Monitor - Drupal.org Distribution Modernization

[kreynen]

Install profiles are dead. Long live a profile to install from!

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

The CU Starter Kit currently doesn't include an option during the install that would enable specific modules, set the default themes, etc. In D7 and D8, this was done with an install profile. An install profile is basically a special type of module that could also create a path for additional modules, themes and libraries. The Knight Foundation funded project I was working on at the time helped fund the legacy approach of building and maintaining packaged install profiles back in 2010 and now I'm working with the Drupal Association to sunset this approach.

There are bi-weekly checkins in the Drupal Slack that are tracked in https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/infrastructure. Alex Pott is driving the work on https://www.drupal.org/project/project_composer/issues/3252534 for the Thunder distribution, but with support from Derek Wright (@dww), Ryan Aslett (@mixologic), Ryan Szrama (Commerce Kickstart), Rajab Natshah (Varbase), Gábor Hojtsy (Acquia), Adam G-H (Acquia former Lightning Lead), Alex Bronstein (Acquia former Lightning Lead), Fabian Bircher (Config Split) and Tim Lehnen (Drupal Association).

Describe the solution you'd like

The details are still being worked out, but the current proposal would be to move to a Starter Kit/Super Module pattern. The composer/distribution part of a starter kit would be a General Project and potentially have more flexibility around licensing on Drupal.org. The "super module" would be a normal module project. Drupal.org would no longer provide downloadable .tars or .zips or the distributions.

Describe alternatives you've considered

https://www.drupal.org/project/base https://www.drupal.org/project/config_sync

Additional context

The current proposals align well with what we've talked about doing with this project compared the locked down, SaaS approach we took with https://www.drupal.org/project/express. A campus could still manage sites using the CU Starter Kit the way Express was managed, but the starter kit approach is designed to handle variations in what each site does "on top of"/after the initial install than the old install profile approach. Profile Module Manager created some flexibility, but the way configurations are managed in D8/9/10 doesn't really align with that approach and fighting the CMS to try to manage sites the same way we always have is a quixotesque endeavor.

[kreynen]

The goals and proposed architecture of the Distribution Moderation Initiative have been shared publicly at https://www.drupal.org/project/ideas/issues/3274999 now.

[kreynen]

With D10 being pushed back another 6 months and Dries linking what are now being called Starter Templates to the Project Browser, we many not see much movement on this until later in the D10 release cycle... or even D11. Rather than wait, I'm going to move forward borrowing heavily from what Ryan shared about what Commerce Kickstart is doing to build a demo that can be easily converted into a real site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orGgOengALg&list=PLpeDXSh4nHjRye9v5rA62RG2Gg6AgwAds&index=37

[kreynen]

Closing this as I'm officially participating in https://www.drupal.org/about/core/strategic-initiatives-distributions-and-recipes