Where is FreeBSD going?

[Mark Linimon]

> The only thing any of the committers cares about is what they think.
> Got a problem? Submit a patch. Don't like the way things are done?
> Submit a patch. Don't like how such-and-such a util works? Submit a
> patch.

Please suggest an alternative, given that almost all the labor
is volunteer labor.

There are hundreds of PRs still to be processed that do have
patches -- in fact, on most days the backlog is getting bigger,
not smaller.  IMHO it's reasonable to prioritize concrete
suggestions over wish-list items.  What else should we be doing?

> Except, when Matt Dillon did submit, he was told to back out
> his changes

This had more to do with personalities than technology.  Other
people have had patches rejected, backouts requested, and in
some cases, backouts forced upon them.  Many of those people
are still with the project.  In a cooperative anarchy, things
are never going to be perfect; further, I think it's unfair
to generalize this one situation to saying "this or that
contribution doesn't count".  This was the culminating incident
of a long-standing clash between strong personalities.  It's
too bad that it worked out the way it did, but I think other
than that it's not useful to make generalizations from this
one controversy.

> In short, you can put all the effort you want in, but -core
> and many with a commit bit will resent you for it, because
> you're just a user. 

What you may be interpreting as resentment may actually just
be frustration at being once again in the middle of being
told "things are broken" without concrete suggestions about
how it can be fixed.  Please come up with some kind of
definite proposal that you think would alleviate your, and
others', concerns; and post it and let us discuss it.  Keep
in mind that as you do so it's a volunteer project, and you
have to address the interests of the current volunteers too.
Perhaps you can suggest a way to bring more volunteers in
without losing any of the existing ones.  I certainly don't
have any answers to these kinds of questions; let me take
a look at yours.

mcl