Re: Suggestion: Time limit for NM process
Thaddeus H. Black <t <at> b-tk.org> writes:
> I am not sure that it scales that way. One must respect
> those who disagree, but them I ask a question: If
> Debian had ten thousand Developers, do you think that
> the Project could get any useful work done at all?
What are you talking about? If an existing contributor is made into
a Developer, does this suddenly make it harder for people in the
project to get useful work done?
Ten thousand processors will do ten times as much work as one
thousand processors except insofar as there is some sort of overhead
or inefficiency that grows with the number of processors. Does
turning a contributor into a Developer increase overhead or
inefficiency in some way?
> The frustration of applicants now in stream is not hard
> to understand, but how are we to unfrustrate them?
By not leaving them in limbo for indefinite numbers of months/years?
> Shall we admit more new DDs faster? What do we observe
> to be the relationship between quantity and quality? If
> quantity is the enemy of quality, then what is the
> Project to do about this?
So the mere fact that there are more Developers would hurt the
quality of the distribution? Can you explain how that works?
> Surely the NM process has real problems, but even if the
> process were perfected, what then? Debian does not want
> for Developers.
>
> So long as there are more applicants than the Project can absorb,
> then a long NM process is an uncomfortable but pretty effective filter.
This nicely confirms the impression that some applicants have that
they aren't wanted.
That's fine, but if applicants aren't wanted then you should tell them
that before they start spending a lot of time (their own and others')
on NM. Don't lead them on.
> It took me three years of steady contribution to Debian
> development to make DD. If an applicant now in stream
> shows dedication and some talent, if he proves reasonably
> amiable, then chances are that he'll not wait so long.
> Old-time Developers hardly waited at all, but give them
> credit: they were the ones who built the Project into
> something worth joining.
I guess your point here is that although the "filter" is necessary,
it is still possible to make it through provided one has sufficient
virtue. Classic self-serving elitist worldview. Or are you just
contradicting your statement that the NM filter is effective at
keeping the numbers down? Hard to tell.
--
Thomas Hood
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