Downloading OFBiz with minimal prerequisites WAS: [Re: Downloading OFBiz]

[Jacopo Cappellato]

It seems that the original thread has been hijacked by the Linux
enthusiasts :-) so I'm restarting it now from here.

Here is the content of the original message:

I think that we should provide an easy way to download (by ftp) a
compressed archive to the ones that are just interested in evaluating
the product. *Minimal* prerequisites should be necessary to download and
run OFBiz in this way so that users with a low bandwidth connection to
the Internet, and running on a box with Jdk 1.5 installed would be able
to download (possibly in multiple chunks) a compressed archive, unpack
it and run "ant run-install".

Of course, as soon as the version 4.0 will be officially released, they
will have a file to download; however I don't think that the release 4.0
will be the right version to consider for an evaluation... the trunk is
the best option and we should encourage people to see it in action.

A simple solution is this: create a weekly or, better (as suggested by
Jacques), monthly svn snapshot (svn export), then compress it and
publish it somewhere in a very visible area of the main page of the
website; we could also provide a link to the "main new features of the
month" (e.g. http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/-Qs).

What do you think?

Jacopo

[Gavin Bee]

Jacopo,

I completely agree that there should be an easy way to download.  I think
that I disagree with how and what should be made available.

OFBiz should distribute the most recently released version in the same way
as other ASF projects.  See http://www.apache.org/dev/#releases.

New users want to evaluate something that works immediately.  The "build.xml
Still Not Working" thread on the user ML is an example of an experience that
a new user should not have.  Trunk and weekly builds are great for existing
users that want to try out new features and bug fixes.  However, these types
of builds frequently have missing bits - like documentation - that result in
a negative experience for a new user.
 
If 4.0 is not ready for release then is there an earlier version that could
be used?

The 4.0 release branch has been around for 5 months.  What are the criteria
that need to be satisfied in order to release?

Gavin :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Jacopo Cappellato [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: October 20, 2007 2:03 AM
To: [hidden email]; [hidden email]
Subject: Downloading OFBiz with minimal prerequisites WAS: [Re: Downloading
OFBiz]

It seems that the original thread has been hijacked by the Linux
enthusiasts :-) so I'm restarting it now from here.

Here is the content of the original message:

I think that we should provide an easy way to download (by ftp) a
compressed archive to the ones that are just interested in evaluating
the product. *Minimal* prerequisites should be necessary to download and
run OFBiz in this way so that users with a low bandwidth connection to
the Internet, and running on a box with Jdk 1.5 installed would be able
to download (possibly in multiple chunks) a compressed archive, unpack
it and run "ant run-install".

Of course, as soon as the version 4.0 will be officially released, they
will have a file to download; however I don't think that the release 4.0
will be the right version to consider for an evaluation... the trunk is
the best option and we should encourage people to see it in action.

A simple solution is this: create a weekly or, better (as suggested by
Jacques), monthly svn snapshot (svn export), then compress it and
publish it somewhere in a very visible area of the main page of the
website; we could also provide a link to the "main new features of the
month" (e.g. http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/-Qs).

What do you think?

Jacopo

[BJ Freeman]

Just a note on the "build.xml Still Not Working" thread
The problem was not that ofbiz was not ready to run
but that the user attempted to change the OOTB configuration and was
having problems.

Possibly an update to the configuration page would clear this up.



Gavin Bee sent the following on 10/21/2007 9:10 AM:

> Jacopo,
>
> I completely agree that there should be an easy way to download.  I think
> that I disagree with how and what should be made available.
>
> OFBiz should distribute the most recently released version in the same way
> as other ASF projects.  See http://www.apache.org/dev/#releases.
>
> New users want to evaluate something that works immediately.  The "build.xml
> Still Not Working" thread on the user ML is an example of an experience that
> a new user should not have.  Trunk and weekly builds are great for existing
> users that want to try out new features and bug fixes.  However, these types
> of builds frequently have missing bits - like documentation - that result in
> a negative experience for a new user.
>  
> If 4.0 is not ready for release then is there an earlier version that could
> be used?
>
> The 4.0 release branch has been around for 5 months.  What are the criteria
> that need to be satisfied in order to release?
>
> Gavin :)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jacopo Cappellato [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: October 20, 2007 2:03 AM
> To: [hidden email]; [hidden email]
> Subject: Downloading OFBiz with minimal prerequisites WAS: [Re: Downloading
> OFBiz]
>
> It seems that the original thread has been hijacked by the Linux
> enthusiasts :-) so I'm restarting it now from here.
>
> Here is the content of the original message:
>
> I think that we should provide an easy way to download (by ftp) a
> compressed archive to the ones that are just interested in evaluating
> the product. *Minimal* prerequisites should be necessary to download and
> run OFBiz in this way so that users with a low bandwidth connection to
> the Internet, and running on a box with Jdk 1.5 installed would be able
> to download (possibly in multiple chunks) a compressed archive, unpack
> it and run "ant run-install".
>
> Of course, as soon as the version 4.0 will be officially released, they
> will have a file to download; however I don't think that the release 4.0
> will be the right version to consider for an evaluation... the trunk is
> the best option and we should encourage people to see it in action.
>
> A simple solution is this: create a weekly or, better (as suggested by
> Jacques), monthly svn snapshot (svn export), then compress it and
> publish it somewhere in a very visible area of the main page of the
> website; we could also provide a link to the "main new features of the
> month" (e.g. http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/-Qs).
>
> What do you think?
>
> Jacopo
>
>
>
>
>