Re: [xwiki-devs] [Brainstorming] XWiki Flavors

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 6:31 PM, Vincent Massol<vincent(a)massol.net>

> Hi Caty, > > On Feb 7, 2013, at 5:08 PM, "Ecaterina Moraru (Valica)"<

> wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> XWiki Flavors are a set of predefined extensions having a specific use >> case in mind. XWiki Flavors can be considered specializations of XWiki >> instances suited for different purposes like public websites, >> intranets, content sharing, project management, community status, >> business intelligence, etc. >> >> Scenario: You want to install XWiki. The installer will propose >> different 'flavors' and will install automatically all required >> extensions. This way you will have a product close to your initial >> needs. You can later refine it by installing / uninstalling other >> extensions. >> >> So when I first thought about the process of installing a Flavor I >> imagined that I could customize what I wanted from the Flavor and >> select just the things I need. Actually for me Flavors were like >> categories with subcategories, and more of a classification system, >> than a packaging one. >> >>

>> Also another difference in my vision is that I had a Base Package that >> contains the common denominator for all Flavors. The Base Package >> should contain basic mechanics for managing content and users. >> Selecting no flavor will still result in having basic wiki features >> (page creation, attachments, history, users, etc.). >> >> After some discussions with Eduard I understood that Flavors could be >> defined as extensions and they could contain just a list of >> dependencies on other extensions. The Extension Manager will install >> the 'exact' list it gets from the definition without the ability to >> exclude some dependencies. > Indeed. > >> I've watched the 'recent' mails about XWiki Flavors [1] [2] [3] [4] >> and for me the conclusion is clear: we will never agree on what >> starting features are the best and that will solve everybody's >> problems. But that is ok and normal and the strength of XWiki is it's >> extensibility. >> >> So the next idea was to have a Flavor Creator that will allow users to >> create their own collections of extensions. This collection should be >> then published to extensions.xwiki.org and could appear in the >> installer list as suggestions. > Some thoughts: > > * Yes, the idea is that anyone can contribute a flavor on xwiki.org, > since it's an extension like any other (it would just have a new type, > called "flavor" since we don't have this ATM). The DW will list all

> it can find from e.x.o. This is where we need some ways to bring the

> flavors to the top. My idea was to add ratings to the Repository app for > that > I agree with this. IMO, we should bring back the idea of extension types (including this new "flavour" type) and, as you`ve mentioned, add things like ratings.