From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Jul 18 9:40:10 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (freefall.FreeBSD.ORG [204.216.27.21]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F54037B560 for ; Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:40:01 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: (from gnats@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.9.3/8.9.2) id JAA80932; Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:40:01 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: from minya.sea.one-eyed-alien.net (minya.sea.one-eyed-alien.net [216.39.168.226]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 352F337B633 for ; Tue, 18 Jul 2000 09:34:12 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from brooks@minya.sea.one-eyed-alien.net) Received: (from brooks@localhost) by minya. (8.9.3/8.9.3) id XAA10468; Mon, 17 Jul 2000 23:13:54 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from brooks) Message-Id: <200007180613.XAA10468@minya.> Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 23:13:54 -0700 (PDT) From: brooks@one-eyed-alien.net To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org X-Send-Pr-Version: 3.2 Subject: docs/20009: [PATCH] the FAQ needs an entry on bikesheds Sender: owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org >Number: 20009 >Category: docs >Synopsis: [PATCH] the FAQ needs an entry on bikesheds >Confidential: no >Severity: non-critical >Priority: low >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: doc-bug >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Tue Jul 18 09:40:01 PDT 2000 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: >Originator: Brooks Davis >Release: FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT i386 >Organization: >Environment: >Description: People are confused by all the refrences on hackers, etc. to the color of bikesheds. There should be a FAQ about this. >How-To-Repeat: >Fix: Apply this patch in the faq directory and add a man entity for sleep(1). Hopefully, this doesn't contain too many DocBook style errors. I think I recal Nik saying that patches should follow the style guide not the status quo in the FAQ. Index: book.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /home/ncvs/doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.70 diff -u -r1.70 book.sgml --- book.sgml 2000/07/11 21:36:22 1.70 +++ book.sgml 2000/07/18 05:50:06 @@ -8782,6 +8782,85 @@ + + + Why should I care what color the bikeshed is? + + + + The really, really short answer is that you shouldn't. + The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are + capable of building a bikeshed doesn't mean you should stop + others from building one just because you don't like the + color they plan to paint it. This is a metaphor indicating + that you need not argue about every little feature just + because you know enough to do so. Some people have + commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is + inversely proportional to the complexity of the + change. + + The longer and more complete answer is that after a very + long argument about whether &man.sleep.1; should take + fractional second arguments, Poul-Henning Kamp posted a long + message entitled A + bike shed (any colour will do) on greener + grass.... The appropriate portions of that + message are quoted below. + + +
+ Excerpts from <quote>A bike shed (any colour will do) on + greener grass...</quote> + + Poul-Henning Kamp on freebsd-hackers, October + 2, 1999 + + "What is it about this bike shed ?" Some of you have + asked me. + + It's a long story, or rather it's an old story, but + it is quite short actually. C. Northcote Parkinson wrote + a book in the early 1960'ies, called "Parkinson's Law", + which contains a lot of insight into the dynamics of + management. + + [snip a bit of commentary on the book] + + In the specific example involving the bike shed, the + other vital component is an atomic power-plant, I guess + that illustrates the age of the book. + + Parkinson shows how you can go in to the board of + directors and get approval for building a multi-million or + even billion dollar atomic power plant, but if you want to + build a bike shed you will be tangled up in endless + discussions. + + Parkinson explains that this is because an atomic + plant is so vast, so expensive and so complicated that + people cannot grasp it, and rather than try, they fall + back on the assumption that somebody else checked all the + details before it got this far. Richard P. Feynmann + gives a couple of interesting, and very much to the point, + examples relating to Los Alamos in his books. + + A bike shed on the other hand. Anyone can build one + of those over a weekend, and still have time to watch the + game on TV. So no matter how well prepared, no matter how + reasonable you are with your proposal, somebody will seize + the chance to show that he is doing his job, that he is + paying attention, that he is *here*. + + In Denmark we call it "setting your fingerprint". It + is about personal pride and prestige, it is about being + able to point somewhere and say "There! *I* did that." + It is a strong trait in politicians, but present in most + people given the chance. Just think about footsteps in + wet cement. +
+ + + How many FreeBSD hackers does it take to change a lightbulb? >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message