A few thoughts on microrb

thoughts_on_microrb.md

Hi microrbes,

I gave the issue of "what would you like from microrb" a few thoughts that I'd like to write down here:

I find "building a collection" important, but that is one curated task for one or two persons. Still, I think this is selling the concept short.

I think there are a few things holding people off from using microlibraries:

1. Inconsistent or lack documentation

2. Maintainership problems

• Most libs have one maintainer
• This one could drop out anytime
• Unclear release status (the 0.0.2-syndrom)

3. Assembly work

All these could be fixed by making the organization a proper organization aimed to handle those.

This could, for example, work through a form of curation: we can encourage gem owners to get in contact with us and get a special label. That label could come with:

1. A quick check whether the docs are okay and whether the lib has examples.

2. Assist the maintainers:

• Check whether the lib has CI.
• Send notices to maintainers on major version changes. (1.9.3 -> 2.0.0) to check their libs.
• A regular check that the lib is still maintained (issue number, maintainer reaction, possibly a mail to the person)
• If not, we could assist in finding a new maintainer

3. is a bit odd, it can basically be fixed by blogging and talking to people ;).

Just a quick writeup, any comments?

Regards, Florian

I think access to the microrb org could be a good carrot, together with setting those expectations.

Hard documentation: yep, I think documentation is the next topic the software community should tackle.

Poking my head in to say I like where this is going. The issues that @skade laid out are all very real and growing a community around a shared goal to deal with those issues would be great. "Many hands makes light work."