[ODE] From unstable to trunk...

[gl]

Given the state of the community, I'd be tempted to merge promising patches 
directly into the main codebase.  Yes, it will occasionally cause problems, 
but you will certainly get feedback on them : ).  And if something doesn't 
get any feedback (as now), you can assume it works, at least without 
detriment.

If the mountain won't come to Mohammed...
--
gl

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary R. Van Sickle" <g.r.vansickle at worldnet.att.net>
To: "'ode'" <ODE at q12.org>
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 11:35 AM
Subject: RE: [ODE] From unstable to trunk...


>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ode-bounces at q12.org [mailto:ode-bounces at q12.org] On
>> Behalf Of Adam D. Moss
>> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 4:20 AM
>> To: ode
>> Subject: Re: [ODE] From unstable to trunk...
>>
>> Gary R. Van Sickle wrote:
>> > I may come off sounding a bit trenchant here, but: how
>> about instead
>> > of
>>
>> Barely.
>>
>> > worrying about subversion vs. cvs, SourceForge vs.
>> WannaBeSourceForge vs.
>> > Whoever, more mailing lists vs. wiki, etc etc etc, somebody (i.e.
>> > Adam) simply commit the existing known-good patches to mainline?
>> > Rationale: The latter is a task which can be completed in
>> finite time
>> > with finite effort, and results in progress on ODE.  The former(s)
>> > cannot, and result in ODE staying the same.
>>
>> My being the bottleneck to patches getting in is a bad deal
>> for everyone (including me).  We're talking about how to make
>> development easier and more open for long-term ODE health.
>>
>
> No, I know.  I've been involved in plenty of such discussions on various
> projects, and been a silent witness on many more.  Such discussions, 
> without
> exception, follow the exact same pattern:
>
> - Many long-winded discussions of the pros and cons of [insert version
> control system/list-vs.-wiki/OSS host here].
> - Much hand-wringing spread over the course of weeks and months.
> - A few out-and-out battles erupt.
> - At the end of the day, there's no change to anything, because the
> "anything" under discussion wasn't the real problem to start with.
> - Meanwhile, the package continues to languish.
>
>> Meanwhile, if you didn't notice, I've already asked if people
>> can isolate known-good patches in UNSTABLE, or, heck, just
>> give an iota of feedback about the patches floating on the
>> mailing list.
>>
>
> Yes, I of course did notice, and I thank you for taking the task of
> coordinating this effort.  Adam, I'm not attacking anybody here; I'm 
> simply
> trying to head off an unproductive tangent.  Cvs works fine for projects
> with many orders of magnitude more code, more contributors, and larger 
> scope
> than ODE.  Etc etc.  None of that stuff is the issue.  As somebody else 
> said
> in this thread, perhaps more succinctly, the issue was, is, and will 
> remain
> the shortage of qualified people willing and able to take the patches 
> which
> are floating around, evaluate them for suitability, and merge them in to 
> the
> trunk (i.e. maintainers).  Changing version control systems, setting up
> wikis, etc etc, will do nothing to change that.  That's all I was trying 
> to
> say.
>
> Now that said, I do think the idea someone floated about having an
> ode-patches list could make your (and any other potential maintainers) 
> life
> easier - assuming people will use it, and use it properly (i.e. not send
> questions there).  I think the chances of those assumptions being proved
> correct are pretty low, and I think more time would be spent telling 
> folks,
> "great patch, but don't send patches to ode@, send them to ode-patches@,"
> than would be spent simply saving the attachments as they come in.  But
> that's your call, and now I'm going off on a tangent ;-).
>
>> --adam
>> -- 
>> Adam D. Moss   -   adam at gimp.org
>> _______________________________________________
>> ODE mailing list
>> ODE at q12.org
>> http://q12.org/mailman/listinfo/ode
>
> -- 
> Gary R. Van Sickle
>
>
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>