Re: none

[Leo Famulari <leo@famulari.name>]

On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 10:50:14PM +1000, Jookia wrote:
> On top of that, the maintainers can't even use the mailing list properly:
> Patches are lost, discussion doesn't happen, things are lost and it's hard for
> new users to join in. Who exactly benefits from this workflow compared to
> something web-based? Sure, maybe you could argue that the maintainers are best
> served with it, or that you personally are attuned to that. Fine, but let's not
> pretend the mailing list isn't gruelling.

I've heard a handful of people express frustration with a mail-based
workflow. Here's what's easy for me:

1) I set up my mail provider / server to put all mail from
guix-devel@gnu.org into a Guix mailbox. This doesn't require advanced
knowledge. Even the most "user-friendly" solutions like GMail have this
feature.

2) When a message is "done", I put it in an Archive mailbox or delete
it. A message is done when it no longer requires attention. For example,
when I've replied and am waiting for the other person to reply, or when
a patch has been merged.

> It's a complicated setup in return for being able to track what's happening in
> the project. If I were to ask, 'how many patches are pending review' right now
> you'd have absolutely no idea.

I can look at my Guix mailbox to see all outstanding patches.

By the way, if someone asks the submitter to look into something or make
a change, the patch is no longer outstanding until they reply. The ball
is now in their court. I archive their message if I have nothing else to
add [0]. We all manage *our own submissions*. Nobody else is responsible
for that. Otherwise, we can't expect that the submitter will maintain
their code once it has been merged.

[0] Sometimes I don't archive messages, because I know that I will pick
up the work if the submitter drops it.