Where is FreeBSD going?

Matt Emmerton matt at gsicomp.on.ca
Wed Jan 7 20:24:50 PST 2004


> >     3) Simple but time consuming requests from developers
> >
> > - Isn't it possible to have developers pass off some of
> > their simple tasks to others?  Think of it like a "pet dog".
> > Your dog may be able fetch your newspaper but he couldn't read it.
> > Still fetching the newspaper takes time!
> >
> > The requests I see are usually Jr. kernel type requests.
> > Everyone wants to contribute at the kernel level but that takes
> > a lot of knowhow and experience working with fbsd's kernel.  Let
> > users get involved with simple (stupid) tasks which are time
> > consuming.  Now define "simple"...
>
> Again, I think a JKH (Junior Kernel Hacker) list (like the one PHK had
> for awhile) would be a great addition. I'll even volunteer to maintain
> it if developers were willing to help me by providing these small
> "projects" for people to work on. As someone attempting to join the
> ranks of people in the "Submitted by:" log lines this is one of the
> hardest things for me to do is find something I can work on.

The only problem with a JKH list is that there need to be committers willing
to review and commit PRs that are created from the tasks on the list. About
a year ago I started working on one of PHK's tasks, opened up 4 PRs, and
found absolutely nobody willing to review or commit them.  After a month of
pinging people and waiting for feedback (and getting absolutely none), I
just stopped working on it.

It's these kinds of impasses that prevent people who have the skills and
time from actually contributing to the project.  There really isn't any use
opening PRs and creating patches if they're never going to get committed (or
by the time someone decides to commit them, the patches need to be moved
forward 3 or 4 releases.)

--
Matt Emmerton



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