[fedora-java] About XMvn project

[Mikolaj Izdebski]

This message describes briefly XMvn project, which is the
behind the implementation of mvn-rpmbuild/mvn-local scripts
and %mvn_build/%mvn_install macros.

In the past Maven projects used to be build in Fedora using a
heavily-patched Maven. XMvn is an alternative solution, it doesn't
need any patches and it works with unmodified upstream Maven.

XMvn is a set of extensions for Maven. XMvn tries to be a good citizen
in Maven worls. As Maven itself, XMvn is written in Java, uses the
same coding conventions as Maven (code style, Plexus components,
Modello etc.) and it's licensed in the same way (Apache License
version 2.0). The project is modularized and consists of several
parts.

XMvn core implements the essential functionality such as resolution of
artifacts from system repository. XMvn core is needed by all other
modules. It is also used by Tycho in Fedora.

XMvn connector is a set of Plexus components that replace a few
default components provided by Maven. This module effectively connects
Maven with XMvn.

XMvn MOJO is a Maven plugin, which provides goals useful in building
packages. So far there are 2 MOJOs, but more are planned in future.

XMvn launcher is a very simple module responsible for bootstrapping
XMvn. It calls Plexus classworlds to create class realm and populate
it with all classes necessary to run Maven and XMvn.

There are also XMvn tools - command line utilities that expose some of
XMvn functionality via command-line interface.

Currently documentation is mostly missing because I was the only
person working on the project and I simply didn't have enough time to
document everything. Situation improves with time and I hope that with
next version (0.4.0) more detailed documentation will be available.

XMvn is a free software projects, contributors are welcome. There are
many ways to help, it's up to you what you want to do. It you are
looking for an idea what may be missing then you can check TODO file
in sources or contact me.

Some links:

Project homepage: http://mizdebsk.fedorapeople.org/xmvn/
(for now very limited, a richer webpage is coming with version 0.4.0)
Code repository: git://git.fedorahosted.org/xmvn.git

Besides that I would like to ask you:
 * do you want do be periodically informed about the project progress?
 * do you mind if XMvn announcements are made on this mailing list, or
   do you think that a separate mailing dedicated to development of
   XMvn should be created?
 * would you like to see developer documentation? (how to contribute,
   coding style, structure of SCM, future features and milestones,
   release schedule etc.)

(I count no reply as "no" or "I don't care")

If you want to know more or have any suggestions please don't
hestitate to ask.

--
Mikolaj Izdebski