[wp-hackers] Simplicity in 2.next

[Owen Winkler]

Matt Mullenweg wrote:
> Owen Winkler wrote:
>> Still, no amount of plugin repo gardening is going to convince me that 
>> hosting at wp-plugins.org (or any other simple download-only plugin 
>> repo) is better than hosting my stuff myself.  It bothers me to think 
>> that my own code won't be a part of the official plugin effort unless 
>> I submit to the restrictions listed above, which aren't really of much 
>> benefit to users of my plugins.
> 
> You don't have to *host* your plugins on wp-plugins.org, the site is 
> intended purely for developers. It's for hosting development. Run your 
> own bug tracker, downloads, whatever the hell you want. But if you want 
> to be part of the official plugins infrastructure, and get all the 
> promotion as a result of that, keep the source code (or a copy of it) in 
> the official SVN repository.

If wp-plugins.org is not the official place that provides announcements, 
downloads, and support for a plugin that I write, then what advantage do 
I get by confusing users with what is essentially an irregularly updated 
mirror?

What are the benefits of the official plugin infrastructure beyond 
hosting?  When talking about promotion, are we talking about promoting 
the plugins or their authors?  How does that happen?

I do have a couple of plugins in the wp-plugins repo.  The personal 
promotion I've received from them is quite minimal, especially when 
counterbalanced by the complete disregard I've given to Trac on 
wp-plugins, since I have my own system in place for supporting even 
those plugins.  As far as plugin promotion goes, I don't know how anyone 
would even know that a plugin was in there if it wasn't first announced 
on someone's blog.

As long as this remains a hosting solution, I don't see much advantage. 
  If a true advantage to an "official plugin infrastructure" ever 
presents itself, I hope that it revolves around something that is 
hosting-independent, and not necessarily the system about which I had 
previously listed my reservations.

Owen