trainedmonkey
bug tracking and code review
i was going to write some reactions to an observation that postgresql has no bug tracker and its discussion last week, but lost the spark and abandoned the post after a few days. but today i ran across a quote from linus torvalds that neatly sums up my thoughts:
We’ve always had some pending/unresolved issues, and I think that as our tracking gets better, there’s likely to be more of them. A number of bug-reports are either hard to reproduce (often including from the reporter) or end up without updates etc.
before there was a bug tracking system for mysql, there was a claim that all bugs were fixed in each release (or documented), and there has been a lot of pain in seeing how well that sort of claim stacks up against a actual growing repository of bug reports. if the postgresql project were to adopt a bug-tracking system, i am certain that they would find the same issue. before long, they would be planning bug triage days just like every other project with a bug-tracking system seems destined to do.
another good email from linus about these issues was pointed out by a coworker, but this part in particular caught my eye:
Same goes for “we should all just spend time looking at each others patches and trying to find bugs in them.” That’s not a solution, that’s a drug-induced dream you’re living in. And again, if I want to discuss dreams, I’d rather talk about my purple guy, and the bad things he does to the hedgehog that lives next door.
the procedure at mysql for code reviews is that either two other developers must review the patch, or one of an elite group of developers who are trusted to make single reviews. then the developer can push their changes into their team trees, taking care to have merged the changes correctly in anywhere from one to four versions (4.1 and up).
this is a huge amount of friction, and is one of the most significant problems causing pain for mysql development. two reviewers is just too high of a bar for most patches, and having the rule makes the reviews rote and less useful. there is also an unreasonable amount of distrust being displayed by this procedure, that says that developers can’t be trusted to ask for help when they are unsure, but should feel free to make the occasional mistake by pushing something that isn’t quite right.
i wonder if we could be taking better lessons from linux’s hierarchical development model, with the pulling of code up through lieutenants to a single main repository, rather than the existing model that involves every developer moving their own stones up the pyramid. it would require some developers (more senior ones, presumably) to spend more of their time doing code management as opposed to actual coding.
monty is not particularly happy with the state of development of his brainchild now. would he be happier if he were in a linus-like role of rolling up patches and managing releases?
i wish had the patience to write at less length and greater coherence about this.
wonton had a birthday
the photo set shows the cake, the eating, and the aftermath. a good time was had by all.
bill gross no longer has my money
i don’t know if it is at all related to my blogging about how bill gross has my money last october, but not only does bill gross have less of my money, now he doesn’t have any of it. idealab made a tender offer to its stockholders, mostly to clear out the small ones like me, and i opted to sell my shares. it wasn’t a lot of money, but it is nice to have it liquid again.
vote!
a picture that i took of wonton is one of the top photos on purina pet charts for today. you can vote for him. i don’t know what happens if he wins.
connector/odbc 3.51.25 and 5.1.4
connector/odbc 3.51.25 and 5.1.4 were released today. the new 5.1 release has been deemed “generally available,” which is our really ridiculous term for a non-alpha/beta/rc release.
it was the day for the connectors team to do releases — previews of connector/openoffice.org and pdo_mysqlnd made it out before us, and i believe that a connector/net release is in the wings.
a return to elegance
this brochure for the alexandria hotel has been kicking around on my desk for a long time waiting for me to scan it. celia got it from a security guard when she first moved into the alexandria.
it is in spanish, and is dated may 1, 1975.
you can still find some signs in the alexandria that feature the “a return to elegance” tagline that this brochure uses. or at least you could a year or two ago.
i am drowning!
the benches that have been added to main street recently are a nice touch. some of the other recent streetscape additions have been misfires. many of the planters look like this one, or worse — empty, dead or dying plants, and consistently overwatered. i seem to recall there are some health risks with having lots of pools of standing water around.
seriously, fuck dhl
there is no company that inspires my hatred quite like dhl does. both ups and fedex are able to deliver packages to us on a regular basis. fedex has the occasional problem, but then at least leaves a delivery notice. dhl consistently fails to deliver packages, only bothers letting us know after a week or so of their failures, and then lies to us about the banker’s hours that their pick-up office keeps. they screwed up christmas in 2006, and things have not improved since then.
i’ve had to ask the most recent package sender to please re-send using a company who has delivering packages as a core competency. i don’t know what dhl actually does, but it does not appear to have much to do with delivering packages.
someone is speaking well of you.
look to nature to discover your talents.
busted on main
we heard a police helicopter outside, and a police officer shouting more than the usual “pull over” that we sometimes hear, and taking a look out the window revealed this scene. the man laying down next to the car (partially out of frame) and the three women on the sidewalk were all taken into custody.
the police pulled a speaker out of the back of the car, and the general sense we got from our high perch was that this was a drug bust. not surprising, given how much drug activity there is right on that little stretch of main street.
you can’t see it in this picture, but the back of the man’s baseball cap said “foolish.”
