Re: [TCLCORE] TIP process thought

[Larry W. V. <lv...@ca...>]

From: Peter Spjuth <pet...@sp...>

> What mainly triggered it was Bryan's TIPs that practically died
> because there was no implementor.  I think the TIP process should
> allow for a TIP to go to voting without an implementor.

Interestingly enough, take a look at 
http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/50.html

There's a TIP that was submitted without implementation.  It was discussed,
voted upon, and approved - in July 2001.  Here we are 2 years later with
the TIP still not implemented.

Which is worse:

a. A TIP submitted but never discussed nor brought to a vote
b. A TIP submitted, discussed, brought to a vote, approved but never implemented

If an idea has no champion working on an implementation, then in my
opinion the http://tcl.sf.net/'s Request For Enhancement area or
comp.lang.tcl or even the wiki are great avenues for 'advertising'.

> If the vote
> says no, there was no need for an implementor anyway and the TIP
> is no longer stuck in the draft stage.

It doesn't seem very efficient to be voting on something that may never
happen - isn't there enough work voting on real projects?


> I think both ends of the TIP process gains from this.
> Pre-vote, people with ideas but limited time or implementation skills
> will probably be more likely to contribute, thus using their
> time more efficiently.

I've seen plenty of ideas over the 10+ years of tcling I have done -
I don't know that we have to worry too much about that.

> And post-vote it is easier for an implementor to take on the TIP
> since it is just to start implementing when you find yourself
> with spare time.

Alas, we don't seem to have a queue of implementors knocking on the
door for TIPs to implement.

> The worst thing that can happen is that a TIP gets stuck in the accepted
> state, but why is that worse than a TIP that lingers in the draft state
> forever?

Because once it is accepted, there is an expectation that work is actually
going to be accomplished.  Plus, as was pointed out elsewhere, accepting
an idea before it is known if it can even be done is problematic.
-- 
Tcl - The glue of a new generation.  <URL: http://wiki.tcl.tk/ >
Larry W. Virden <mailto:lv...@ca...> <URL: http://www.purl.org/NET/lvirden/>
Even if explicitly stated to the contrary, nothing in this posting should 
be construed as representing my employer's opinions.
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