Re: Slow development cycle

From: Kenneth C. Arnold (kcarnold@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun May 28 2000 - 14:53:01 EST


> Arg. Netiquette. Wrap your lines at 72 columns.

Oops. Sorry.

> "Kenneth C. Arnold" wrote:
> >
> > My issue is with the length of time between stable kernel releases. Take USB for example. 2.3.x had a relatively stable USB implementation for a while, but other messes prevented USB support from going into a stable kernel for how long? Two years after Windows 98 had support?
>
> Why do you even bother making this comparison? Linux USB support is a
> -volunteer effort-. If you want it to proceed more rapidly, hire some
> engineers. Or get off your butt and fix existing bugs. Griping about
> the pace of USB development is hardly a reasonable example.
>
> If you think Linux, even with current backing, can match Microsoft's
> present rate of driver development, you got another thing coming. We'll
> get there, but we still have a long way to go.

As in another reply, the "just one more thing" bites. Although in Windows
it always seems like "just one more bug" :) ... <insert something here about
getting some rich guy to hire some developers to do some Linux kernel work>

And I would get off my butt if Linux development wasn't such an exclusive
thing. Yes, I could submit a couple little patches to fix some minor things,
but it always seems like someone else has "exclusive maintainance rights"
to doing anything major. Maybe it's not, but from the "outside", that's
how it looks. I wasn't planning on griping about two things in one day,
but nevertheless I am.

Of course there is the issue of familiarity with the code. This is a delicate
trade-off. Helping others become familiar with how any piece of code works
requires either a lot of time, or good documentation (which takes a lot of
time for the developers). Interfaces, APIs, etc. -- the "glue", is what
really needs good documentation, though. The "hello world" examples
help immensely. On the other hand, would the "elite force" accept drivers,
patches, fixes, etc. based on such examples?

Oh well I've gone off on a rant again. And this isn't the place for rants :|
So I've toned it down a little...

(btw, people quit flaming each other over CML2 implementations and get
 it included -- so what if that's off-topic; it's necessary)

Kenneth

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