linux-kernel - Re: Who wants to maintain KR list for stable releases?

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Date:	Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:20:13 +0200
From:	Stefan Richter <stefanr@...6.in-berlin.de>
To:	Adrian Bunk <bunk@...nel.org>
CC:	Natalie Protasevich <protasnb@...il.com>,
	David Rees <drees76@...il.com>,
	Daniel Walker <dwalker@...sta.com>,
	Michal Piotrowski <michal.k.k.piotrowski@...il.com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Björn Steinbrink 
	<B.Steinbrink@....de>, eranian@....hp.com, ak@...e.de,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, Al Boldi <a1426z@...ab.com>
Subject: Re: Who wants to maintain KR list for stable releases?

Adrian Bunk wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 05:24:37PM +0200, Stefan Richter wrote:
[on whether to track missing features]
>> Where I am around, there are always far too few people who fix things
>> and build things.  But very, very occasionally there is someone new who
>> wonders if there is an interesting TODO item which is perhaps in the
>> reach of his abilities.  Contributing a cleanup or an actual feature is
>> typically much easier than fixing an open, tracked bug.  (The bugs which
>> end up in the bugtracker are usually the difficult ones.)  The
>> contributor learns something and, in a rare turn of events, may
>> eventually become able and willing to join the bugfixing.
> 
> "Contributing a cleanup" is what the Kernel Janitor Project
> already offers.
> 
> But "Contributing an actual feature" is much harder:
> 
> You need a feature:
> - with a realistic chance of being included and
> - hard enough that the person suggesting it doesn't simply implement it
>   himself instead of requesting it

    or there is simply nobody else who takes the time to implement it

>   and
> - easy enough that a newbie can implement it.
> 
> And the code should then be in a reasonable shape for being merged.

Helping to bring it into shape may be one of the easier pastimes of a
gateway person.  (Can be done after mindnumbing day job.)

> IMHO that's nearly impossible.
> 
> Realistically, offering a TODO item for a feature would require the one 
> proposing it to do an amount of mentoring work that is not smaller than 
> the amount of work he had to spend if implementing it himself.
> 
> This might be worth it if you know for sure the person you are mentoring 
> stays active after completion of the feature - but this assumption is 
> too often not true.

Adding a feature is not just a matter of amount of work, it is also a
matter of motivation and inspiration.  So, even if it remains a one-off
project, at least that feature came into life.

But besides these remarks I have to agree with your view, overall.
-- 
Stefan Richter
-=====-=-=== =--= ---==
http://arcgraph.de/sr/
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