Re: The point of open source ...

[Jules Bean <jmlb2 hermes cam ac uk>]

Joe Williams wrote:
> 
> (from ryan)
> > I think the point of open source development is that there is no "one
> > developer" whom you must beg to implement features. I agree with you that
> > POP support is critical to any good email package, as people will be using
> > POP for quite some time to come. But why get all huffy about it when the
> > source code and general development is open? If you do not have the
> > programming skills yourself, someone out there probably will -- playing a
> > support role like organizing coders would be better than just complaining,
> > wouldn't it?
> 
>     Err, that is, of course, if the developers bother to accept source
> code from other people.  About a month ago I had some free time
> and decided to try to contribute to a GNUish project.  Balsa seemed
> like it could use some help.  I'm new to the GUI stuff so I decided I would
> get used to it by doing grunt-work and fix bugs before I tried to do
> something flashy like add PGP support.  I sent some fixes for the mailbox
> configuring stuff to this list and asked about how to get CVS access.  So
> far, no one integrated my fixes to the CVS repository, no one answered my
> question on CVS, and no one bothered to tell me my code was a piece of crap
> and they didn't want it(if this, indeed, was the reason why it wasn't added).
> Of course I could go and create "Joe's Balsa" but it's not worth the effort.
> If Balsa wants to die because of lack of developer support, so be it.  I'm sure
> some other GNOME mailer would spring up to take it's place.

*grins*

Well, when you sent those patches, no one was working on balsa.

So it's not that anyone deliberately didn't integrate them - it's simply
that no one was working on it at all.

I have your patches, and I'll have a look at them when I get a chance -
as I will look at Morten Welinder's patches too.

Your work certainly wasn't in vain.

Jules

-- 
/----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\
|  Jelibean aka  | jules@jellybean.co.uk         |  6 Evelyn Rd        |
|  Jules aka     |                               |  Richmond, Surrey   |
|  Julian Bean   | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk        |  TW9 2TF *UK*       |
+----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------+
|  War doesn't demonstrate who's right... just who's left.             |
|  When privacy is outlawed... only the outlaws have privacy.          |
\----------------------------------------------------------------------/