Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:01:55 +1100 From: Josh Goodall <joshua@roughtrade.net> To: Mark Linimon <linimon@lonesome.com> Cc: freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org, eadler@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: kern/29355: [kernel] [patch] add lchflags support Message-ID: <7E4E5C28-53D7-4F38-98A3-4646DF8254CF@roughtrade.net> In-Reply-To: <20121113211136.GB27821@lonesome.com> References: <201211132050.qADKoKOk037104@freefall.freebsd.org> <01AD3CCE-D478-4F03-8FD7-935429465B56@roughtrade.net> <20121113211136.GB27821@lonesome.com>
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On 14/11/2012, at 8:11 AM, Mark Linimon <linimon@lonesome.com> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 08:07:02AM +1100, Josh Goodall wrote: >> The handling of this PR is the reason I stopped contributing to = FreeBSD. >=20 > We simply get more PRs than we can handle. I know that's not an > answer that will satisfy anyone, but it's the truth. >=20 > mcl I filed this PR over a decade ago, so really "we didn't get around to = it" seems like a thin excuse. But there's more to it than that. When originally lodged, I'd been = interested in FreeBSD for a while, contributed several ports and the odd = userland PR, I'd spent a few months learning the kernel structure, = looking for a small real-world project to get started. I liked hacking on FreeBSD a lot; I had hopes of eventually earning a = commit bit. I did a very thorough job on the lchflags patch, finding = every possible userland tool (cp, rm, tape, chflags, mtree etc etc) that = needed to learn about it, and produced a patch that bright (or maybe = cmc) described (very memorably, to me, the hopeful novice) on IRC as "a = textbook example of adding a system call". Man was I proud of that = review. Still, no-one wanted to actually commit it. I figured, oh well, = eventually I'll find a taker. I updated it every now and then to ensure = currency. Then, one day in 2002, mux committed a half-assed lchflags that didn't = have much of the userland stuff, contained a syscall signature = inconsistent of the rest of the VOP_SETATTR calls (making base system = mods much more complicated), and sans credit. No-one seemed to care, and, having had my novice work so brusquely = sidelined, I lost interest in contributing further to FreeBSD and moved = on to other projects. This is all water long under the bridge, of course, but I never went on = the record about it before. Take it as a parable of how to lose a = contributor, if you like. Josh.
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