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 4BC289FB for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:58:00 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-oi0-f45.google.com (mail-oi0-f45.google.com [209.85.218.45]) by smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D0E45176 for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:57:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: by oigd21 with SMTP id d21so10860323oig.1 for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:57:59 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <20150716094125.16cdda73@lwn.net> References: <20150708114011.3a1f1861@noble> <2879113.fraeuJIr2M@avalon> <20150709193718.GD9169@vmdeb7> <20150710143641.GW4341@mwanda> <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> Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:57:58 -0700 Message-ID: From: Olof Johansson To: Jonathan Corbet Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 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 8:41 AM, 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? :) > > Seriously, this area is a minefield for new developers; it can be > discouraging to put together your first patch, carefully follow > everything found in SubmittingPatches, CodingStyle, SubmitChecklist, and > HOWTO, appease the checkpatch.pl beast, carefully run get_maintainer.pl > with the correct command-line options, and follow all the suggestions > provided by reddit, Phoronix and 4chan, only to be told that the patch > came in during the wrong phase of the moon and they really should have > known better. > > Not sure what the real answer is, but something tells me that adding a > new domain-specific language to MAINTAINERS isn't quite it :) Hmm. How about something such as an initial (friendly) gatekeeper that fronts the submissions and helps steer them in the right direction and in the right format (with follow-up) for those who are unsure? I'm not sure it'll be possible to achieve at the scale it's needed, but it could be worth a try. Or, just as with some other suggestions, maybe it has already been tried and didn't go anywhere. -Olof