Re: Slow DOWN, please!!!

Chris Frey
2008-05-01T18:43:45Z

On Thu, May 01, 2008 at 08:26:27AM -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> So let me repeat:
>
> (1) we have new code. We always *will* have new code, hopefully. A few
> million lines pe year.

Pardon this comment from an inexperienced kernel hacker, but it seems to
me that one of the main problems is subsystems stomping on each other
during the merge window, and a general confusion as to who is responsible
for what bugs that appear.

Perhaps a shorter merge window, using a round-robin approach, based on
subsystem, would help alleviate these issues?

This would:

- give people a "known" tree to base their subsystem patches on,
when their turn comes around

- give a rough schedule if the round-robin was always consistent
in order, or made known in advance

- a shorter window would keep people from waiting too long for
their turn

- give those responsible for the currently merged subsystem
motivation and clarity to fix bugs that do appear during
their merge window

Problems I see with this approach:

- those at the end of the cycle get the shaft, if previous changes
affect their work

- political issues with determining the order of the round-robin
schedule

If I'm overlooking something, I'm sure someone will correct me. :-)

- Chris