Received: from sog-mx-4.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com ([172.29.43.194] helo=mx.sourceforge.net) by sfs-ml-3.v29.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtp (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1QmEGW-0000dy-Ou for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:15:52 +0000 X-ACL-Warn: Received: from mail-iy0-f175.google.com ([209.85.210.175]) by sog-mx-4.v43.ch3.sourceforge.com with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128) (Exim 4.76) id 1QmEGU-00033D-LD for bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net; Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:15:52 +0000 Received: by iyj12 with SMTP id 12so3211948iyj.34 for ; Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:15:45 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.42.168.136 with SMTP id w8mr341591icy.267.1311812144953; Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:15:44 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.42.98.18 with HTTP; Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:15:44 -0700 (PDT) X-Originating-IP: [99.173.148.118] In-Reply-To: References: <1311765274.9830.3.camel@mei> <201107271028.28057.luke@dashjr.org> <1311786944.9830.77.camel@mei> Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:15:44 -0400 Message-ID: From: Jeff Garzik To: Gavin Andresen Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Spam-Score: 0.0 (/) X-Spam-Report: Spam Filtering performed by mx.sourceforge.net. See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details. 0.0 AWL AWL: From: address is in the auto white-list X-Headers-End: 1QmEGU-00033D-LD Cc: bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] Seeking advice: Encouraging bug-fixing over new features X-BeenThere: bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:15:52 -0000 Linux kernel has not solved this problem; developers simply want to work on interesting stuff, rather than debug, I think. The best Linus has done so far it making certain periods of time bugfix-only, refusing to take new feature pushes during the stability period. If there are critical bugs, refusing to release the kernel until a developer fixes the regressions they added. Linux is large enough, though, that the ecosystem has grown a support network, where companies pay for support (one big way my employer stays in business), which includes bug fixes. So the paid support orgs, like Red Hat, wind up going a lot of grunt work fixing because they are the closest contact to actual users in the field encountering problems with the Wonderful New Features bestowed upon them by developers. "drop and run" coding is a term for developers who appear, commit a new feature, and then disappear without addressing bug reports or other feedback regarding their contribution. -- Jeff Garzik exMULTI, Inc. jgarzik@exmulti.com