[Twisted-Python] Twisted Project Jobs Volunteer

[Corbin Simpson]

On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 10:33 AM, Glyph <glyph at twistedmatrix.com> wrote:
> On Nov 14, 2011, at 6:55 AM, Tim Allen wrote:
>
> It's very well to say "make git mirror, push to Github, get new
> contributors", but I think there's a social impedance mismatch here
> that's going to cause problems, or at least make people wary because
> Twisted's Github project behaves weirdly and differently from other
> Github projects they're used to.
>
> You're right, of course, but lots of other projects (Django comes to mind)
> have a Github presence without using Github or Git as their primary
> development tool.  See here: <https://github.com/django>.
> We already have <https://github.com/twisted>, it's just broken; despite the
> brokenness it has 14 watchers and 5 forks _anyway_, so clearly people want
> to use it.  This is definitely worse than having a mirror that was updated
> and working correctly.
>
> I've not forgotten that I have/had Twisted commit access, and coming
> back to help on a more regular basis is definitely on my list of things
> to do, although it's pushed down a fair way at the moment.  However,
> even "volunteer for Twisted" was right at the top of the list, I'd be
> a mug to sign up for such an open-ended responsibility. :)
>
> Welcome to open source.  It's all a never-ending thankless slog :-).
> Really the most important thing here though is just to get the automatic
> mirroring initially set up, not the never-ending ambassadorial work.  That
> way git users wouldn't _need_ elaborate instructions as to what to clone and
> how; if we just say "get twisted from github" and have that automatically
> updated it would be easier for everyone.

JP asked me to say something, so...

I come from FreeDesktop. We have a git-driven development process
which doesn't depend on Github. There is a cgit
(http://hjemli.net/git/cgit/about/) instance running on fd.o
(http://cgit.freedesktop.org/) which covers everybody's personal and
project repos.

The contribution process is simple and straightforward. Patches are
sent in through the project mailing lists. People can also send
patches through auxiliary channels like pastebins and IRC or the
Bugzilla, although that's discouraged. When contributors become
prolific enough, they can apply for account access, which lets them
host repos on fd.o through the magic of userdirs. Code is meritocratic
and community-based; when in doubt, a committer can ask for code
review. It varies from project to project; fd.o is a *big* umbrella.
Branches are very common for contested or complex changes; look at
e.g. mesa/mesa for an example of

-- 
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? ~ Keynes

Corbin Simpson
<MostAwesomeDude at gmail.com>