[Python-Dev] Weekly Python Bug/Patch Summary (original) (raw)

"Martin v. Löwis" martin at v.loewis.de
Mon Aug 23 22:23:14 CEST 2004

Michael Chermside wrote:

I don't want to exercise a veto here or anything, but I don't think it would be helpful. The barrier to more participation isn't that people don't know there's work to be done. I suspect that anyone who was going to consider helping with development would either be scratching their own itch (ie, contributing a patch and wouldn't care about this report), or would already be reading python-dev (after all, it's not hard to qualify to receive it!).

I completely disagree (and I have to, because I was supporting more wide distribution :-). The posting lists bug reports and patches that some people might consider interesting, and just try out in order to find out whether it scratches their own itches. If it does, they might comment on the patch.

If a patch scratches nobody's itches, it is best rejected.

I worry that posting this to c.l.py would be unlikely to generate anything other than occasional bellyaching about how slow we are about addressing bug reports.

And that would be a good thing! People need to remember that this is free software, and that we are all volunteers. For some, this might cause them to go away, with so little support from the developers. Farewell to them! Others might consider taking over the project. Let them come! The rest will have an occasional bellyaching, which will remind them of how precisely free software works. They'll either get over it, or do something about it.

What might be more helpful would be a call for volunteers. We could form a "patch reviewers" group that would review patches on SF. Or something. Actually, figuring out how to recruit volunteers is a difficult problem. But I'm not sure the weekly bug/patch summary is the solution.

Perhaps no. However, I do think I have personally exhausted all other possibilities, with regular postings on all available channels. It might not help, but it won't harm, and it is easy to implement.

Regards, Martin

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