Subject: RE: the donut rule (was Re: 0.7.8 and ANISfied string functions)
From: James Montgomerie (jamie@montgomerie.net)
Date: Sun Jan 30 2000 - 09:11:18 CST
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Rohr [mailto:paul@abisource.com]
> Subject: the donut rule (was Re: 0.7.8 and ANISfied string functions)
>
>
> At 01:37 PM 1/29/00 -0000, James Montgomerie wrote:
> >I've basically finished the ANSIfied sting functions now, but a [fairly]
> >large patch is required to make the whole tree use them (i.e. to
> replace all
> >the stricmp, strcasecmp etc. with UT_stricmp etc.). Should I
> hold back for
> >0.7.8 to be out before I submit the patch?
>
> Thanks for checking.
>
> If you feel that your patch meets all of the following criteria,
> feel free
> to submit it now:
>
> 1. It follows the coding standards.
> 2. It will apply cleanly against a current view of the CVS trees.
> 3. You've thoroughly tested it.
> 4. In your opinion, it's unlikely to destabilize the tree.
> 5. You're willing to resubmit it if we disagree about #1-4. ;-)
>
> Once it arrives, someone with CVS access will need to review the
> patch and
> decide whether to sneak it in now or play it safe and wait.
>
> Our general rule is that anyone who commits code that leaves the build
> broken (without prior notice) on *any* of our supported platforms is
> responsible for either:
>
> - getting it fixed promptly and/or
> - buying donuts for everyone who lost time because of it
>
> Given cool tools like Bonsai and cvsblame, it's pretty easy to
> tell who this
> "donut rule" applies to. When I've worked on colocated
> development teams,
> this rule (and its associated sweeteners) worked really, really well.
> However, this team couldn't possibly be more geographically dispersed, so
> this is a more abstract concept than it would be for a colocated
> team. (Do
> virtual donuts taste better than virtul beers?)
If only there was some worm of international donut delivery network, like
interflora, but more donut-related (interdonut?) :-)
> Given how close we are to the next release, any big patch like this would
> need to look *really* good before I felt comfortable that it
> wouldn't break
> the build or destabilize any of our supported platforms.
>
> My personal goal from now until 0.7.8 is to make extra-sure that nothing
> "donut-worthy" happens. ;-)
I /think/ my patch would conform to the five points. However, given that
string functions, at the moment, Just Work on all platforms, and my patch
doesn't add anything new, functionality-wise, but could affect all
platforms, I think I'll hold back. No matter how unlikely it may be, I
don't want to take the chance of my first patch breaking an important build
:-) (Though donuts do sound nice just now...)
Jamie.
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