<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On 12 Jul 2005, at 03:59, sean finney wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">hi,</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">On Mon, Jul 11, 2005 at 11:10:35PM +0100, Ton Voon wrote:</DIV> <BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">No opinions about a Nagios plugins CPAN-like area? I'm interested to <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">hear what people think. Please respond privately if you prefer.</DIV> <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">i think providing an easier way for people to submit and review</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">plugins is a good idea.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>i do have some concerns though:</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">my main concern is with qa-related topics.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>sure, there's the NIH</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">syndrome you mentioned earlier (which i think is relevant), but i'm</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">more worried about the overall lack of control over quality, as well</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">as pollution of our namespace/reputation.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Hadn't thought of the namespace situation. CPAN does have control over what namespace perl modules can take, at least at a top level. Not sure how this would work for plugins, which is just a single file name... Any ideas on controlling this? Or is it even a problem?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">i think such concerns could be addressed if we had some way of providing</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">some kind of nagiosplug "status" or "rating", where it was made clear</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">whether or not it was reviewed by a member of the team, whether it was</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">being considered for inclusion, et c.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>if such a system existed, i think</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">it would make a better bridge for plugins to make their way into the</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">project, and would overall be a good thing.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I like CPAN's rating system. It is not fully used, but it gives a good general feedback on the quality of a perl module from the users. I'll add to my wish list.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>As for quality, I was thinking that there are varying levels of "certification" for a plugin (this is based on an email thread a long time ago, which I can't recall which). I propose that the dev guide should show level 1 as "returns 0 OK, 1 warn, 2 crit, with one line output", --help/-h with output, --version/-v for version info. Level 2 is perf data. Level 3 is stuff like -v -v -v for extra debug options and internationalization. Level 4 is stuff to do with integration into core (using common libraries, etc). </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>With some work on the new test harness, I think we could probably create a generic test harness which proves which certification level a plugin is at.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">this would also obsolete</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">the need for a "contrib" section.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">otherwise, i'd be very hesitant for moving in this direction, and am</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">not sure what it would gain us that couldn't be simply done by linking</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">to the nagiosexchange site where a similar collection system for plugins</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">already seems to exist.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></FONT><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD">I'm trying to work out our requirements for the NP collection system. Then I plan on having a discussion with Nagiosexchange, where I'll find out if they can meet all the requirements we have, in return for us officially promoting the use of their site. Seems like a win-win: we'll get what we want, while they gain exposure.</FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD">It could be that we decide to keep it in house and develop our own collection system, which is valid (for instance, control of namespace could be a major issue). But then I really need commitment that we can do this ourselves!</FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000DD">Ton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>