[wp-hackers] The problem with Contributions and This Thread

[Jane Wells]

On 12/28/10 6:09 PM, Jacob Santos wrote:
> The basis for setting a roadmap is for planning features.
I think you misread the statement. The roadmap is an overall vision for 
the year, priorities etc, not a feature list. Feature lists will be 
decided on a release-by-release basis as they have been in the past 
based on a combination of user demand, lead dev priority, and someone 
being interested in coding it.

> if I'm
> wanting attention for a feature that has been ignored and is tested and
> commit ready, then where am I supposed to bring this up?
Something being tested and commit ready from one person's perspective is 
not always the same as another's. Also, if someone writes a patch that 
serves their needs but not the overall plan for the application, things 
don't just get committed because someone wants them to be. It needs to 
get consensus from the project leads that it's the right thing for the 
overall user base. There are lead devs in teh irc channel almost 24/7. 
The once a week product team meeting with an agenda is not the only time 
to talk to them in irc.

> So basically, I'm relying on a lead developer whom I must receive blessing
> from and must rely on their time, input, and commit to my issue.
Yes. That is the structure of the WordPress core development process 
right now.

> In fact, I'd rather you removed my patches, even the tested and commit ready
> ones, because I'm no longer going to be updating or supporting them based on
> feedback.
The whole point of community development is that many people contribute 
to patches and one person isn't responsible for a patch or feature 
indefinitely.

>   If a patch is brushed aside, my commitment to WordPress is
> diminished. Continue this trend over time, and I will all together stop
> contributing.
You said in your last big post that you didn't intend to contribute 
anymore. Have you changed your mind? It seems like you have been making 
this threat the whole two years I've known you. I hate to see anyone 
leave the project, but if it's been making you unhappy for that long, 
then yeah, I would completely understand you finding another project to 
spend your time on. Life is short. Too short to spend a lot of time 
working on something that just makes you angry all the time.

> If I'm shown respect first and
> foremost no matter how bad I act, then I will shape up or move out.
You know what? No. It's up to EVERYONE to show respect. Take 
responsibility for this. Saying people who are working crazy hours 
should be go out of their way to appease one person "no matter how bad I 
act" means you think you are more important than everyone else. Respect 
begets respect. Everyone needs to be polite, not just the lead devs.
> I know Jane Wells means well and I believe she is coming at this from a
> corporate point-of-view.
I'm not sure what exactly about me you find corporate. I'm a non-profit 
girl since way back in my teens and the lead devs all call me a hippie, 
not inaccurately.
> Is this a community project and if so, then meritocracy should not be part
> of it
The whole point of a meritocracy is that it allows the best like-minded 
talent to rise at the pace of ability rather than waiting for some 
pre-determined schedule (like the corporate world). That is the very 
definition of community. Not every community is a fit for every person. 
Where we can improve processes (and we all know there's a lot of room 
for improvement), we want to. But we're not going to just start 
haphazardly committing every patch that someone asks to have committed. 
That would ruin the application. The whole point of having leaders (in 
this case, lead developers) is for them to lead.

Jane