Setting a Maven repository is something you cannot ask from a user with no Maven experience, but installing Ant or Python is a matter of one line they need to type into console to make it happen. If we expect that people other then those on the mailing list build SDK and submit patches, I think, we should strive for a simpler system.
Ant has been historically used alongside Flex, thus there is a good chance that an Ant build will not be a burden for anyone who wants to build the SDK on their own. Python (scons) is a good building tool, much more versatile and feature-rich then Ant or Maven, but it's not been used before with Flex projects. But if we consider a complete remake, then scons is in every way superior to Maven... Other disadvantages of Maven are those that it's not well-supported anywhere except Intellij, (Eclipse has quite poor support, JDEE, frankly, has better Maven support, FD has no support at all). Python, on the other hand is supported in a huge variety of IDEs. There are certain advantages of using Maven. Those would be sort of discipline in the project organization and a set of rules imposed on the building process by mandatory goals (i.e. mandatory steps that the building script has to enter - if you aren't familiar with the subject). Another positive side of Maven is that it is used in enterprise sector to simplify the building process. But it only simplifies things by offloading the build management to a specially trained person, who's sole purpose is to take care of only that. If you don't have such special trained person at your disposal, it will actually duplicate the amount of work for you. Straight forward disadvantages of Maven - it's an ad hoc created XML dialect "language" (just as Ant is), which is impossible to debug (you can't even log messages during the build, it's basically a mystery what's going on inside). It is overly verbose both in the scripts themselves (pom files) and in the output it produces as the result of the build, where verbosity isn't helping understanding. It is very rigid in structure and very difficult to extend. It is written in Java, so all inherent Java problems apply: long start-up times, poor command line integration, complicated memory management, extremely high memory consumption. With respect to building AS3 sources in particular, there is no "Maven-way" today that would, even theoretically, do it. It would require someone to write a plugin for Maven (or rewrite / extend an existing one) to allow to at least recreate what is accomplished in the Ant-based build. Which, to me, would look like a waste of time. In my opinion, it's like asking to invest a million dollar with the promise oh higher revenues. There are few, who can afford that and might enjoy that higher revenue, but there are many of those who cannot afford such investment, and would be happy with investing hundred bucks for slightly lower revenue :) Best. wvxvw
