On Fri, 4 Oct 2002, Taylor, Jason wrote:
> Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 10:43:48 -0700
> From: "Taylor, Jason" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: Struts Developers List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: 'Struts Developers List' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: RE: Applying patches
>
> Maybe we can come up with some process of reviewing patches so that
> struts-dev subscribers can take care of some of the quality control tasks
> and committers can review the reviews, if that makes sense. Struts is so
> good at divvying up work between people and creating specialized tasks that
> somehow make up a development process, it seems appropriate that the process
> of managing the framework itself should benefit from similar specialization.
>
I think the right long term answer is to make more committers. However,
no matter how many committers there are, having people try the patches
that have been posted and adding "works for me" or "this would work
better" comments on the bug reports would be quite helpful.
The most important issue about patches, ironically, is not so much whether
or not they fix the problem being reported -- it's equally important (if
not more so) that they *don't* break something else. In the absence of
enough unit tests to catch regressions like that, having people actually
try out the patches in their own applications will help avoid such snafus.
>
> Is there anything we can do to help committers review patches? Maybe people
> could post their own digests of the bug list that prioritize bugs, scope the
> issues and give their opinions on the possible solutions or the posted
> patches that are available. We could also find bugs that we recommend be
> dismissed to get them off the list. Maybe morale would improve if there was
> a sense that the effort required was actually *not* infinite.
>
Anyone is able to review bug reports and clear out the "this is not a bug"
category. Equally important is reclassifying bug reports that are really
enhancement requests (yes, that is a judgement call in some cases). Over
time, several folks have done that to the Struts bugzilla reports.
Fortunately, any change to any bug report, by anyone, is also posted to
the STRUTS-DEV list, so we can all yell and scream if we disagree.
> Maybe we could start the discussion with a top ten (or three or thirty or
> whatever) list of annoying things committers wish they didn't have to do to
> get patches into the build. That could help us random developers to see
> what we can do to help you all out.
>
That would be a helpful exercise as well. The "priority" on the bug
reports are always from the perspective of the poster -- the big picture
priority may or may not be the same.
> As far as I know, everyone is busy. Those of us lucky enough to be employed
> are hustling to keep our companies operating, those of who aren't are busy
> enough getting by. Maybe we should all take this Friday to tell our bosses
> how much Struts helps us do our jobs and to make a case for squeezing Struts
> pro bono work into our workload. I know it sounds funny, but not all
> managers are totally Dilbertian.
>
Fortunately, mine is one of the non-PHBs -- hope you all find one like
that :-).
> Last thing I'd like to do is to say that Struts is a great project and the
> out-of-control nature of the users' list is a testament to the success of
> the framework Craig et al. have developed. You've all done great work and I
> think just about all of us struts-dev subscribers understand this is totally
> pro bono and we all have lives beyond our keyboards. Thanks again and have
> a good weekend :)
>
> -JT
>
Craig
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Edgar Dollin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 9:51 AM
> To: 'Struts Developers List'
> Subject: RE: Applying patches
>
>
> Isn't this part of a bigger problem that the whole open source community
> is wrestling with? How do the boys doing Linux do it or is that community
> better funded so the committers can spend full time on it?
>
> One other issue regarding this issue and struts that I think is worth
> mentioning is that this is the window to ERP and that the issues we are
> all facing are so open ended and we are all pulling this project in
> different ways as well as so many other competing projects. Because of this
> there might be a need for 'sub' projects with committers who only review
> that code.
>
> Edgar Dollin
>
>
>
> Craig R. McClanahan wrote:
>
> >Are you ready to do my job for me (60 hours a week lately), including my
> >travel schedule (such as Tokyo last week for JavaOne Japan), so I can
> >work on Struts? Or, better yet, pay me enough so I can work on it full
> >time? If you're not, then I find your attitude pretty presumptuous.
> >
> >All of Struts was, and is, done by volunteers on their own time. We do
> >this because we enjoy it -- the fact that *you* find it useful as well is
> >icing on the cake. When people have time to analyze the patches and apply
> >them (and take ownership for any problems that the patch causes), they
> >will -- but not until.
> >
> >If you feel strongly about it, start posting alternative nightly builds
> >that contain your patches applied. Who knows, if it's clear you know what
> >you are doing, you might get yourself nominated to be a committer, and
> >then *you* can see what it is like first hand :-).
> >
> >Craig
> >
> >
>
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