From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (smtp1.linux-foundation.org [172.17.192.35]) by mail.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 2D68B8B4 for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:57:38 +0000 (UTC) Received: from relay4-d.mail.gandi.net (relay4-d.mail.gandi.net [217.70.183.196]) by smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 87D4A176 for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:57:37 +0000 (UTC) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:57:32 -0700 From: Josh Triplett To: Jonathan Corbet Message-ID: <20150716155732.GB2304@jtriplet-mobl1> References: <20150710160714.GL111846@vmdeb7> <20150710222351.GA28632@kroah.com> <20150711000034.GU111846@vmdeb7> <20150711001348.GA30675@kroah.com> <20150711055441.GA6316@sudip-PC> <20150715212043.775be5d2@gandalf.local.home> <20150716132551.GH4039@sirena.org.uk> <20150716094720.2bf9f5ac@gandalf.local.home> <55A7C7FE.6000604@sonymobile.com> <20150716094125.16cdda73@lwn.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20150716094125.16cdda73@lwn.net> Cc: "ksummit-discuss@lists.linuxfoundation.org" , Dan Carpenter , Jason Cooper Subject: Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [CORE TOPIC] Recruitment (Reviewers, Testers, Maintainers, Hobbyists) List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 09:41:25AM -0600, Jonathan Corbet wrote: > On Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:04:30 -0700 > Tim Bird wrote: > > > On 07/16/2015 06:47 AM, Steven Rostedt wrote: > > > One of the issues with newcomers coming to development of the Linux > > > kernel, is that every maintainer is different. We should be trying > > > harder to let people know what we prefer. Every maintainer expects > > > something different, but it's up to the maintainer to explicitly let > > > others know what they want. You can't expect everyone to read your mind. > > > > I agree with this completely. When you switch systems (which I've done > > something like 5 times in the last 2 years), you are essentially a newbie > > in that new system. > > > > How about putting some notes in the MAINTAINER file for things like > > this, that some get_maintainer.pl option could show? > > We could use a I: prefix, for "Instructions:" (only because 'N:' > > is already used.) > > So somebody has to play the devil's advocate and ask this question... > Are we really better off documenting the fact that what looks like a > single project is actually a collection of a hundred or so idiosyncratic > fiefdoms with their own contact protocols, coding styles, beer > preferences, and more? Or perhaps we might think about gravitating toward > a more uniform set of conventions? Preferably the ones I use? :) Agreed completely. We already maintain a uniform set of coding style conventions (with only one notable exception in net/) and one uniform set of patch guidelines ("the perfect patch", as implemented by git format-patch). It's not unreasonable to maintain a uniform set of maintenance procedures as well. - Josh Triplett