From: Francis Hwang <sera@...>
Date: 2004-10-28T22:10:49+09:00
Subject: Re: standard libraries [was: 1.8.2 - what can we do to help?]


On Oct 27, 2004, at 12:03 PM, Dave Thomas wrote:
>
> I don't think so. The problem with the RDP, and I anticipate with any 
> RLP, is that the folks doing the work are not the folks writing the 
> code. This often leads to disconnects between what is done and the 
> intention of the library writer. It also means that we're always 
> playing catch-up.
>
> I would much rather see an atmosphere created where everyone 
> understands that libraries must meet certain standards: versioning, 
> testing, documentation, and so on, and the have the library writer put 
> together the necessary resources to make their libraries compliant. In 
> future, no library should be added to the core until it meets these 
> standards.

This addresses what has to happen before a library is accepted into the 
stdlib. But what happens afterwards? There will be obscure little bugs 
in various libraries for years to come.

What I'm talking about isn't so much standards or tools, but 
relationships. The various parts of the Ruby community are learning to 
talk to one another in different ways, in different situations. I think 
the goal, for this particular problem, is to make sure that anytime 
somebody tries to report a bug with a standard library, somebody always 
gets back to them. It's almost more of a customer service problem.

Anyway, maybe having a bug tracking tool at Rubyforge will make this 
easier. I'll be happy to add to that tool myself.

F.