It's been very encouraging to see all of the plug-in activity on elgg.net, there are a lot of devs making various plug-ins & modifications of the core Elgg system. While I had doubts about some of the architecture, it's obvious that it's working well & generating a lot of activity.
However, I have to admit I'm a bit concerned about some of the ways that it's going. For the past year, it seems that Elgg has been developed from more of the benevolent dictator prespective (e.g., Linux) than from a community-driven process (e.g. Apache). That's obviously a valid approach, and Curverider's in much company (like WordPress, from my limited understanding of their company/product). Engagement from the community seems to be either to work on a requested enhancement or to turn your work into a plug-in.
But, I'm a bit afraid that the work on the plug-ins isn't sustainable. I've had problems with my plug-in conflicting with others, and the plethora of work being done indicates that this problem will only get worse. There have been a number of other plug-ins with similar problems. In addition, over the past year, people have drifted in & out of the community. This is a natural process, but what happens when Tim (maintains the Forum mod) gets busy & takes on other duties?
I really think that the Elgg devs need to start integrating succesful mods into the core Elgg project. I really think that's the only way that mods will be maintained over the long run.
Keywords: blathering, development, opinion
