Re: differing opinions between maintainers vs patch acks

[Lars Kurth <lars.kurth@citrix.com>]

On 04/05/2017 10:55, "Ian Jackson" <ian.jackson@eu.citrix.com> wrote:

>Jan Beulich writes ("Re: differing opinions between maintainers vs patch
>acks"):
>> On 04.05.17 at 11:21, <ian.jackson@eu.citrix.com> wrote:
>> > I'm afraid I disagree.  Someone with a fresh perspective is often
>> > helpful, even if it involves a bit more explanation.
>> > 
>> > And, the use of committers as referees in inter-maintainer disputes is
>> > explicitly laid out in the project governance document:
>> >   https://xenproject.org/governance.html#roles-local
>> >   | Committers
>> >   ...
>> >   | committers can also act as referees should disagreements amongst
>> >   | maintainers arise
>> 
>> I understand this, and I agree as far as actual technical issues
>> go. I just don't think this is suitable / appropriate when it comes
>> to cosmetic questions.
>
>Well, if the cosmetic question is not that important then presumably
>someone would have given ground and it wouldn't need escalation.

In this specific case, I saw a disagreement, but it is not clear whether
this would need an escalation. It could easily be solved on IRC by a quick
chat.

>If the cosmetic question _is_ important enough to have a big debate
>over then I don't see any reason why the same escalation path is not
>appropriate.  Actually, it seems to me that a relative outsider is
>more likely to bring a useful sense of proportion.

However in general, I agree with Ian that "cosmetic" issues which are
contentious and where emotions are attached to it should be covered by the
governance. 


>(And, de jure, the governance doc makes no such distinction.)

As I said, these are intentionally not excluded. Partly, because cosmetic
issues are often more divisive than actual technical issues, and in many
FOSS communities these are exactly the sort of issues people fight over.
Of course, one would hope that we are all mature enough, that we don't
often need to invoke refereeing for it.

Lars

 


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