Some notes regarding Maven WAR overlays

[Tom Zeller]

This is me summarizing and sharing here a conversation I had with
Marvin this morning regarding WAR overlays, especially so he can add
detail if so desired.

The work item is IDP-348, moving configuration resources from the
testbed back into the idp-conf project.


Basically, the feedback I received is strongly positive towards Maven
WAR overlays, especially for certain types of users.

Overlays are probably more suited towards developers and deployers
with deep configuration changes or extensions.

Overlays potentially solve getting started, and may help long term
deployments manage customizations and extensions.

We sketched a "heavy" and "light" deployment model, perhaps overlay
stubs or maybe a Maven archetype.

As far as version upgrades are concerned, it is not clear that
overlays will be directly helpful.

Regarding successful upgrades, it seems that it is up to a combination
of (1) a project providing a clear changelog and sensical defaults as
well as (2) the deployers attention to such details.

Thanks Marvin !