Re: Is bp dying a slow death?
In line with the topic @anointed started a week++ ago, methinks that BP is facing a big mountain made of different WP/MU versions and making it work for all. In that line, might I suggest that Automattic allow @apeatling to concentrate on BuddyPress and be more informative about the direction of BuddyPress – less surprises the better 
At this time, with BP 1.2.4.1, there are at least 11 configurations of WP/MU versions to make pretty with:
New Installs
1. WP 3.0 (Single site)
2. WP 3.0 (Multisite – Subdomain)
3. WP 3.0 (Multisite – Subdirectory)
Existing Installs
4. WP 2.9.2
5. WP 2.9.2 upgraded to WP 3.0 (Single Site)
6. WP 2.9.2 upgraded to WP 3.0 (Multisite – Subdomain)
7. WP 2.9.2 upgraded to WP 3.0 (Multisite – Subdirectory)
8. WPMU 2.9.2 Subdomain
9. WPMU 2.9.2 Subdirectory
10. WPMU 2.9.2 Subdomain upgraded to WP 3.0 (Multisite auto)
11. WPMU 2.9.2 Subdirectory upgraded to WP 3.0 (Multisite auto)
Notes:
a. Add Server/OS to the mix – Windows, Linux, shared hosting vs VPS hosting, etc.
b. Add configuration where BP is installed in subsite other than main site
c. Add single WP configs (per wp.org forums) where WP is in directory and index.php in root – have to tell them whether that config will work with BP at all or not.
d. Media uploads – WP 2.9.2 and new WP 3.0 (main site) installations upload media to wp-contents/uploads folder while WPMU 2.9.2 and WP 3.0 (subsites) installations upload media to wp-contents/blogs.dir folder. Member and Group Avatar uploads – same as above (a) but in respective /avatars/ and /group-avatars/ folders.
e. Many plugin and theme developers would rather wait for BP 1.3 where components will be rendered as Pages so that time won’t be wasted on plugin or theme development which will be considered “obsolete” in a few weeks or so, pretty much like what happened to plugins and themes from BP 1.1.3 to BP 1.2
e. I’m sure many would be able to add some more here, etc. etc. etc.
So when BP 1.3 rolls out and it requires WP 3.0, there’ll only be six configurations left from above list as per a thread I read not to expect WP 3.1 anytime soon. Add to that the major changes in how BP renders components as Pages which mixes with “regular” WordPress Pages, BuddyPress has become a test of endurance that requires a lot of willing developers to go through the angst of getting a BP site just as one wants it for specific installation. Otherwise, Elgg or Drupal or phpFox et al would have been installed in the first place. Just my 2 cents.
