On Monday 05 March 2007 9:38 pm, Thomas Wouters wrote: > On 3/5/07, A.M. Kuchling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >From <http://ivory.idyll.org/blog/mar-07/five-things-I-hate-about-python > > > > 4. The patch mafia. I like everyone on python-dev that I meet, > > but somehow it is annoyingly difficult to get a patch into > > Python. Like threading, and the stdlib, this is a mixed > > blessing: you certainly don't want every Joe Schmoe checking > > in whatever crud he wants. However, the barrier is high enough > > that I no longer have much interest in spending the time to > > shepherd a patch through. Yes, this is probably all my fault > > -- but I still hate it! > > > > FWIW, I have a related perception that we aren't getting new core > > developers. These two problems are probably related: people don't get > > patches processed and don't become core developers, and we don't have > > enough core developers to process patches in a timely way. And so > > we're stuck. > > > > Any ideas for fixing this problem? > > A better patch-tracker, better procedures for reviewing patches surounding > this new tracker, one or more proper dvcs's for people to work off of. I'm > not sure about 'identifying core developers' as we're all volunteers, with > dayjobs for the most part, and only a few people seem to care enough about > python as a whole.
I don't think that that is true. I think a lot of people care, but many can't do anything about because the barrier to entry is too great. > Putting the burden of patch review on the developers > that say they can cover it might easily burn them out. (I see Martin handle > a lot of patches, for instance, and I would love to help him, but I just > can't find the time to review the patches on subjects I know much about, > let alone the rest of the patches.) > > While submitting patches is good, there's a lot more to it than just > submitting the 5-line code change to submit a bug/feature, and reviewing > takes a lot of time and effort. So there is something wrong there as well. > I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for > help from the submitters like we do, or ask them to write tests and docs > and such. Of course it's not unreasonable. I would expect to be told that a patch must have tests and docs before it will be finally accepted. However, before I add those things to the patch I would like some timely feedback from those with more experience that my patch is going in the right direction. I want somebody to give it a quick look, not a full blown review. The process needs to keep people involved in it - at the moment submitting a patch is fire-and-forget. Phil _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
