, downloaded together in some form, would probably require an installation profile. My vote was for distribution, but that does not negate the relevance of the term installation profile as most distros would probably include a distribution profile.
To me, package is a smaller part of something, i.e. RPMs are a part of a complete redhat distribution. Drupal is a complete CMS, and while it may be a part of any given system, there is no one system that it would always be a part of. Bundle implies two or more separate items put together, related or not. I think the goal of what folks are trying to accomplish is best summed up by distribution, as it would be many parts, core and contrib, that come together to make one single thing, not multiple things packaged together.
Time for me to go re-read my old com theory texts from uni days...maybe we can get through all these semantics and co-create our own reality with CMM ;)
-Mike
Distributions seems to be the common term?
I'm not sure exactly how these definitions come about (and who decides them) - I'm for settling on the term(s) that are commonly used and coming up with a clear definition that's agreeable 'enough' to all...
http://buytaert.net/drupal-distributions
http://support.bryght.com/node/491#comment-784
Gus Austin
Director of Chaos and Confusion
PepperAlley Productions
What am I trying to do with Drupal?
Gus Austin
Kits, Combos, Collections, Outfits, Selections
Kits
Blog Kit, Podcast Kit, Community Kit, Developer Kit
Also: Combo, Collection, Outfit, Selection, Pack, All-in-one, Flatpack.
But pleeeeeease not 'distribution' - it will add another layer of technodoublespeak and justify branded forks rather than installation profiles based on the jobs that users want done.
can you explain more?
I fail to see how calling it a "distribution" on the Drupal site will "justify" forking the code.
If I'm a company and provide "Drupaloop Super Zipfile Of Love!" from my website www.drupaloopsuperzipfileoflove.com then I control all of the branding around this file including what I call it. I don't see how calling files associated with it a "Distribution" on the Drupal infrastructure would push me - justifiably or not - me into a fork.
Besides, the point of this poll is to get feedback on the most popular compromise for the name. And any good compromise will leave someone disappointed - if we don't call it distribution then there is a majority of people in the poll who will be saddened. Whether that's reflective of the community as a whole...
--
Knaddison Family | mmm Beta Burritos
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
I got the idea of forking
I think we have no differences here - I think there is an opportunity to make the generic pack/distro/combo/blobs look tastier. When we are thinking of the blog bundle or the wiki flavour or the e-commerce multipack, we are the pop end of drupal not the obscure end. A distibution is an intensely logical, dour and offputting term for something that is rich and exciting.
I got the idea of forking from a Lullabot podcast (i forget which one) where they discussed installation profiles and distributions. There was a past example of forking and poor maintenance and the current example of civispace not going with jquery.
I think that there is much better opportunity to understand that these are most probably technically defined as "distributions" but - for a bucket load of people - it is either sleep inducing or terrifying.
Pleeeeeeeeeeeease not distribution. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz
:-)
Missing the point
Just make some. Call it whatever you want. Drupal for Monkeys. It's a product, with a logo, some branding, etc. etc.
Worrying about what to call it before one piece of documentation is written or one live bundle is available is moot. We may very well call it a "distribution" internally, but that's a geek name that won't necessarily be exposed.
CivicSpace not going with Jquery -- false
CivicSpace is pure Drupal. The only exceptions we make are when we include things in HEAD and then back port them to the current release. CivicSpace's last downloadable release was based on 4.6. The next release based on 4.7, which has been in beta since September, is based on Drupal 4.7 and CiviCRM 1.5 and is a hosted distribution.
The CivicSpaceOnDemand beta is actually currently using a back-ported version of Jquery for 4.7. In the past we back ported the forms API for Drupal 4.6 so it was available for people running Drupal 4.6 sites.
Where did you hear that CivicSpace wasn't using Jquery? I always find these mis-perceptions interesting.
Kieran
To seek, to strive, to find, and not to yield
I think he's conflating
I think he's conflating CiviCRM with CivicSpace. CiviCRM chose Dojo as their js library right around the time the Drupal folks settled on jQuery. CiviCRM is a big part of what people think of as CivicSpace, so it's easy to see why there is confusion.
I asked Wikipedia
As I understand it, the Installation Profile is a part of the "thing", so it would be confusing to name the "thing" that. I asked Wikipedia about an explanation of the other terms..
Bundle has no specific meaning with software, but it's a very general concept that everybody can understand. According to Wiktionary:
I think it's too unspecific, like saying "a bunch of things."
Package is more commonly used with software:
Eclipse uses the term packages in their Eclipsepedia.
Distribution according to Wikipedia:
I would prefer distribution. As I see it, a package is more like a module while a distribution is a complete system.
Take a look at easyeclipse.org
I've spent alot of time thinking about this since reading Dries comments and I think one of the best and worst example can be found in the ecipse project. There are numerous distributions competeing and they are known for the complexity of install, which each promising to be easier than the next. I almost gave up on using ecipse until I found the EasyEclipse distribution, which in itself I think is an excellent example of how different distros of one software package configured for different purposes could be distributed.
The manner in which they are displayed and explained on the EasyEclipse distributions page could provide some good clues for how to package drupal distributions. They clearly show the base package, as well as each distro and explain what purpose each package is built for. From that page, it is clearly explained that each distro is simple a pre-configured set of plugins plus the base package, that anyone can expand easily themselves. There is link to the plugins page, which gives you the list of plugins by category (which would be modules in drupal) and each plugin lists the distributions that it is included in, so that you can see if it is already bundled with your distro. And lastly they have a page with a chart that shows exactly which plugins are in which distros at a single glance.
I think there's some really good stuff on there, and I could see drupal being packaged similarly someday. Thoughts?
-Mike
I think Installation profile
I think Installation profile is the best match. At least it better implies the meaning which is more evident.
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