Please respond to patches
Joseph Method
and feature requests, but not responding to patches is very
off-putting for potential developers, especially when the patches are
allowed to stale. It says that the project isn't interested in even
looking at work that non-core developers do, and also suggests that
there isn't an interest in working with other developers. I do
understand that the real reason for not responding is lack of time on
the developers' part and not scorn for other people's work :).
Probably the answer is to deputize more people with commit rights.
Anyway, here's a list of patches on Bugzilla that lack responses:
Sergey Kuleshov:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=525281
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=534760
Mine:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=538017
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=538019
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=532274
Others:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=526492 (note for review by Sandy)
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=533033 (discussed but left hanging)
--
-J. Method
Sandy Armstrong
>
> It's important for an opensource project to triage *all* bug reports
> and feature requests, but not responding to patches is very
> off-putting for potential developers, especially when the patches are
> allowed to stale. It says that the project isn't interested in even
> looking at work that non-core developers do, and also suggests that
> there isn't an interest in working with other developers. I do
> understand that the real reason for not responding is lack of time on
> the developers' part and not scorn for other people's work :).
Most of the work in 0.1.6 came from non-core developers, so we
couldn't have even had much of a release without you all. I
prioritized releasing over reviewing all outstanding patches. I'm
sorry if you were hurt to find that your patches didn't make it in to
the release, but seeing as how we haven't had a release in three
months I thought it was more important to release ASAP to let people
know we're still alive and to attract more contributors.
> Probably the answer is to deputize more people with commit rights.
Yes, indeed. Finding people who are willing to be thorough about
patch review is not easy, though. It can easily take an hour or more
to review and test even a perfect patch. I would be very glad of your
help in reviewing these.
> Anyway, here's a list of patches on Bugzilla that lack responses:
Thank you for this, it's a very helpful reference. I see no reason
why these can't all be addressed before 0.1.7 is released (hopefully
within a month or so). Especially if I have help doing the reviews.
:-)
Cheers,
Sandy
Joseph Method
"get" anyone, but to draw attention to a problem with the project. My
concern wasn't just for myself, though of course it was my own
irritation that started things going. The patches by Sergey Kuleshov
are almost a month old with no response.
My point was mainly that it's important to give some little indication
that the patch is acknowledged, even saying, perhaps with a standard
message, "Thanks! Someone will take a look at your patch soon and give
you some feedback on how to improve. Unfortunately, we'll be foregoing
patches until the next release, which will be soon. In the meantime,
you can improve your patch by thinking about possible complications
and writing unit tests to cover them." That is, you'd have a standard
response for an open period and a pre-release period.
Anyway, thanks for responding to my patch. I'll go to work on
addressing your points. No need to carry on this discussion :)
--
-J. Method
Andrew Conkling
My point was mainly that it's important to give some little indication
that the patch is acknowledged, even saying, perhaps with a standard
message, "Thanks! Someone will take a look at your patch soon and give
you some feedback on how to improve. Unfortunately, we'll be foregoing
patches until the next release, which will be soon. In the meantime,
you can improve your patch by thinking about possible complications
and writing unit tests to cover them." That is, you'd have a standard
response for an open period and a pre-release period.
I've just subscribed to all bugmail and will keep my eyes on patches. I wouldn't really be able to approve any, but I could at least test that they do what they say they should ;) and reply with something similar to above to say that it's not lost and forgotten.
Sandy Armstrong
Thank you Andrew, you rock.
Sandy
Andrew Conkling
Haha. :P One of these days, some of this stuff will stick and I'll be able to contribute some patches of my own. That or I'll have the time to sit down and finally learn everything all proper-like. :P