[haiku-development] Re: Banning Barrett
- From: waddlesplash <waddlesplash@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Haiku Development ML <haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2019 17:23:52 -0400
I've stayed out of this thread so far in order to not "bias" it
further, but seeing as the discussion is already tending one way, I
might as well weigh in (and attempt to explain myself.)
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 4:41 PM chase rayfield <cusbrar1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If anything is done it would seem fair for it
to be applied to them both equally, and for the punishment match the
minor infraction.
In case you haven't noticed, it's only recently that I've begun
"throwing shade", as they say, towards Barrett and his actions. I
don't believe any of my remarks were personal attacks, but instead
remarks about Barrett's strange priorities or attempting to correct
the record as to what code he had or had not been committing. On the
other hand, there are plenty of examples of Barrett making personal
attacks both directly and indirectly, against me most notably, but
also against humdinger (see:
https://www.freelists.org/post/haiku-web/Voting-on-new-forum-moderators,1
-- and then see my prior remarks on that comment here:
https://www.freelists.org/post/haiku-web/Voting-on-new-forum-moderators,3).
Should I have exercised a bit more self restraint? I don't know; to
use Axel's terminology, "playfully picking on" someone is generally
how I react to someone holding what I perceive to be ill will or a
grudge against me.
What I don't see, though, is how there is any basis for saying that
both of us have "minor infractions". To say that would be to ignore a
much longer history.
---
Regarding what Alex said in his email.
* At the same time, it isn't fair for Barrett to sit on work and "claim"
large subsystems. We all
have had to tip-toe around the media kit and server due to Barrett's
"claim".
* When someone "takes ownership" of something, then doesn't do the boring
task of fixing bugs,
we sometimes find ourselves wanting to fix them.
* When we can't fix them due to a "claim", we (rightly) get frustrated.
Axel's following comments about how any "claim" to a subsystem in
Haiku is "soft", and only applies properly in rare circumstances.
Indeed this is or has been normally the case with all developers and
systems ... except with Barrett and the media kit. It's true not many
developers have touched it in recent years aside from him, but when
they have (e.g. media_format memset changes), or disputed his changes
(e.g. BCodecKit introduction, structure, API, etc.) this has resulted
in nearly violent verbal conflict, with it taking dozens of emails
before Barrett fully explains himself. Even if in the end he was the
"more correct" one, this is irrelevant. The emotional labor it takes
to do that is simply unacceptable in a project like ours.
Thus, indeed, I have little interest investing a lot of time in
learning the ins and outs of a new system just to have my ideas shot
down anyway for no real reason, and then have to spend a long time
defending them, or have them rejected with no better solution
proposed. Other developers feel the same way (and as Adrien remarked,
some have stopped even reviewing his code because of this. How can we
maintain code quality if we can't discuss it?)
I also note that at no point was I blaming Barrett for not spending
"enough time" on Haiku, but I do blame him for his overprotective
attitudes towards the media kit *combined with* a refusal to spend
even a little of what time he does spend on Haiku on quality and
bugfix improvements, instead working on long-term refactors whose
value and overall design goals have been widely disputed. It's the
ratio I criticized, not the quantity, but I probably could have made
myself clearer.
So +1 from me also to Adrien's original proposal. He has been "warned"
enough; he seems completely unwilling to change or have any reasonable
expectation of how discussions should proceed.
-waddlesplash
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