On Wed, Oct 02, 2002 at 10:21:04AM +0200, Matthias Urlichs wrote:
> The problem, then, seems to be that there is only one DAM.
And here we go again!
This seems to come up what, every six months or less? To save time and
and once again slay this rotting corpse of a beaten horse:
"James is ignoring my application, etc, etc!"
"Maybe he's not ignoring it, he could be just busy."
"James processes simple applications first, have patience."
"Another DAM is needed!"
"DAM's are responsible for the quality and reputation of Debian
developers, we can't trust anyone willing to take the job."
"Hmm, that's a good point - let's complicate the NM process to force James
to process applications fairly, in order, whatever, ad nausiem.. That way
we'll be able to see when an application is pending or has been stalled
because James doesn't actually reject applications he won't approve."
"That's a great idea!"
Okay, now that we have successfully been through the entire thread without
all of the me-too's, can we just accept that every time this topic comes
up, NM ends up being harder and harder for people to get through as more
and more bureacratic bullshit is added to try and make sure that the
process moves smoothly. None of the additional process has had any impact
on making NM any easier for applicants or more transparent to those who
purport to be NM watchdogs.
In the end, applications will wind up in James' hands regardless of what's
done to NM. He will get to them when he has time to do so and he will
likely:
1. Look over the application and determine whether or not he's
comfortable having the person in the project.
2. Try to call the person and talk with them a bit.
3. If nothing feels wrong to him, approve the application.
If he gets a bad feeling about the applicant somewhere along the way, he
will put the application aside for later. Later may well never come, if
he feels very strongly about it. Maybe he's right, maybe he ain't. But
the fact is that currently it is his call, his alone, and pestering him
about your application is almost certainly guaranteed to get it in the
pile that he'll come back to later--maybe.
Unless someone else who is unequivocably qualified to determine whether or
not a person should be a developer steps forward, absolutely no amount of
process is going to make a damned bit of difference. And anyone else put
in the position will undoubtedly apply their own standards, prejudices,
and intuition to the process. Not many such people are even willing to
step forward given that they know they will take flak a thousand times
over for any call they make which someone disagrees with.
That's not to say that I don't believe James hasn't made bad calls in the
NM area. However, I can't rightly say I believe anyone else could do the
same job any better. The final stages of the NM process come down to a
single judgement call. If there is disagreement, who is right? Until
there is some reasonable way to determine that, there will be no sure-fire
way for everyone to be happy with NM. I don't believe this problem has a
complete solution, either.
Of course, these are just my opinions, I could be wrong. Either way, I
reserve the privelege of abusing the first person to suggest more process
as the solution to NM.
--
Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@bluecherry.net> No conceit in my family
* woot smiles serenely.
<woot> I don't want to seem over eager about getting into knghtbrd's
siglist.
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