[epo-core] Grant Proposal

[Mark Keating]

Can I have some word from marcus, mst and Penfold on this proposal please so that i can submit it/not submit it to the wider membership as appropriate.

Regards

Mark


On 14 Dec 2009, at 10:49, Mark Keating wrote:

> Hey all,
> 
> RJBS has put forward the following grant proposal for us to consider (below) we should work out if it is something we should do, and if we go for the full grant money he has asked for.
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Mark
> 
> -----------------
> 
> =head1 Improve Dist::Zilla's Tests, Documentation, and Structure
> 
> =over 1
> 
> =item Name:
> 
> Ricardo Signes
> 
> =item Email:
> 
> C<rjbs at cpan.org>
> 
> =item Amount Requested:
> 
> $2000
> 
> =back
> 
> =head2 Synopsis
> 
> Dist::Zilla is a tool that helps Perl programmers build distributions for the
> CPAN.  It eliminates boilerplate, handles packaging, interfaces with changelogs
> and version control, improves prerequisite management, and generally makes it
> easier to be a CPAN author.  This grant will fund work to make it easier for
> new users to adopt Dist::Zilla and for Dist::Zilla itself to be more easily
> extended, maintained, and understood.
> 
> =head2 Benefits to the Perl Community
> 
> Dist::Zilla makes the CPAN better.  More code can be released because the code
> to do so is greatly lessened.  The code that is released can be of a higher
> quality because more time can be spent on the code rather than the packaging.
> It can also improve the lives of CPAN authors in general: if you don't want to
> spend the time that Dist::Zilla saves you on writing more code, you can spend
> it on anything else you like: skiing, sleeping, or eating ice cream.
> 
> =head2 Deliverables
> 
> =head3 reusable testing tools
> 
> Dist::Zilla and most of its plugins (both core and otherwise) are not well
> tested, because testing it is tedious.  This could be greatly improved by
> writing a few test classes or mock plugins.
> 
> Estimated time: two days
> 
> =head3 extensive testing of the core
> 
> The reusable test tools will be put to use (and thus proven useful) when tests
> are written for all the core functionality.  These tests may not be exhaustive,
> but they will be extensive and will be written with the goal of making
> contributors feel that they can trust the test suite to catch most regressions.
> 
> Estimated time: four days
> 
> =head3 simplification of the command line tool's code
> 
> Right now, a number of hookable events are defined only in the code
> implementing the F<dzil> command, which too tightly couples the main class
> behavior to the command line tool.  As much as is possible, the App::Cmd-based
> code for F<dzil> will be turned into a very thin wrapper around Dist::Zilla's
> methods.
> 
> Estimated time: one half day
> 
> =head3 event structure for distribution creation
> 
> In other words, plugins will be able to attach more behavior to distribution
> creation, to create new source code repositories, start files, and so on.
> 
> Estimated time: one half day
> 
> =head3 improved prerequisite handling
> 
> This will include improved methods for specifying versions required by allowing
> shorthand identifiers for the latest version of a prerequisite, or the version
> with which the author has tested.
> 
> (If the META.json 2.0 specification is sufficiently finalized by the time this
> work is approved, the core Dist::Zilla prerequisite system will be improved to
> match it.  I am familiar with the proposed changes to META and have a plan for
> how to support them.)
> 
> Estimated time: one day
> 
> =head3 improvements for authoring distributions containing XS
> 
> I do not write XS code or C, but a number of users of Dist::Zilla do and have
> asked whether I can improve Dist::Zilla's ability to accomodate them.  Florian
> Ragwitz has given me some ideas on how to do this, and I would like to carry
> out his plan so that Dist::Zilla does not discriminate against XS authors.
> 
> Estimated time: one half day
> 
> =head3 documentation: improved new user's guide
> 
> This will extend and supplement the existing Dist::Zila::Tutorial, starting
> from the position, "So you want to release code to the CPAN..."  There will be
> a Pod version shipped with Dist::Zilla, but also an HTML document and slidecast
> to more clearly walk new users through the process.
> 
> Estimated time: four days
> 
> =head2 Project Schedule
> 
> I can begin work immediately upon receipt of first-third payment.  I predict
> about ten or twelve Saturdays of work.  (If payment were received before the
> holiday season, there might be some weekends on which no work is performed.)
> 
> The figure quoted about, $2000, reflects about twelve full days at the very
> reasonable rate of $20 per hour.
> 
> =head2 Bio
> 
> I'm RJBS on the CPAN.  I have released or adopted hundreds of modules, and
> Dist::Zilla is the result of my own desire for a tool to make maintenance of
> CPAN distributions simpler.  My previous TPF grant-supported work on
> Pod-munging tools was also in furtherance of making it easier to maintain CPAN
> distributions.  That work was completed without problems and the released code
> has been succesfully adopted by a number of CPAN authors.
> 
> =cut
> 
> 
> -- 
> Mark Keating BA (Hons)          |  Writer, Photographer, Cat-Herder
> Managing Director               |  Shadowcat Systems Limited
> Director/Secretary              |  Enlightened Perl Organisation
> co-Leader                       |  North West England Perl Mongers
> http://www.shadowcat.co.uk      |  http://www.enlightenedperl.org
> http://northwestengland.pm.org  |  http://linkedin.com/in/markkeating
> 
> 
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