On Fri, Aug 04, 2006 at 10:30:26PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> "Joshua D. Drake" <jd@commandprompt.com> writes:
> > As I was saying on #postgresql, the current system works well for a
> > small group of developers. I don't think there is any arguing that.
>
> > However, there is a larger group out there, that would likely be willing
> > to contribute but we are a bit of a black box, or perhaps we are too
> > transparent?? I am not sure which.
>
> Maybe I'm too much "on the inside", but I see the problem the other way
> 'round: too little visibility of what's being done by people who are not
> part of the inner circle of developers.
>
> It's possible that creating a more formal structure would aid these folk
> to let the rest of us know what they're doing ... but I think it's at
> least as likely that a more formal structure would just drive them away.
On projects with bug trackers, it's not uncommon to see someone post a
patch out-of-the-blue. It's also not uncommon to see folks who help out
with trianging bugs and what-not, but don't necessarily do development.
This happens because the tools are there to facilitate it. Perhaps more
importantly, people now have the expectation that this is how things
work, because it's what most OSS projects do. I'm not trying to bring up
the bug tracker war, but it's a good example of how we've effectively
thrown up barriers to people who want to contribute because of how
different all our processes are.
> > I am actually hoping that jabber.postgresql.org would help that in the
> > long run.
>
> Now here I think we might be on the same page. If people pop up on IRC
> or jabber or any other communication method and talk about what they're
> doing, that fixes the whole problem. I'm for adding anything that
> provides an opportunity for people to talk to the community --- I'm not
> for trying to force them to talk to the community, 'cause I don't think
> that will work very well.
Don't put too many eggs in that basket. The problem with jabber and IRC
is that once a conversation's over, it's only in the minds of whoever
happened to witness it in real-time (sure, people log, but who actually
reads IRC logs unless they're looking for something specific). There's a
lot of opportunity for *less* communication, because you'll only get
info from whoever happens to be watching the channel at that time.
--
Jim C. Nasby, Sr. Engineering Consultant jnasby@pervasive.com
Pervasive Software http://pervasive.com work: 512-231-6117
vcard: http://jim.nasby.net/pervasive.vcf cell: 512-569-9461
