Wine developer frustration (was Re: ntdll: Improve stub of NtQueryEaFile.)

[GOUJON Alexandre]

On 06/15/2015 06:31 PM, Jeremy White wrote:
> <snip>
> With that said, I think this is a hard problem; I think it boils down to
> a request for Alexandre to be 'nicer', with varying shades of just what
> that means, and it's been discussed enough through the years that it's
> hard to discuss it constructively.
> <snip>
Everyone seems to forget that Alexandre is doing *a lot*.
The simple patch queue management is not an easy task.
I guess he classifies patches, reads them, looks at bugzilla entries, 
installs demo programs, tests patches, verifies them, discusses with 
other developpers, waits for author feedback...
Understanding the *real* issue is also complex. He needs to know every 
windows component, how they are related..

People just want their patch committed because 
it-is-the-best-solution-ever but AJ has to keep the project moving the 
right way, avoiding regressions...
Let's imagine you're at the other side with a continuous flow of patches...

Yes, he has to make choices (rejecting patches...) and sometimes, we 
don't get any input on what's wrong.
But when he says 'doesn't compile here', it shows people don't even test 
their stuff.
Clearly, Alexandre is doing a lot and .. for years so be nice with him ^^

What are the issues here ?
It seems people want feedback.
What's wrong with my patch ? Why is it pending ? Is my patch reviewed at 
all ? How to improve my patch, I'm a newbie...

And why ?
I guess AJ does too many things, lacks time and manpower.

We can automate things:
- compilation (done with testbot but not perfect yet)
- formatting checks (spaces, if block on several lines or not...)
- common issues (LPcrap...)

I don't know how statuses are managed but maybe a tool can be created or 
improved ?
We can provide a mentor when a newbie posts a patch for the first time 
so that AJ can do other things in the meantime. (or delegate to 
wine-staging or a kind of sandbox but AJ doesn't like the idea)
We could also use the 'sign-off' feature to delegate make a patch 
verified by a trusted dev (= having a list with domain <-> trusted dev).
We can write standard commit rules and patch lifecycle rules so that 
everyone know where their patch is far from commit.

Any other thoughts ?
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