[RFC/P] Port System Re-Engineering

[David Southwell]

On Monday 03 December 2007 01:41:14 Andrew Pantyukhin wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 05:01:35AM -0500, Aryeh M. Friedman wrote:
> > As has been hashed out in -ports@ over the last few days there is at
> > least a need to examine weither or not the current ports system should
> > remain as is or potentially be re-engineered in the future (estimates
> > if and when needed vary from ASAP to 10-15 years).   I have
> > volunteered to undertake a feasibility/pilot project to examine what
> > changes (if any) are needed in the system (for the purposes of this
> > thread I will not venture any of my own suggestions).   I have the
> > following broad questions for people:
>
> You would have saved the community a couple of expensive
> bikesheds (and more to come, as usual) if you had cared to do
> some research. All of the questions you ask have already been
> answered hundreds of times on mailing lists over the years. By
> starting the cycle anew, I'm afraid, you're only contributing to
> the problem.
>
> There are heaps of papers on package management out there. Look
> for answers there and you will find them.
>
> Most of us have our own engineering demons, who breed Napoleonic
> plans in our heads - to solve every problem in a perfect way. The
> sooner we learn to control them, the better.
> _______________________________________________
Enough!!

There are few demons in the heads of the freebsd community that require 
controlling. Apart from the owning ones own prejudices here are my own 
candidates:

IMHO the  demons in the head that encourage and justify the abuse of other 
members of the communiity are the worst demons of all.

My own choice for the second group of demons in the head who require 
elimination are those that encourage and justify members of the community who 
want all community energy spend solely on their own ideas or upon problems 
that personally affect them.

The third groupof demons  I would select for immeditae eradication are those 
that encourage and justify attacks on those who have the courage and energy 
to either identify or attempt to address problems that are either symptomatic 
or touch upon  the status quo.

It is the operations of these three demons that the freebsd community has the 
greatest need to fear and control.

There are three angels I would like to see us harness in greater number:

The first, depending upon which side of the atlantic we live, is the one that 
encourages humor or humour in our dealings.

The second are those angels that encourage us to encourage others and thereby 
build a flexible community  mutually respectful of alternative points of 
view, endeavours and values.

The third group of angels, and the one that I and many other members of the 
freebsd community of trouble heeding, are the group of angels that speak to 
us about pusuing goals with an appropriate combination of tenaciousness and 
humility.

David




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