I am really glad we are having this conversation! I have been a big part of the Badges
project over the years and its definitely close to my heart, so we can keep that bias in
mind ;) I have also been sad to see development declining on the project as it just
isn't new and shiny anymore, and the technologies underneath don't seem too
exciting for anyone for to work with. I would like to think if we brought it to a more
modern place, the Websites & Apps team would be interested and able in being part of
maintenance and perhaps development of features.
The last time I put some effort into reviving things on the development side was in 2019
at Flock in Budapest. We had a short hackfest to identify the needs of the project, we
also looked at usability and did some testing. From that we were able to pull together
enough direction and work to bring on an Outreachy intern: Snehal, mentored by Misc &
Sayan. Snehals internship was over before the work was completed. I believe this is the
work with badgr and python 3 that is referenced earlier in this thread.
All of Matthew's points about the value of badges are spot on! I have a couple more
points to add.
1. This app was introduced in 2013 and after 8 years of integration with our ecosystem it
is now ingrained in Fedora's culture. Badge designs range from community "inside
jokes" and if you look through the designs you will see our collective humor is
entrenched in the designs. I have had *many, many* conversations with Fedora folks over
the years about badges, and how much they *LOVE* them. We would have a lot of very very
disappointed people if badges were to retire.
2. Our badges system puts us in front of an important issue in open source volunteer
communities- how to provide recognition and incentive. We should try to be a model of how
to do this, and hopefully do it well. I have heard stories of other communities looking to
us for ideas of how to do various things, and I hope we can keep the Badges success story
going.
3. Badges help empower our contributors by allowing them to reward each other. This helps
solidifies folks identities as leaders of initiatives/projects/teams.
4. Badges is an *amazing* onboarding tool for the Design Team as well as application tool
for Outreachy and other design related mentorships. Beyond that- it would be really sad to
see the program end from the design perspective because it showcases the work of dozens of
artists from the Fedora community.