[Xerte] The future of Xerte

Tue May 19 14:57:02 BST 2009

If you look at how the Moodle project handles their road map they are
very clear as to the status of items on the road map. Each item is
identified in terms of who is developing it. Some items are developed by
Moodle.com, some by other Moodle users / partners, and some are shown as
Requires Funding! If there is no funding there is no development.

Since the primary drivers for Xerte are the requirements of Nottingham
University, an initial roadmap should start out from that perspective by
identifying what is already planned to take place.

Whilst it may be very useful and interesting to list items that the
wider community would be interested in, unless there is either

a) spare funds and capacity that would allow the development to be
carried out by the Xerte Team
b) a third party that is willing to implement the development themselves
c) a third party that is willing to fund the development

Anything else is not part of a roadmap, it is part of a wish list.

Kind regards

Johnathan Kemp
IT Dev. Manager
Connexions Staffordshire
www.cxstaffs.co.uk <http://www.cxstaffs.co.uk/> 
01785 355714

________________________________

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Julian Tenney
Sent: 19 May 2009 14:34
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte

If people want to add a database abstraction layer and support for
numerous authentication systems, that is great. We can help with
information and give you some pointers. But we do need to be clear about
where this is going - up until now, you, the community have asked, and
we, the Xerte Project team have delivered. Usually very quickly, and
mostly we've said 'thanks for the feedback' along the way. That has got
us into a really good position. 

It is not possible for us, paid for by the Univesity of Nottingham, to
spend our time building tools that only you, the University of Somewhere
Else needs. That sounds to me entirely reasonable. If you need Xerte or
Toolkits to do something specific for your institution or organisation,
then there is an expectation that you'll come to the party with some
technical time and skill to contribute. Open-source is a two way street
after all. I'll happily add any items you want to a road map - we will
need people to put their hands up to take on some of the development
work though.

J

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Patrick
Lockley
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 2:15 PM
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte

I think (ideally) this needs a little reciprocation.

I (for my side of things with PHP/MySQL) am stuck between adding new
things that need say database changes, and trying to keep the code
stable for the people with installs. Then there is what we develop.

For example

At Nottingham we have no need for non-LDAP authentication, so we've not
written it. But I could think of a lot of places which would like this. 

We are happy with MySQL, but a lot of places use SQL server so there is
a case for an abstraction layer for the database maybe?

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Nicola
Wilkinson
Sent: 19 May 2009 13:55
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte

Hi,

I think it would be nice to see a roadmap of developments intended for
the next 6-12 months. That would give people an idea of what you as the
developers at Nottingham are expecting to achieve. Some other open
source project use a themes and priorities style document to convey this
information to the community surrounding their projects.

I hope it is something you consider putting together as I think it will
help potential users 'sell' the Xerte tool to institutions and senior
managers.

Nic

________________________________

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Julian Tenney
Sent: 19 May 2009 13:45
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: RE: [Xerte] The future of Xerte

Hi,

The University of Nottingham have sunk a lot of money into this so far
and it is a key part of our elearning strategy. The Xpert Project is to
develop a repository that will sit alongside Xerte Online Toolkits - it
is that project that will complete in September. Beyond that we
anticipate at least another year of refinements, and will be doing more
to promote the tools to the outside world, and to develop the communiuty
of users to the point where the software would be sustainable, even if
the UoN went for a ball of chalk. Right now the software is gaining the
UoN much i) kudos and ii) funding, so it's unlikely to go anywhere in
the near future.

The long term future of the software will lie with the open-source
community around it. I imagine key developers from the Xerte project
team would remain members of that community and continue to play an
active role. There are already a number of key stakeholders from other
institutions and organisations. It is hoped that people like yourself,
that have a stake in  the project's sutainability, that use and like
using the software, will play a part in helping to sustain it into the
future.

J

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Johnathan
Kemp
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 1:19 PM
To: xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
Subject: [Xerte] The future of Xerte

Hello Xerte Team,

I am in the process of trying to convince the company I work for to use
Xerte On-line Toolkits as their preferred solution for developing
e-learning modules for posting on a Moodle site.

I have been looking at the Xerte site for details of the project,
particularly with respect to the future plans for Xerte - its ongoing
development and maintenance. I note that Xerte is a product of the Xpert
project which has on its page a headline "Xpert Project, April 1st -
September 30th 2009". 

Are there any details available regarding the future plans for Xerte?
Any roadmap for its future development? Any indications of what level of
resource, if any, will be available to support the longer term viability
of Xerte?

Xerte is a very interesting product but I will need to be able to
demonstrate to my colleagues that they do not have to worry about
Xerte's viability in the longer term.

Kind regards

Johnathan

Johnathan Kemp
IT Dev. Manager
Connexions Staffordshire
www.cxstaffs.co.uk <http://www.cxstaffs.co.uk/> 
01785 355714

________________________________

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