[FFmpeg-devel] maintainer duties (was: Re: [PATCH] fix speex sample)

[Michael Niedermayer]

On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 05:50:02PM +0200, Diego Biurrun wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 04:52:44PM +0200, Michael Niedermayer wrote:
> > On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 04:15:01PM +0200, Diego Biurrun wrote:
> > > 
> > > I think maintainers should (in descending order of priorities)
> > > 
> > > 1) review patches,
> > > 2) fix bugs and
> > > 3) implement missing features
> > > 
> > > in the areas they maintain.  Of course since especially 3) can take
> > > arbitrary amounts of time, things have to be prioritized according to
> > > the factors fun and importance.
> > > 
> > > Patch review can take several iterations.  Sometimes it's quicker to fix
> > > up patches or implement alternatives directly instead of having the
> > > patch submitter do it.  In these cases I think it's preferable for the
> > > maintainer to do the coding unless one expects the patch submitter to
> > > learn some valuable lesson that may pay off down the road.
> > > 
> > > I'm under the impression that you could often fix issues in much less
> > > than the time it takes you to write reviews.  In other words, I believe
> > > you could work more efficiently if you skipped a review every once in a
> > > while.
> > 
> > i try to test changes before commiting so while it may be a 1 line change
> > testing will in general take more time than writing a reply
> 
> Testing can often be done in the background.  My point is that there are
> cases when fixing and testing by oneself takes less time than going back
> and forth with the patch sender.

that assumes one even has a testcase to test
given the issues that started this where bugs reported by mike
privately to baptiste this wasnt so easy, now i think baptiste posted
some more details somewhere but i forgot where (thats my fault of course)

but in that sense i think if a bug is not even reported in a reproduceable
way on roundup or in the first mail hardly can be assumed that fixing it
would be easier than replying.


> 
> > > Also, if patch submitters are unresponsive IMO maintainers should fix up
> > > and commit patches themselves.
> > 
> > If they have the time ...
> 
> I'm fully aware that we lack manpower in the patch review department.
> Nonetheless, my point still stands.

iam not disagreeing on your point

[...]

-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
-- Diogenes of Sinope
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/attachments/20090409/8dd12baf/attachment.pgp>