Re: Signing off of patches (was Re: Not ready for 8.3)

On 05/18/2007 08:59:11 PM, Tom Lane wrote:

> I'd like to see something that emphasizes review and feedback at the
> stages of germinal idea, rough functional spec, implementation
> concept,
> etc. Reviewing the actual code is good too, but if that's the first
> stage that you ask for help at, you are off in the wrong direction;
> particularly so if you're a larval Postgres hacker.

Speaking as a larval Postgres hacker I have trouble asking about
the germinal idea and rough functional spec parts. Without
having some clue about the implementation concept it's
difficult for me to imagine whether or not I want to
or will be able to put the effort into making the actual
code work. Rather then spend time yakking about design,
I figured I'd better put the effort into poking about the
code enough to see what would be involved.

It might be different if I "just felt like hacking
about in Postgres", but I've got a specific need I want
to see addressed. That constrains what I'm willing to
work on so the pertinent question becomes how hard it's
going to be to get the job done. I guess what it comes down
to is that I trust my estimate of how hard it's going to
be for me to learn to do something new, even a bad initial
estimate, more than I trust some stranger who's not familiar
with my skill set. So I try cutting some code just to get
going. Then decide if I want to continue.

Obviously a PG expert is going to be able to tell me a lot
about what I'm trying to do. But that might take a lot of
mentoring, and I'm also not ready to commit to paying back
with code contribution that goes past my immediate need.
Which makes me reluctant to ask for such help.

I'd guess a lot of larval hackers are in my shoes. They're
getting involved to address some specific need.

Hope this helps.

Karl <kop(at)meme(dot)com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein