Re: [Docutils-develop] Where to post patches (was Re: [PATCH 6/8] rst: teach Inliner to propagate .line for footnote_reference elements)

[David G. <go...@py...>]

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 09:29, Kirill Smelkov <ki...@mn...> wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:43:16AM -0800, Aahz wrote:
>> On Wed, Mar 03, 2010, Kirill Smelkov wrote:
>> >
>> > But OK, it's your project, not mine, so be it patch tracker.
>>
>> It's not my project (it's David Goodger's if it's anyone's, though I
>> think that Docutils is now a big enough project that it's not really
>> owned by any one person -- but David is still Docutils BDFL).
>
> I meant that. It was David who wrote that patches posting to mailing
> list will be "asked to sent to the patch tracker":
>
> David Goodger, Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:18:32 +0000
> http://repo.or.cz/w/docutils.git/commitdiff/d59c1d19a65fe3ba11bd97d11e65ed668aaa6ef2

That's the project policy, built from group consensus, not my personal whim.

>> Nevertheless, there are two points:
>>
>> * No matter how easy e-mail is, it is nearly useless for keeping track of
>> things
>
> Sometimes right, but for whom how. And systems help keep track of things
> where you have plenty of them, not 0.76 per month.

Most of us are involved with multiple projects, receiving thousands of
email messages per month. It is incredibly easy for some to fall
through the cracks.

The tracker is dedicated to one project. If I want to see the status
of patches for Docutils, I just go to its tracker. No searching
through email archives necessary.

> If you mean it will be easier for me - no, I have no problem with
> keeping track of what I posted so far, and what's the state of a patch.
> And will persist if needed.

When you posted the original set of patches to the tracker, I was
glad. The follow-up discussions to the list were welcome (although
links to the patches would be helpful). The revised patch (patches?)
seemed to go only to the list though (at least initially) -- that's a
potential source of trouble. Best to use the tracker for all patches.
And if there's a discussion on the mailing list, it's best to include
a link in the tracker's comments (cross-references are always good).

Using a patch tracker is known as a "best practice".

> If we are talking about receiving side, isn't this the maintainer who has
> to decide which way it is preferrable for him/her to receive
> contributions?
>
> David is Docutils creator, so yes, it makes sense to post thing to the
> patch tracker if he wishes so. I'm OK with that.
>
> But on the other hand it seems that recently, main patch
> receiver/committer is nod David. Look:
>
> $ ls -F
> docutils/  prest/  sandbox/  web/
>
> $ git shortlog -ns --since=2009.01.01 --until=2010.03.01 docutils/
>   160  milde
>    24  grubert
>    16  goodger
>    14  dkuhlman
>     3  gbrandl
>     2  smerten
>     1  blais

True, recently Günter has been much more active than I. Contributors
come and go, and their levels of activity wax and wane. That's the way
of volunteer-driven projects. It's a collaborative effort, built on
mutual respect. Please continue that.

> That's why I'm really confused to read, that patches are still OK to be
> posted to mailing list and discussed there, e.g.
>
> http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=2961987&group_id=38414&atid=422032
> (Comment 3)
>
>
> For now I'll assume it's still ok to post patches and discussion to mailing
> list as Günter says, but it seems, projectwise, there is no clear message on
> how to better contribute...

>From http://docutils.sourceforge.net/: "Patch submissions should be
filed in the patch tracker (preferred) or sent to Docutils-develop
(where you will be asked to send them to the patch tracker)." Seems
pretty clear to me.

Go ahead and post patches to the list, but (as the policy states), the
patch tracker is preferred. Don't be surprised when (not if) a patch
is ignored.

>> * Mailing the list multiple times per day for a list that's usually
>> pretty quiet looks like spam and is likely to irritate people
>
> Sorry, to me this sounds like "don't bother us with your patches at all".
>
> If my patches are received as spam on the list dedicated to Docutils
> *development*, all I can say is that I'm ... sorry.

Aahz speaks for himself, as does Günter, and as do I, as do all of us.
I'm happy to see this spurt of activity, and don't consider it spam at
all.

Some advice: acting in a passive-aggressive manner won't help your cause.

-- 
David Goodger <http://python.net/~goodger>