On Mon, Jan 18, 2016 at 05:41:38PM +0100, Oswald Buddenhagen wrote: > On Mon, Jan 18, 2016 at 03:48:54PM +0100, Andreas Hartmetz wrote: > > Gerrit is somehow much more detail-oriented, and criticizing "too > > subjective" stuff is frowned upon. > > > anyone who complains about such aspects of a review clearly didn't quite > get https://wiki.qt.io/Qt_Contribution_Guidelines - > > "Our API Design Principles aim for perfection." > > it's also point 1.2 of https://wiki.qt.io/Commit_Policy > > > Now what? > > > we actually already decided some months ago that TQtC sets up an api > review task force at pre-release time. > we've yet to see how that will work out in practice in the longer run.
Right, *that* jury is still out. But to be honest, I am pessimistic here, beyond my usual self. 1. There are always good reasons to not touch code (e.g. for fixing "wrong" API) "just before the release". This can be as mundane as "CI got the phase of the moon wrong", up to "I am busy" or "I don't want to start yet another discussion about the color of bike sheds" producing a bias towards leaving stuff as-is, especially if it looks only mildly wrong. This is in stark contrast to the setup Andreas refers to when you'd *first* get a virtual nod from Mr B on the correct use of names and *then* started to create a patch. 2. Any two out of 200+ approvers can add stuff but there is practically no means to fix mistakes due to some compatibility promises once a minor release is out. Even if one firmly closes eyes and imagines a world where all those people agreed at least on basic ideas like "API consistency is an asset" or "experiments are better done in toy projects, not in the library", have no personal agenda etc etc there is still a big chance that (a) real mistakes happen, and more importantly (b) even those benevolent people would still produce inconsistent result because there's lways a subjective component when applying rules, no matter how strict they are. Solutions? Obviously no silver bullet, but: - API review task force before releases is a step forward to help to iron out obvious mistakes, but it's not a full solution as happens too late in the process and "running out of time" works against it. API review needs to block before things happen. We already have bots on gerrit for things like string changes, having something similar for stuff that'll fall under BC/SC promises doesn't seem infeasible. - There must be a means to stop people handling core parts of the project as playground for self-realisation. - It would be helpful if there was way to undo mistakes before the next major release happens (and that should not be the equivalent of dropping whole modules). Andre' _______________________________________________ Development mailing list [email protected] http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/development
