From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:07:05 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:06:48 -0400 Received: from snark.tuxedo.org ([207.106.50.26]:20235 "EHLO snark.thyrsus.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:06:38 -0400 Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:09:45 -0400 From: "Eric S. Raymond" To: Rik van Riel Cc: "Holzrichter, Bruce" , David Woodhouse , Russell King , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, kbuild-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: Maintainers master list? Message-ID: <20010622170945.A16757@thyrsus.com> Reply-To: esr@thyrsus.com Mail-Followup-To: "Eric S. Raymond" , Rik van Riel , "Holzrichter, Bruce" , David Woodhouse , Russell King , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, kbuild-devel@lists.sourceforge.net In-Reply-To: <20010622160002.B16285@thyrsus.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: ; from riel@conectiva.com.br on Fri, Jun 22, 2001 at 05:54:20PM -0300 Organization: Eric Conspiracy Secret Labs X-Eric-Conspiracy: There is no conspiracy Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Rik van Riel : > Look, when somebody stops maintaining something, they'll > stop sending patches. When this happens it's only natural > that the information you want to use to generate the > MAINTAINERS file is also out of date. True. Distributed metadata won't solve this problem. It won't make the problem any worse, either, so it's a wash on this issue. > I fail to see how your idea would solve anything. What happens now when somebody takes over responsibility for a file or subsystem and the MAINTAINERS file doesn't get patched, either because that person forgets to send a MAINTAINERS update or Linus doesn't happen to take the MAINTAINERS patch for a while? What happens when I look at a file and it's not obvious which subsystem it belongs to? Sure, I can grovel through MAINTAINERS. But how do I know which verbal description matches the function of the cryptically-commented or uncommented code I have in front of me? Distributed-information problems need distributed-information solutions. Locality is your friend. This crowd should know that if anybody should. -- Eric S. Raymond A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. -- Robert A. Heinlein, "Time Enough for Love"