[FFmpeg-devel] maintainer duties (was: Re: [PATCH] fix speex sample)

[Diego Biurrun]

On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 04:52:44PM +0200, Michael Niedermayer wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 04:15:01PM +0200, Diego Biurrun wrote:
> > 
> > I think maintainers should (in descending order of priorities)
> > 
> > 1) review patches,
> > 2) fix bugs and
> > 3) implement missing features
> > 
> > in the areas they maintain.  Of course since especially 3) can take
> > arbitrary amounts of time, things have to be prioritized according to
> > the factors fun and importance.
> > 
> > Patch review can take several iterations.  Sometimes it's quicker to fix
> > up patches or implement alternatives directly instead of having the
> > patch submitter do it.  In these cases I think it's preferable for the
> > maintainer to do the coding unless one expects the patch submitter to
> > learn some valuable lesson that may pay off down the road.
> > 
> > I'm under the impression that you could often fix issues in much less
> > than the time it takes you to write reviews.  In other words, I believe
> > you could work more efficiently if you skipped a review every once in a
> > while.
> 
> i try to test changes before commiting so while it may be a 1 line change
> testing will in general take more time than writing a reply

Testing can often be done in the background.  My point is that there are
cases when fixing and testing by oneself takes less time than going back
and forth with the patch sender.

> > Also, if patch submitters are unresponsive IMO maintainers should fix up
> > and commit patches themselves.
> 
> If they have the time ...

I'm fully aware that we lack manpower in the patch review department.
Nonetheless, my point still stands.

Diego