Re: [OpenRefine] fixed issue #796 Columnize by key/value columns creates empty lines (#1079)

[Thad Guidry]

Pushing this conversation out of the issue tracker and into Open Discussion.

Martin,

Tom and I talked about a few things in private, we are concerned about code quality and provenance, and in order to help the project, think it would be best for Tom to have final merge authority in OpenRefine.  (When I told you to merge it, I should not have, since I only did a minor review, and that is my fault. I am sorry, Martin)

Going forward, let's handle our Communication, PRs, and Code Reviews this way...(and Thanks in advance Martin for pushing us to get back into the game on OpenRefine...we have all been too busy/lazy, and even I am to blame).

1. If Tom is unresponsive for 1 week, we try to reach him any way we can (short of a plane trip  :)  ... but Tom still has to do the code review and only he can merge into Trunk.

2. Other contributors only ask for PRs, and instead let Tom handle the final review authority and merges.  (GitFlow with a master reviewer style)

3. To repeat, Tom has final authority (since he is most familiar with the code, and has a long history with the project and other open source efforts)

4. You, Martin, and Me, Thad ... take a back seat on code reviews and only help to improve communications with Tom, blocks in development or questions that the developers may have, documentation, etc.

We know that RefinePro is pushing us to work harder and get OpenRefine more shiny and new, and we really do appreciate that motivation, Martin.  So don't stop with the PRs and Emails, etc.  Open Communication between all of us is vital to our super small niche group of now only 4-5.

All in favor, give me a +1 in reply.

Thad

+ThadGuidry

On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 6:27 PM, Martin Magdinier <notifi...@github.com> wrote:

Rational to merge Qi PR are on the dev mailing list.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/openrefine-dev/PZ_nmjPwlzo
On Oct 16, 2015 4:54 PM, "Tom Morris" <notifi...@github.com> wrote:

> @magdmartin <https://github.com/magdmartin> Who reviewed this before you
> merged it? I'm happy to have you merge pull requests for translations,
> READMEs, etc, but you don't have the technical knowledge to review code
> contributions.
>
> —
> Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
> <https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/pull/1079#issuecomment-148834271>

> .
>

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[Martin Magdinier]

Thad,

If I understand well the your proposition is if Tom is not answering emails or github notification, send him more emails. This is what we have been doing since 2013, through August and September 2015 RefinePro teams have been trying to reach out to Tom via the official discussion list (with Tom in bcc) and through people we know in common.

I am sorry but I don't see how the proposed process will help to get the project moving. Tom's limited availability for the project is today the core reason we are in this situation. Tom is off for an hackathon for the rest of the week end and we have no visibility when he will be back in the project, it might be days, weeks or months.

Coming from a lean / agile background, I'd rather see a project moving ahead, with frequent release, where we try, and sometime break things, versus a massive 3 years release process packaging hundreds of improvement. I agree, Qi doesn't have Tom's expertise of the code base, but the git work flow leave room to revert and correct errors in a future release.

Last August, we (RefinePro) offer to buy Tom hours for code review and merging PR. Today, the offer is still on the table.

In conclusion, we have now two propositions on the floor:

1. Thad's proposal: Tom review and merge all PR at his own pace - with the offer of RefinePro to sponsor Tom to secure more time for OpenRefine(decision is up to him)
2. A more frequent release system with limited overview from Tom and the risk of temporary instability / imperfection in the code base. Tom can jump him at his own pace to provide feedback and guidance regarding the quality of code and direction of the project.

Finally, on the side note, for the good of the community it will better to have all communication regarding the governance of the project made public on the discussion list in a transparent fashion.

PS I think the dev group of OpenRefine is more around 10 - 20 people including people who write extensions, contributed via PR and rely on in-house customization they have done for their organizations. I am extremely happy to see that several developers who haven't contributed in the last 12 months are still following the project and pitch in from time to time via the mailing list, github and twitter feed.

PS - 2: I can't come with a good thread name, so I left the current subject.

Martin

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