[haiku-development] Re: Final Set*UIColor Patch, Version 3e

  • From: Adrien Destugues <pulkomandy@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2015 20:24:41 +0100

On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 11:57:46AM -0600, looncraz wrote:

And this is the exact opposite of how it should be. Form > functionality is
a sure way to failure. I do appreciate that you took the time to point out
each and every style issue you could find, I HONESTLY do, but you must
recognize that there is a point where you are being excessively pedantic.
And do you not recognize that it took me MUCH more work to create the code
than for you to sit down and read it?

I think you underestimate the importance of the coding style. Yes, our
code isn't perfect and can always be improved, and yes, it's a fact,
hunting and fixing the violations "wastes" everyone time. But, there is
a lot to be gained in the process:
* The codebase stays with a consistent style, and gets closer to the
guidelines with each commit made.
* As a patch submitter, in the process you learn about the coding style.
If we fixed these issues on our side, it would mean you would continue
to make the same coding style violations, and all your future patches
would need cleaning. With this annoying process of ping-pong review
and fixes, you learn about the style and can train to apply it by
yourself (and maybe help improve the checking tools and the "coding
guidelines" page). This is a required step if you are to get direct
commit access to Haiku.

"Does axel hate you or something? He's never *this* picky[...] why would you
want to continue?"
"You have the patience of [a] SAINT! Axel is really being [an] [redacted]!"
"Man you are getting a hard time with this! Hope it goes in this time "
"I know patches get refused for not adhering to coding style in many
projects, but this is extreme!"
"I don't understand why Axel in particular was so rude to you in a public
forum when all you've tried to do is contribute to Haiku."
"I've quit my interest in Haiku. With jerks like Axel in charge, no one will
want to contribute."
"[Can't] believe he is doubling down!"

This represents just the last couple of days, and are quotes from
consecutive emails in my inbox. I've been receiving emails like this for a
month. Some of these are from current, and past, contributors. Two
would-be contributors said they will now not contribute, exactly because
they believe the focus is on the wrong things. I cannot disagree with their
decisions, as this is a decision I am considering myself.

Hello everyone, if you notice such issues I think it is better to send
the remarks to the public mailing list or to the person you think is
having incorrect behavior, instead of (or as well as) to the victim.
This way people get a chance to improve their behavior.

I would add that looncraz was a bit aggressive as well, with saying
something like "I will have some work to do after review, which will be
mostly to please Axel". I personally don't appreciate this, because the
coding style is an important part of our review process, no matter who
does it and takes the time to review the patches.

Probably there was no bad intent on either side with these remarks. It
does require a thick skin to get a patch (especially a big one) through
our review process, but I think it can be the same in any project. We
can fix the time wasting and frustration not by relaxing our coding
guidelines, but by having an automated tool to do the checking. This
would make the patch review process much smoother. And yes, you can
blame the project as a whole to not have such a tool yet.

--
Adrien.

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