On Tue, Nov 05, 2013 at 04:44:43PM +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote: > > I too see your viewpoint, as you see mine. There's nothing wrong with > your logic within the narrow domain of making the code that implements > this specific feature (subslots) work correctly per spec. > > Background: I'm a Linux sysadmin by day at an ISP. I constantly have to > contend with Devs and Devops writing bespoke code to implement business > rules. Because I sit three feet back from the problem, I can almost > always see the flaws with the solution. I can't give much details > unfortunately, my employer owns the code. But I get to be very very good > at spotting code that runs per spec, but is very brittle in the real > world. I look for tells like this: > > - is the dev trying to get code deployed that is not fully tested? > - is the dev trying to ignore or minimize the real world effect on other > systems? > - can the dev show that someone else (not him) can actually maintain it, > configure it and understand it? > - Can every single person in his team rattle off the primary salient > points of the code without thinking much? > - Did the team who write the code write a doc on how to configure it, > and how to deal with possible failures they anticipate? > - If someone else (like eg me) gets this wrong and I make mistakes while > deploying, how will I know I've made a mistake? Do I get a sane error > message that a) describes the error in simple language and b) does not > make the fatal mistake of exposing the underlying implementation in > error messages? > - Do I need to read the code itself to gain even a high level > understanding of what the code does?
That is good practice, to say the least. Wish it would happen in Gentoo. But then again, may I ask, do you have as many devs and as many pkgs that must co-exist on so many differently configured machines? My take is something like that should be implemented in Gentoo. But then, I came from to Gentoo after 7+ years in Slackware. It happened your way there, also, because of a BDFL. We don't have such in Gentoo. The fact that 16939 packages in Gentoo mostly always work is amazing! Which requires a lot of hands on deck; and they don't all have the same skills. > By now you will have guessed that nearby Dev team hate my guts with a > passion. Unlucky for them, I'm root and they ain't. Lucky for them, I'm > quite reasonable and happy to work together to get the questions > answered. With an answer of some kind, we can assess risk and make a > rational choice. Oftentimes it comes down to we write one detailed > technical doc and allay all fears. > > I don't see these questions being answered wrt subslots. Maybe they were > answered and I haven't seen the link yet, maybe not. Maybe senior devs > with clue have thus far successfully modified ebuilds, maybe not. Maybe > more junior devshave yet to take their first steps, and maybe they will > royally screw things up by not understanding the syntax, or maybe not. > > These questions have not been answered and I certainly don't have > answers; I also think neither do you. I would like to see this feature > extensively tested in de and stage before it hits production. Only then > can I decide for myself if subslots are a good solution to the stated > problem. I've asked a very specific question about subslot philosophy as it pertains to a specific situation on gentoo-dev. -- Happy Penguin Computers >') 126 Fenco Drive ( \ Tupelo, MS 38801 ^^ supp...@happypenguincomputers.com 662-269-2706 662-205-6424 http://happypenguincomputers.com/ A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail? Don't top-post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_post#Top-posting
