Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:27:10 -0700 From: Doug Barton <dougb@FreeBSD.org> To: Chris Marlatt <cmarlatt@rxsec.com> Cc: Adrian Chadd <adrian@freebsd.org>, FreeBSD Stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: challenge: end of life for 6.2 is premature with buggy 6.3 Message-ID: <484821EE.5070303@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <4848073C.2060509@rxsec.com> References: <9B7FE91B-9C2E-4732-866C-930AC6022A40@netconsonance.com> <4846D849.2090005@FreeBSD.org> <4846E14C.709@FreeBSD.org> <AC78CAC0-BA7C-4A20-9BEE-E7E37FD225E7@netconsonance.com> <48472CCF.8080101@FreeBSD.org> <4847EF62.1070709@rxsec.com> <4847F814.10409@FreeBSD.org> <4847FB1D.1050400@rxsec.com> <d763ac660806050812o71329243lc7d58506490bd6b1@mail.gmail.com> <4848073C.2060509@rxsec.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Chris Marlatt wrote: > Adrian Chadd wrote: >> The project is doing what it can with what people are >> contributing. If > > What if it can accomplish the same or more by simply reorganizing > what it's already doing? I think that the problem here is that you have no idea how absurd you sound to the people who are actually doing the work. Taking what you said at face value for a minute, a polite response would be something along the lines of, "At this point in the project's history we've already given lengthy and careful consideration to the resources we have available, and how best to allocate them. FreeBSD is a volunteer project, and with few exceptions those who put work into it are doing it 'for fun,' and choose where they want to apply their efforts. Suggestions are often made about where effort can be best applied, some private, some public. But in the end it's the individual developer who chooses what to work on, and the project leadership tries to keep things moving smoothly with the resources available." Now let me approach this from another angle, which is how what you said above can easily sound to us. "Hey you volunteers! It's great that you're working on FreeBSD and giving it to me for free and all, but what I really want you to do is this, so get to it will you?" I'm sure you can imagine the response to that. And frankly, it doesn't even matter which way you _meant_ it. And sure, you have the right to voice your opinion, all FreeBSD users do. You also need to be prepared to take "no" for an answer. >> you'd like a distribution supported for longer then offer to help >> maintain it. You may be surprised how helpful people get when >> you offer to help. :0 > > Again IMHO the only message coming across here is either do it > yourself or keep your mouth shut. That's not _exactly_ what we're saying, but it's pretty close. This is open source after all. "If you can't find what you're looking for, build it, or look elsewhere" would be a better way to say it. > The other side of the coin here is - what's to say the FreeBSD > project requires what I can offer? Without trying to sound rude, I'm pretty sure the only person that's going to matter to is you. > Granted it's been sometime since I've browsed the entire > FreeBSD.org site but last I checked there wasn't an area devoted to > the needs of the project. http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi?category=&severity=&priority=&class=&state=&sort=none&text=&responsible=&multitext=&originator=&release= > Furthermore, just because someone isn't providing assistance > doesn't mean that their concerns should go unheard. This isn't the '80's, and we aren't in grade school. See above on taking "no" for an answer. > It's quite possible what was proposed is an awful idea and if it is > so be it. But it would appear as though it wasn't even considered. On the contrary. This, and lots of other ideas have been given very careful consideration and have been rejected due to lack of resources. There, feel better? Seriously folks, it's not as if we don't _want_ to be able to provide better, longer, faster, $whatever support. We're just trying to be realistic about what we can reasonably do with what we have available. hth, Doug -- This .signature sanitized for your protection
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?484821EE.5070303>