Re: 8.2 features status

On Fri, Aug 04, 2006 at 08:44:24PM -0400, Gregory Stark wrote:
> > > Perhaps you'd like to explain how big a burden on the developer
> > > it is to send an once a week, that being what I'm proposing
> > > here.
>
> There seems to be a lack of recognition here of how free software
> development works. When people are contributing their time
> scratching an itch for their own edification the LAST thing they
> want is to have a manager to report to.

It it were--note the subjunctive--only for their own edification, that
would be true. It's not. It's from a TODO list that a community put
together, and claiming a TODO means taking an opportunity away from
one or more other parties.

> > > As far as the "problem in need of solving," it's what Andrew
> > > Dunstan referred to as "splendid isolation," which is another
> > > way of saying, "letting the thing you've taken on gather dust
> > > while people think you're working on it."
>
> Really you guys are talking as if the developers that are working
> for the most part on an entirely volunteer basis have some sort of
> responsibility to you. They do not.

When they've taken on a TODO, they most certainly have taken on a
responsibility to the entire Postgres community.

> If they don't feel like tell you where they're at then feel free to
> ask for your money back.

How do we get the time that somebody frittered away by grabbing a TODO
when others could have worked on it? Time is a much more precious
resource than money because no matter what you do, you can't get any
more of it.

> Now if you think you have some tool that will make it easier for
> developers to do something they honestly want to do then feel free
> to suggest it and make it available.

Joshua Drake has made Trac available. Perhaps you weren't here for
the extensive, drawn-out, rancorous discussions that surrounded a bug
tracking system, but they're all over the archives.

> But if you want to dictate how programmers work for the gain of
> others you're going to have a hard time swimming against the
> current.

It's for their own gain, too. People who contribute good-sized
features to PostgreSQL can generally choose their place of work and to
a large degree, their salaries, so let's not get too excited about how
this is only a matter of selfless generosity.

Cheers,
D
--
David Fetter <david(at)fetter(dot)org> http://fetter.org/
phone: +1 415 235 3778 AIM: dfetter666
Skype: davidfetter

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