Re: [gentoo-dev] Getting the general dev opinion ("Meinungsbild") on some feature

[Alec Warner]

On Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 9:32 AM, Andreas K. Huettel
<dilfridge@g.o> wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 20. Januar 2013, 10:39:58 schrieb Rich Freeman:
>>
>> What's the point?  I don't think democracy is the best way to handle
>> these sorts of things.
>
> LOL. Yeah, but haven't we tried to give ourselves rules that at least resemble
> it?
>
> If I wanted to find out expert opinions and act on that, I'd directly ask a
> couple of people on IRC that I consider knowledgeable, and then directly
> follow their advice. No mailing list need be involved. This would be
> effective, most likely technologically correct, and fast. It would also cause
> major $hitstorms, since every developer knows best about a lot of things, and
> since a lot of people would understandably feel bypassed. I would lose commit
> privileges quite fast.

I think it is more difficult to lose commit privs than you think.
There are lots of warning signs. People being pissed off does not
equal getting your privs revoked. You do that for making horrific
technical errors; generally speaking.

>
> On the other hand, if I want to do the ultimate "right thing" in a community
> sense, I ask on the list and let the discussion develop. I get a lot of
> opinions. Some of these I consider more, some less sensible; some of these are
> better, some less well informed. On most issues, even well-informed people
> will have different opinions - sometimes things are just a matter of personal
> taste. Getting a real unanimous vote is impossible. I wait for everyone to
> read his mail; we've already heard that 72h is by far not enough time. (Half a
> year?) In the meantime the discussion has branched into a couple of topics,
> and most people have forgotten the original issue... Action may be taken on
> the day when debian stable has a newer glibc than gentoo (metaphorically
> speaking).

The general culture that I aspire to is one where developers take
responsibility for their work. If you make a change and break stuff,
you will lose trust. If you make a change and it goes well, you gain
trust. Trusted people are allowed more freedom (changes with perhaps
less discussion, or changes against an established consensus.) I think
listening to people is important. However listening to them does not
equal agreeing with them, or doing what they want. In the end you are
'in charge' of your change. People can make suggestions on how to do
things better, or offer advice against pitfalls.  However in the end
you are the person doing the work, so the decisions are nominally
yours to make.

>
> We will in the end need a compromise that both gets things done and involves
> everyone that actively wants to be involved. (And yes, that means reading your
> mail!)
>
> --
> Andreas K. Huettel
> Gentoo Linux developer
> dilfridge@g.o
> http://www.akhuettel.de/