Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2017 10:36:36 +0100 From: Gary Jennejohn <gljennjohn@gmail.com> To: Mark Linimon <linimon@lonesome.com> Cc: Matthew Macy <mmacy@nextbsd.org>, "freebsd-x11@freebsd.org" <freebsd-x11@freebsd.org>, Beeblebrox <zaphod@berentweb.com> Subject: Re: End of year Xorg status rant Message-ID: <20170101103636.5a4f518c@ernst.home> In-Reply-To: <20170101081136.GA5399@lonesome.com> References: <20161230163653.54909631@rsbsd.rsb> <15952279f17.e0be0d8c34357.732964216134709731@nextbsd.org> <20161231120453.13adf858@thor.walstatt.dynvpn.de> <20161231145143.18e6ac99@rsbsd.rsb> <1595742b65f.1050eb06862309.1096856657498598610@nextbsd.org> <20170101081136.GA5399@lonesome.com>
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On Sun, 1 Jan 2017 02:11:36 -0600 Mark Linimon <linimon@lonesome.com> wrote: > On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 03:41:46PM -0800, Matthew Macy wrote: > > There are people contributing patches that sit idly in Bugzilla > > indefinitely. > > [I'm not addressing Matthew directly here; he already knows most of this] > > And this is the key point: we need more committers. > > If the folks in this thread (and the similar one about numerical > computation) saying "someone should do something!" worked towards being > committers, we would all be better off. > > And, no, I don't believe that process is easy. > > But what people don't appreciate is that the large number of moving parts > in the Ports Collection (times 7? architectures, times 4^W3 release branches) > creates something intricate. There's a learning curve to being able to > commit something that doesn't break anything else; the curve gets steeper > the closer you get to the center of the infrastructure. > This is irrelevant to this post, but it's an error everyone seems to make and I find it quite annoying. A steep learning curve means that one learns quickly. A flat learning curve means that one needs longer to learn something. Using "steep learning curve" is exactly the opposite of what one is trying to state - that it takes greater effort and more time to understand something. Just picture the curve in your head. X is time and Y is amount learned. Obviously, a steep curve means that more is learned in a shorter time. I suppose that this incorrect usage comes from people imagining that the curve represents a hill, so steep must be harder. Wrong. My rant for 2017. > And this work is pretty close to the center. > > (And never mind about trying to make all of that robust and consistent.) > > What frustrates me is that people don't understand that the players I > know within FreeBSD *want* to have better graphics. I have *never* heard > anyone say "just walk away from it". It's a question of how we can get > there with the limited manpower we have available. > > Finally, I do know of at least one person within FreeBSD whose stated > goal is to Make This Integration Happen in 2017. > > But I'm not crazy enough to think it is going to happen this week. > -- Gary Jennejohn
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