[openbeos] Re: Openness

  • From: "Michael S" <mikesum32@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 03:44:09 -0400

From Bryan Varner on 4/9/06 in response to my e-mail about Java.

It's completely stalled. See, there's this
technical limitation with R5 that makes it really impractical to even
bother with, Haiku isn't quite ready to try and run it yet (We need
Haiku to be self-hosting before it even becomes realistic to work on
that), and to top it off I've got a serious gf too now. So yeah....


The thing about this is that it wasn't common knowledge. So of course Karl
wanted Java as a bounty, he didn't know better unless he asked Bryan. I'm
not sure when the Java bounty was added, but Java was open sourced 6 1/2
months later and was being talked about long before that, at least by May
and July. Karl could've asked Bryan. Bryan could've told everyone. Haiku
could've asked Bryan. None of this happened, it seems.

In fact, Michael, I think you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.
;-) I shall quote you.

*I have received some questions about the 'Haiku Bounties' *website* and I
wanted to answer them here. It is run by a gentleman who has been a good
friend to Haiku for a long time now. I have every confidence that he is
trying to do the right thing for the Haiku community and that he will be
upfront and honest with the money and that you can trust his word.*

Don't drag Karl into things when he isn't involved. You were nice enough to
take the $2,000, and as far as I know Karl had asked the people who donated
to him what to do with the money.

We all like arguing with Jorge ;-) Everyone needs to relax. Karl isn't a con
man. Koki isn't a windbag. Michael, you could be a little more involved in
the mailing lists and website. I'm sure you're doing a lot of work behind
the scenes, but sometimes it's hard to tell. You always swoop in at the last
minute to chime in on the latest Haiku related disaster. ;-) A little less
heroics and more regularity please. :-)

Koki, there used to be a list of ways you could help that didn't involve
just coding. Maybe it was lost in one of the redesigns.

I think having a some sort of record of your little minute meetings would be
nice, even if it is read-only and posted the next day. The main benefit I
see is that it will give some perspective so you don't lose the forest in
the trees. Take for example Microsoft Bob or Windows ME. How could such
Microsoft not jump from 98 to an NT based OS ? Was it 10 people all agreeing
with each other, only seeing their own refections ? It might prevent one of
those "What were you thinking ?" moments.


As for a listing of who donates and what the money is spent on, the freenet
project used to do something similar.

http://web.archive.org/web/20011217155621/www.freenetproject.org/index.php?page=donations

I wouldn't mind seeing a list of monetary contributors, even if only a
handful want to be listed. I'm sure some of them will want you to use the
blink tag and 48 point red font. Freenet doesn't post a list of individual
donors anymore, but that probably has to do with the political controversies
of freenet, rather than the validity of the idea.


All that said, don't get all angry, just relax. We all want what's best for
Haiku, even if we strongly disagree and see things differently.

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