On 27 Mar 2019, at 8:38 pm, Denis Pitzalis via Eprints-tech <eprints-tech@ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:

Please note that it would be better if the Bazaar supports also GitLab and custom git repositories. For example I have a custom repo for Drupal composer (in this case all the plugins are private, but this is a choice) https://repository.unesco.org/drupal/ and I can image to use the same internal repo for modules for my mediabank

Denis

On 27/03/2019 10:29, Newman D.R. via Eprints-tech wrote:

Hi all,

I think we can break down what needs to be done into several separate points:

1. Remove existing crud (old plugins that no longer work properly or plugins that were broken from the get go).

I know that there have been attempts to do this in the recent past to tidy some old plugins up.  However, this can be a difficult process and unless it is unequivocably clear a plugin should be removed, an individual Bazaar admin may not want to take that unilateral action for fear of getting into an argument with the plugin's creator.  If a number of individuals (maybe on this mailing list) want to compile lists of plugins that they think should be removed, then maybe we can reach a consensus to get rid of a least some of the crud.

2. Prevent people uploading broken plugins, which instantly become available for anyone can install.

As I think has already been mentioned, the Bazaar has accolades that can only be applied by Bazaar admins.  It does not seem unreasonable to limit the default listing you will see through a repository Available Bazaar plugins tab is limited to those items that have accolades, (if this is technically possible).  However, having unallocaded plugins available if a developer deliberately changes the Bazaar URL option for their repository would still be useful.  So if they want to do testing of the install from the Bazaar, then they can.

3. Make sure things from GitHub make it into the Bazaar

Rory has already made the suggestion of making use of Gitaar.  However, it sounds like even with assistance publishing a plugin to the Bazaar is not particularly straightforward.  Looking on the wiki to see what advice I can find shows a selection of pages under the EPrints Bazaar category [1] but I can see that the "Getting Started" page [2] has not had anything but minor changes for quite some time.  I would be willing to contribute to an effort to improve these pages.  However, this process would benefit most from incorporating the experiences of several people to make sure all bases are covered.

4. Make sure Bazaar plugins are regularly updated with changes made on GitHub

I know that there are various Bazaar plugins on the eprints GitHub [3] that are regularly updated to the Bazaar.  I agree that having corresponding GitHub releases and Bazaar plugin versions would be useful, which is not currently the case with these plugins.  However, I think there has to be some appreciation that producing the release of a plugin does require some effort on the part of the maintainer, so there is a need to be patient in waiting for "that pull request you submitted last week" to make it into the plugin as installable from the Bazaar.  I am certainly would advocate a more structured and transparent process for managing Bazaar plugin releases that could then lead to that plugin release receiving some sort of "gold standard" accolade on the Bazaar.

Regards

David Newman

[1] https://wiki.eprints.org/w/Category:EPrints_Bazaar

[2] https://wiki.eprints.org/w/Getting_Started_with_the_EPrints_Bazaar

[3] https://github.com/eprints