Re: [Evolution] Evo bug squash?

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

I suspect that the best thing all round is to take this to the
evolution-hackers list since this is primarily a users list.

P.


On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 13:14 -0400, Andrew Montalenti wrote:
> I've been thinking about a way I could take Art's advice and make my
> criticism more constructive.  The only thing I can think of is by
> volunteering my own time to organize a "bug squash" day for Evolution.
> Is there already something like this scheduled?  If not, what's the best
> way for me to organize it?  What wiki should I use?  (I notice one on
> go-evolution.org and one on live.gnome.org -- which one's better?)
>
> I'm not a formal evo developer, but have enough C, GTK+ and GObject
> knowledge to hack around, albeit probably at a slower speed than
> full-time GNOME hackers.  Anyone else who has software experience and
> would have some time to volunteer to this?  I'm thinking it could be on
> an upcoming weekend, to accomodate people's work schedules.
>
> Also, what time zone are the core Evolution developers in?
>
> Andrew
>
> On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 12:55 -0400, Andrew Montalenti wrote:
> > Art,
> >
> > [reply below]
> >
> > On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 12:35 -0400, Art Alexion wrote:
> > > While I am as frustrated as you with some of the bugs and regressions
> > > that you mention, I don't think it is constructive, or even in your
> > > self interest, to take such a scolding and tattling tone with people,
> > > many of whom volunteer, to provide you with software for free.
> >
> > I certainly appreciate all the effort that has gone into Evolution over
> > the years, and have gotten much utility out of using it.
> >
> > Free software or not, there are basic standards for software releases
> > and engineering that should apply across the industry.  Evolution isn't
> > just in competition with other Free e-mail clients like Thunderbird or
> > Balsa.  It's in competition with proprietary e-mail clients as well,
> > like Outlook and GMail.
> >
> > The purpose of Free Software is not to provide "barely good enough" or
> > "barely usable" software for no cost.  The purpose of Free Software is
> > not to abandon all software engineering practices so that software is
> > released in an ad-hoc way.  The purpose of Free Software is not to
> > develop functionality in a vacuum, without considering users' interests
> > and requirements.
> >
> > Many open source products released throughout the years have shown that
> > Free Software can be *better*, and be *Free*.  These are not
> > countervailing trade-offs.  We should strive for providing *better*
> > software, developed in the open, and with source freely available.  It's
> > a complete cop-out to say, "Well, this is Free Software, so you have no
> > right to complain."
> >
> > GNOME is a software community like any other, filled with users who have
> > choices.  Users can abandon GNOME software if it frustrates them and
> > does not make their life easier.  They can abandon it for other Free
> > Software choices, or they can abandon it for proprietary software.  In
> > the former case, you've lost a user, and in the latter case, you've lost
> > much more than just a user.  So listening to these complaints, even if
> > they do have a "scolding or tattling tone", is imperative for the health
> > of the community.
> >
> > Andrew
>
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