Patch Piloting: how much of the extra mile do you go?

[Daniel Holbach]

Hello Scott,

Am 22.07.2011 19:51, schrieb Scott Moser:
> As an example (of something I don't know what to do with), there are
> currently 5 dependent merge proposals in the queue:
>    lp:~pali/ubuntu/oneiric/initramfs-tools/initramfs-tools
>    lp:~pali/ubuntu/oneiric/cryptsetup/cryptsetup
>    lp:~pali/ubuntu/oneiric/lsb/lsb
>    lp:~pali/ubuntu/oneiric/kubuntu-default-settings/kubuntu-default-settings
> They're all dependent on:
>   https://code.launchpad.net/~pali/ubuntu/natty/plymouth/plymouth/+merge/61897
> 
> The User/developer developed their changes against Ubuntu, because that is
> where they get their software.  To He/She (and I would suspect a *great*
> number of people), it is quite possible that Ubuntu acceptance is really
> all that matters.
> 
>>From Ubuntu's perspective, it was the right thing to ask that it be
> submitted upstream to see how they felt about it.  The user went ahead and
> did that, but no-one has responded upstream on the mailing list to the
> post.

I agree that it's a good idea to get an invasive patch like this
reviewed and included upstream first. It was definitely the right thing
to ask for.


> The patches can surely use some work, but I believe that the general goal
> is desirable (even if you disagree, you can imagine a case that would
> be).  It seems quite likely that if the developer does not have help,
> they're quite likely to
>  a.) give up on this patch
>  b.) give up on submitting to Ubuntu
> 
> Should we go the *extra* mile and push on the Upstream, and help to clean
> the patches up and provide doc?
> 
> I don't want to sound like I'm just "Punching the clock", but this series
> of proposals could very easily eat my 4 hour block of piloting.  I think
> that is one reason that people have shied away from it.
> 
> To me, a large value of the Patch Pilot was to give someone a "friend" or
> "champion" in Ubuntu.  This series of patches is in-need of that.

This particular case is unfortunate. I just cloned upstream master and
tried to apply the patch but it seems like quite a bit of work to update
it to current trunk. I personally have little idea about plymouth, so I
won't be of any help here.

What I think we can do and what I'm happy to help with is:

 * point out in our patch/sponsorship documentation, that big changes,
   especially changes of core functionality should be done in close
   cooperation of upstream and that we are willing to help starting
   the conversation. This will hopefully avoid that huge patches don't
   apply in current trunk any more.
 * point out in our code review documentation, that we should not only
   say "take it upstream", but also add a comment saying: "if you need
   help filing it upstream, find me on IRC, etc." This is an offer which
   will only take us a few minutes, but make sure that good work won't
   sit there for weeks.

What do you think?

Have a great day,
 Daniel

-- 
Ubuntu Cloud Days - 15th-26th July 2011
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuCloudDays