On Fri, 10 Nov 2006, Jon Phillips wrote:
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:00:07 -0800 From: Jon Phillips <jon@...235...> To: Inkscape Development Mailing List inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Inkscape-devel] [Fwd: [Inkscape-tracker] [ inkscape-Patches-1591723 ] patch to access potrace parameters within inkscape]
Heya, all, this is why it is so good to keep our trackers nice and flowing...check the comments below...and I would like to say a big thanks to Alan and Bulia for spending so much time on cleaning up our trackers...
bulia is a little less pleased about the quality of some of my comments but I'm not entirely pleased about the quality of the reports either, especially the anonymous ones, reports with no repsonses at all, or the inherent flaws in the tracker itself like how it doesn't require/encourage duplicate reports to be cross referenced like bugzilla. the erratic quality of my reports is usually due to the mistake of going to the tracker when I'm tired and having no idea if comments will ever be read by reports create a strong disincentive to put more effort in. a short note of thanks from Jon has been a huge incentive to continue. if more people get active in the trackers and help ensure users get some kind of a timely reponse I'll be happy to find something else to do, it does have the advantage of being a task you can spend a few minutes on here and there and still be helpful.
Keeping the patches flowing is so helpful to bring in developers...
The patch tracker in particular is the place to look for people who are already well on their way to becoming contributors. A timely response and more encouragement may be all that is needed to get more patches. A late response or allowing patches to bit rot is not good at all.
Going through the Request tracker and encouraging users can sometimes pay off too. Reports with detailed requirements (but not too many implementation restrictions) and clear examples can make it easier for outside developers to get involved.
In the following report I asked the user (no idea if he was the reporter too) just to try adding a new marker arrowhead.
[ 1576574 ] New marker : triple dashes/dots https://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1576574&gr...
When asked for samples and screenshots he willingly made the extra effort to provide them. CVS (or SVN) may be second nature to developers and it might actually be easier sometimes to do it yourself but it doesn't hurt to ask users to try first. If you get lucky and find an interested users it can be better in the long run to explain and teach them a little as these tasks can be quite daunting at first. For very little effort we got ourselves a new contributor.
I'm not always in the best position to identify which bugs really are easy to fix, "low hanging fruit" some projects call them. If developers who do know could take a little extra time to explain how they might implement a solution it can really lower the barrier for new contributors. With projects like the Google summer of code there are clearly identified problems, and in a small way the roadmap helps do this too and indentify things new developers might tackle. Again the google summer of code required designated mentors, and some projects have tried to recreate the sense of mentors in an ongoing way for their project. Perhaps if there was some way I could check who was most familiar with certain areas of the code I could I assing them to certain requests (and when I say assign I would only expect a comment).
Inkscape has been pretty good at marketing and gaining attention but converting that attention into new contributors is a tougher trick and not something most projects are good at.
The list of "Help Wanted" items Aaron Spike suggested is a phenomonally good idea.
Sincerely
Alan Horkan
Inkscape http://inkscape.org Abiword http://www.abisource.com Open Clip Art http://OpenClipArt.org
Alan's Diary http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/