Re: JDBC 4 Compliance

On 24.06.2013 20:59, Bryan Varner wrote:
> * Initially when we contacted the list about implementing interleaving
> we got everything from (paraphrased) 'it's a good idea' to 'if you need
> it then you are doing it wrong'. Everything from our need for it to how
> we eventually implemented was ridiculed.

The way I recall those discussions is that I was against the idea of
juggling physical connections in the driver, while a few other people
were generally excited to see you working on it without commenting on
the details.

I spent a considerable amount of my time trying to understand the
problem you were seeing, looking at the patch itself, and crafting
replies to you. I'm really sorry if you felt that I ridiculed you - it
was definitely not meant like that.

> * I got the distinct impression that this project consists of an 'old
> boys club' of developers who've worked on this project for a long time.
> Outsiders seem to be treated in an almost hostile manner.
>
> * A long-standing contributors misplaced emotional attachment to their
> code should not justify holding on to artifacts which go against logic,
> reason, and current best practices.

Again I feel I might be responsible for these sentiments, as I don't
think anyone else objected strongly to your patch. I spent a lot of time
crafting my replies and I thought I explained my objections quite
thoroughly, but I'm sorry if it didn't get across that way. Let me
assure you that there is enough code of mine out there that I don't feel
particularly attached to any of it. My objections were purely technical.

> * It seems as though the project is resistant to any form of code-change
> beyond a trivial bug fix to existing code. This seems like a release
> management failure more than anything.

I don't think there's much resistance as such, just a lack of Dave's
time to review and commit patches. In fact, I get the feeling that
trivial bug fixes fall through the cracks just as easily as bigger code
changes - I've had a couple of my trivial patches linger for months, too.

The problem is that there isn't many people reviewing and committing
patches. Dave and Oliver are busy with other stuff.

We have some people who pop up every now and then with a patch, but how
do we get them involved in reviewing other people's work? How can we get
more people involved in doing the boring, janitorial work of making sure
that the driver works with supported all versions of JDBC and JRE?

- Heikki