Project Activity Mode Vocabulary
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Software projects
The following vocabulary is proposed for defining the "activity mode" of a software project:
- Active: Developer(s) are steadily adding features or cleaning up program code. Serious bugs are expected to be promptly dealt with.
- Sporadic: Developer(s) occasionally add features or clean up program code. Serious bugs are expected to be promptly dealt with.
- Asleep: Developer(s) are not currently adding features or cleaning up program code, but they have plans for the project and intend for it to become active at some point in the future. Serious bugs are expected to be promptly dealt with.
- Maintanence mode: Developer(s) are not currently adding features or cleaning up program code, and do not intend for this to change in the future. However, serious bugs are still expected to be promptly dealt with.
- Coma: Developer(s) are not currently adding features or cleaning up program code, and even serious bugs are not expected to be promptly dealt with. However, either (a) serious bugs are expected to be dealt with, but not promptly, or (b) developer(s) intend for the project to switch into one of the previous three modes sometime in the future.
- Dead: No one is developing or maintaining the project, and no one intends to in the future.
- Sloppy: Developer(s) add features or clean up program code, but even serious bugs are not expected to be promptly dealt with.
"Dealt with" means patched, except for bugs which require substantial code rewrites, in which case "dealt with" means a public announcement, and, in the case of security-related bugs, continuous work until the bug is patched.
By default, "promptly" means 3 months, or 2 weeks for security-related bugs. Users are encouraged to "parameterize" this vocabulary by redefining this length of time.
Here's a handy table:
| Activity mode | adding features or cleaning up code? | serious bugs expected to be promptly dealt with? | planning to become more active? | |
| Active | Yes | Yes | N/A | |
| Sporadic | Yes, occasionally | Yes | N/A | |
| Asleep | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Maintanence mode | No | Yes | No | |
| Coma | No | No | Yes (or: fixing bugs, but slowly) | |
| Dead | No | No | No | |
| Sloppy | Yes | No | N/A | |
Non-software projects
The vocabulary is simpler when software is not involved.
- An active project is one that is moving forward at least a little bit every few weeks.
- A sporadic project is one which moves forward from time to time.
- A sleeping project is a project which is not currently moving forward, but which is planning to become more active later.
- A dead project is one which is not moving forward and which does not plan to in the future (although residual, winding-down, or cleanup activities may still be taking place).
An individual's level of support for a project
- A interested individual would like to see some of the project's goals achieved, and is willing to be publically listed as interested.
- An endorser is one who publically endorses the project (not just its goals, but also its methods, and its competence to execute them; although an endorser should not be understood to endorse every part of a project).
- A committed individual promises to spend significant time and effort helping the project.