Re: [gentoo-project] Re: Trying to become a Gentoo Developer again spanning 8 years...

[Raymond Jennings]

On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 7:54 AM, Nick Vinson <nvinson234@×××××.com> 
wrote:
>
>
> On 10/07/2016 07:32 AM, Raymond Jennings wrote:
>>  On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 7:20 AM, Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o>
>> wrote:
>>>  On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 10:05 AM, Raymond Jennings
>>> <shentino@×××××.com>
>>>  wrote:
>>>>   My opinion is that if a developer is bad enough to keep out, its
>>>> also
>>>>   important enough to get the paperwork fixed to prove it.  If they
>>>>  have a
>>>>   clean case it *should* be very easy to get the paperwork right.
>>>
>>>  Sure, by all means leave the bug open until the paperwork is fixed,
>>>  but I don't think that means that the developer should be allowed
>>> back
>>>  in if the bug isn't closed before some deadline.
>>
>>  What I want to prevent is a stagnation where a dev gets mistakenly
>>  locked out because his case got left in limbo.
>>
>>>>   But its the "due process" here that proves the developer is bad
>>>> to
>>>>  begin
>>>>   with.  If comrel screwed up and there was a mistake and the
>>>>  developer is
>>>>   actually meritorious, its bad for gentoo to keep them out.
>>
>>>  Sure, if all three of your preconditions are true I agree with your
>>>  conclusion.  However, if comrel screwed up and there was a mistake
>>> and
>>>  the developer is actually still a problem, then the solution is to
>>> fix
>>>  the mistakes, not keep them around.
>>
>>  And how do you know whether the developer is a problem or not?
>
> You don't and I think that's really being overlooked.

That was actually my point.

> If ComRel screwed
> up, then "fixing" the mistake is also reversing their decisions that
> includes bringing back the dev.  If the developer is really a problem,
> then ComRel will be given repeated chances to deal with the developer
> and eventually (well hopefully not eventually) the "due process" will
> be
> done correctly and the developer will be removed.
>
> To me this really seems to follow the line of thinking of "If the dev
> was really innocent of any wrong doing, no complaint would have been
> filed".  I hope that's not the case because I find that style of logic
> to be both naive and dangerous.

We also want to avoid the case of this:

* Good developer gets caught in a misunderstanding
* They get railroaded
* After being deprived of the opportunity to make good contributions, 
even if they need mentoring, they go sour on Gentoo as a whole and find 
somewhere else to contribute.
* They walk away feeling resentful and we make an enemy.

The whole point of due process is to catch mistakes before they get set 
in stone.  If someone turns into a sourpuss because they got screwed 
over, even by mistake, that is bad.