XFree86 needs a Fork [LWN.net]

From:		anandsr@hss.hns.com
To:		letters@lwn.net
Subject:		XFree86 needs a Fork
Date:		Sat, 22 Mar 2003 12:17:28 +0530

Hi,

I don't know anything about the development of XF86. But after reading just
a little bit of material I can realize that that is what is required. I am
surprised that nobody did it for so long. Kudos to Keith Packard for taking
the plunge, I hope he succeeds in revitalizing X, under whatever name he
brings it out.

I think you don't need any more reasons for a fork than Mike Harris's diary,
http://www.advogato.org/person/mharris/diary.html?start=5

In the Open Source World a project is only successful if it can attract a
large no. of developers. The larger the pool of developers the larger the
project. It doesn't matter how many users you have, because they do not
contribute. If they did they would be developers. Xfree86 has a meagre 250
developers, and only 14 are allowed to make a change after reviewing.
This is pathetically low for a project of XF86 size. This can only mean two
things, you don't even need to know anything else for this conclusion.

1) Current Development model of XF86 sucks and it sucks really really hard.
2) Current Developers aren't accepting outside help. They either think they
are the best and nobody can do a better job than themselves, or they think
that allowing other people in will reduce their importance. The first shows
a psychological problem the other is a measure of incompetence.

If 2) wasn't true 1) would have been solved. So there is a distinct necessity
of creating a fork.

The best thing about Open Source Projects is that if the current developers
are not doing justice to a project then you have the option to fork.

I hope Keith will be able to pool in a large no. of developers and hopefully
they will be able to move ahead of current XF86 within a short time.

I also desperately need a properly working driver for my i830M chipset, which
is not working even after almost 2 years of updates.

thanks,
-anandsr

(Log in to post comments)

XFree86 needs a Fork

Posted Mar 28, 2003 3:08 UTC (Fri) by jon_silicide (guest, #9935) [Link]

You "don't know anything" and still you "realize that that is what is required"... Your opening paragraf leaves no doubt about the quality of the rest of your post.

Other people have commented about Mike Harris's claim in other comment threads about this X related situation. Those people claimed that the code that Mike Harris submitted to the X people wasnt as good as the X people wanted it. It's like when Linus doesnt like a patch... he doesnt include it.

ad. 1:
Earlier you said "I don't know anything about the development of XF86" infact this was your very first sentence. If you dont know anything, how can you make any claim about wether or not the "Development model of XF86 sucks and it sucks really really hard" ?

ad. 2:
How do you know the XF86 developers arent accepting outside help ? you yourself wrote "I don't know anything about the development of XF86". Next i could think of other reasons for hessitating inclussion of patches into the Xfree86 tree. Like who's ass is on the line if the code isnt good enough ? users will blaim the XFree86 team, you certainly did, and not the one submitting the bad patch.
It might very well be that noone else can do a better job because they arent allowed to join and learn, and they are not allowed to join (and learn) because they cant do the job good enough.

ad. i830M:
Well, JUST DO IT. See this link for more information about how to get started being an XFree86 developer. In the open source world you dont ask to get stuff done, you do stuff yourself.
http://www.xfree86.org/developer.html

JonB

XFree86 needs a Fork

Posted Mar 29, 2003 7:29 UTC (Sat) by roskegg (subscriber, #105) [Link]

To the previous commenter, "Jon Silicide"; your post was offensive, and beside the point. The writer of the original letter was spot on the money, and his observations were accurate, even though English isn't his first language. If you have two sheep, and two goats, you don't have to be an expert husbandman with twenty years of farm experience and a masters degree in English to say to others: "Gee, there's four animals here!"

A Debian Developer

XFree86 needs a Fork

Posted Apr 3, 2003 22:57 UTC (Thu) by s_cargo (guest, #10473) [Link]

"If you have two sheep, and two goats, you don't have to be an expert husbandman with twenty years of farm experience and a masters degree in English to say to others: "Gee, there's four animals here!"

True. Someone possessing no knowledge of animal husbandry can make a statement having nothing to do with animal husbandry. If same person tells farmer "I don't know anything about animal husbandry but you're doing it all wrong"...

A Debian Non-user