Re: differing opinions between maintainers vs patch acks

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

On 04/05/2017 13:44, "Ian Jackson" <ian.jackson@eu.citrix.com> wrote:

>Andrew Cooper writes ("Re: differing opinions between maintainers vs
>patch acks"):
>> Taking this example, as you have called it out, but without going into
>> the details.
>> 
>> I accept that the issues under debate do not have any impact on the
>> technical correctness of the fix.  Once compiled/assembled, the binary
>> will function correctly.
>> 
>> However, the bikeshedding makes a very real material impact on the
>> understandability and reviewability of the code.
>> 
>> In my mind, all other things being equal, making the code easier to
>> understand and review is of paramount importance, and particularly in
>> this case, not making an already complicated bit of code harder to
>>review.
>
>Well, at one level I agree with Andrew on at least the 1*1 and 0*8
>question.  These seem clearer to me as they state the programmer's
>intent as well as merely the effect.  I found Jan's response hard to
>understand; there doesn't actually seem to be a counterargument.  I
>suspect if I thought about it enough I would agree with Andrew about
>the labels too.
>
>But, earlier I said:
>
>   I definitely agree that there is room for giving the author of some
>   code (whether they are a maintainer or not) some leeway on matters of
>   taste.  I think, though, that while this ought to be a principle
>   applied by maintainers, committers and anyone else making relevant
>   decisions, it is not a rule of governance to be applied in contested
>   cases.
>
>I think this case falls clearly into the category of things where we
>could give the original contributor some leeway.  In this case that
>means Jan.
>
>IOW if I were in Andrew's position I would probably make the same
>requests he has done, but if Jan maintained his position I would
>certainly not block the patch over this.
>
>Stepping back a bit: It is indeed important that our code is easy to
>understand and modify, expresses its intent clearly, and helps future
>programmers avoid writing bugs.  But it is also important that
>contributors feel valued, and feel a sense of ownership.

Agreed.

>The amount of emotional discouragement to a contributor does not scale
>linearly with the size and apparent importance of the disagreement.
>Indeed, turning a tiny issue into a blocker or a big argument can be
>especially demotivating.

Agreed.

Lars

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