Problem/Motivation

In Drupal 6, many features-based distributions were developed in a fairly monolithic way, in that key architectural decisions and interdependencies made it hard or impossible to structure features in a way that would be interoperable with other Drupal sites, including those based on other distributions.

As planning moves ahead for Commons, a key set of considerations is: what priority is placed on interoperability?

The degree to which interoperability is a goal will help shape other architectural decisions in Commons.

Some useful discussion is in the related issue #1512846: Commons position on Open App Standard. See also #1554852: Define Drupal Distribution Experience (#DDX) commitment. Also relevant: #1524868: Have D7 GDO run a distribution profile (such as Drupal Commons). Explicit interoperability goals in Commons would help ensure that community contributions to Commons via g.d.o. are easily applicable to sites not directly built off of Commons.

Proposed resolution

It would be an important step forward for the Drupal community if Commons were to adopt and enhance the (currently rudimentary and outdated) Kit initiative for Feature interoperability. A step beyond that would be working together with the Open Atrium developers and any other group-based distribution developers to work out some common bases for compatible groups solutions. Issue: #1555436: Define Groups extension to Kit features specification.

Remaining tasks

Comments

ezra-g’s picture

ezra-g commented
Status: Active » Closed (duplicate)

Hi Nedjo - Great to see you in the Commons queue :).

It appears that the issues your raising are all being discussed at #1512846: Commons position on Open App Standard, which is marked as "needs review" - Would be great to continue the conversation there. Thanks!

izkreny’s picture

izkreny commented
Issue tags: -architecture

Removing also tag for better readability of http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/commons?issue_tags=architecture

bonobo’s picture

bonobo commented

Just wanted to throw this out there:

Is full interoperability between distributions realistic for distributions in D7?

I can see a lot of benefit for creating features that will work within different instances of the same distro - but, most features (or at least the ones that are interesting enough to want to replicate across multiple sites) make some assumptions about UX, which (generally) implies some assumptions about contexts, regions, and the theming layer.

In short, this is not a simple problem that can be solved by more collaboration.

We are definitely interested in being part of any solution for these issues, but it's worth being explicit about the reality that true interoperability is not a simple thing to accomplish.

izkreny’s picture

izkreny commented

Hi bonobo!

Thx for your valuable feedback.

As this issue is closed and untagged I copied your comment to the relevant issue and added my two cents. ;)

izkreny’s picture

izkreny commented
Issue summary: View changes

Link to #1555436.