[mythtv] Question about becoming a "core developer" (ie commit access?)

[Nick Morrott]

On 13/04/2008, buzz <davidbuzz at gmail.com> wrote:
> HI Guys,
> Honest question... I've been wondering what the requirements are to becore a
> "core developer"  and/or  to get "commit access", and whether these things
> are actually the same or not?

As no-one important is answering :), I'd say they are different. If
you check http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/wiki/GoToDev, you'll the 'core'
functionality team responsible for the vast majority of daily commits
(think stuartm and nigel at the moment), and others with commit access
who are not as active, but still commit much-needed material.

> Is it as simple and dictatorial as "Isaac decides?" (which is OK, by the
> way), or is it more of a diplomatic/democratic system where oher dev's can
> decide/invite?
>
> Is there a criteria for what you must do in-order to be considered?    ( eg:
> "post at least X good patches, and create X new features?"   or perhaps "be
> involved in the project for X amount of time"? )

When I asked the same question some months ago in #mythtv, the answer
was that there isn't a *magic* number of patches, so it's more like a
judgement call. I've create 43 tickets, and had somewhere between
15-20 patches/enhancements committed with zero or minimal work
required by the committing dev. In an ideal world it would be nice to
be able to commit them when I've finished them, rather than wait a
year or bend a friendly (there are some) developer's ear to get them
committed.

> Oh, and Yes,
>  I did look through the wiki for this information, but didn't find it.  ( I
> might be blind though!)
>
> I'm just wondering, because I'd like to be considered. I've been around on
> the -dev list just a little while (sometime before sept 2005), and started
> posting patches in 2006 (#936 was my first) I also have been quite actively
> posting patches/etc for approx a year, including the first repeatable and
> automated build env/tools for win32 (on top of andre's great work porting it
> there in the first place).

I think it works on a positive feedback loop (at least it did for me
with XMLTV). It'd be nice for some dedicated patch submitters/home
developers to be offered commit access. If it's abused, privileges can
just as easily be taken away. If it works out well, the whole MythTV
community benefits, and the developer may well get even more involved
and productive.

I guess I'd rather see a useful patch/feature be committed quickly so
the community (and the dev's ego) benefits, rather than fester on trac
until just before a release, when developer time is short and it gets
ignored or bumped.

-- 
Nick Morrott

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