Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors

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To: Karel Kulhavy <clock@...>
Cc: OpenBSD <misc@...>
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 4:26 pm

> Is there a list similar to Linux kernel janitors also for OpenBSD? It's a list

No, there isn't.

There are, however, two de-facto janitors for the OpenBSD kernels:
martin@ and I. Those janitors, however, are experienced developers.

Quite frankly, the idea of the janitor being a rookie scares the hell
out of me. How can you trust people if these people admittedly do not
know what they are doing, or why they are doing things one way and not
another?

That said, I have a huge todolist, as a brain dump in text format. A
good quarter of it are simple tasks, which one may consider janitor
level.

I am even considering posting it to tech@ on a rainy day with a bit more
details.

I am adamant I'll find volunteers to work on the various items.

But in order to be able to trust their work, I'll need to share
knowledge and make sure these people are smart and bold enough to
understand what they are doing.

This is not a problem, per se. The problem is - as usual - time. There
are items on my list I don't have time to do, which would take me N
hours.

If I need to talk to someone and ``hold his/her hand'' and guide
him/her for 4*N hours, I've lost even more time.

I am not reluctant to share my experience. I just don't have enough time
to do this, and I can not guarantee I'll be able to devote those 4*N
hours to someone to help him/her get started and work on nice things.

That's a waste, because these janitoring tasks make you learn a lot of
things in no time.

But I don't want to betray the trust of people willing to help, as long
as I am able to help them get started until they can fly by themselves,
by not being there enough time in the beginning.

Working on the kernel is not something you can do with a ``1 hour every
week or every month'' rate. You need to dive for a longer time,
especially at the beginning, because there are many things to get
acquainted with. That's when you need as much support as possible. And
that's the kind of support I, as an individual, can not provide.

Miod

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Messages in current thread:
OpenBSD kernel janitors, Karel Kulhavy, (Tue Oct 30, 3:31 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Miod Vallat, (Tue Oct 30, 4:26 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Karel Kulhavy, (Sat Nov 3, 6:53 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Daniel Ouellet, (Sat Nov 3, 5:16 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Hannah Schroeter, (Sat Nov 3, 5:30 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Matthias Kilian, (Sat Nov 3, 6:44 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Daniel Ouellet, (Sat Nov 3, 7:16 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Daniel Ouellet, (Sat Nov 3, 6:13 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Gerardo Santana Gómez Garrido..., (Tue Oct 30, 8:52 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Richard Wilson, (Wed Oct 31, 8:52 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, n0g0013, (Tue Oct 30, 9:20 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Marcus Andree, (Wed Oct 31, 8:15 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors , Theo de Raadt, (Wed Oct 31, 10:20 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Nick Guenther, (Wed Oct 31, 10:30 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Daniel Ouellet, (Wed Oct 31, 4:34 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Pierre Riteau, (Wed Oct 31, 11:55 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Karel Kulhavy, (Sat Nov 3, 7:23 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Marc Espie, (Wed Oct 31, 1:07 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Philip Guenther, (Wed Oct 31, 11:37 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Bob Beck, (Wed Oct 31, 10:53 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Nick Guenther, (Wed Oct 31, 11:02 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Tony Abernethy, (Wed Oct 31, 10:50 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, , (Wed Oct 31, 11:01 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Ben Goren, (Wed Oct 31, 10:38 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Artur Grabowski, (Wed Oct 31, 11:44 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, n0g0013, (Wed Oct 31, 11:54 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Peter N. M. Hansteen, (Wed Oct 31, 2:28 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Ted Unangst, (Wed Oct 31, 3:57 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Owain Ainsworth, (Thu Nov 1, 5:15 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Darrin Chandler, (Wed Oct 31, 4:05 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors , Theo de Raadt, (Wed Oct 31, 11:49 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Karel Kulhavy, (Sat Nov 3, 7:16 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, William Boshuck, (Sat Nov 3, 8:56 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Jonathan Gray, (Sat Nov 3, 7:56 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, n0g0013, (Wed Oct 31, 11:56 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Luke Bakken, (Wed Oct 31, 2:57 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, bofh, (Wed Oct 31, 12:52 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Claudio Jeker, (Wed Oct 31, 12:48 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Claudio Jeker, (Wed Oct 31, 12:10 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors , Theo de Raadt, (Wed Oct 31, 12:05 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, n0g0013, (Wed Oct 31, 12:10 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, mickey, (Wed Oct 31, 11:25 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Marcus Andree, (Wed Oct 31, 11:41 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Ted Unangst, (Wed Oct 31, 12:58 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, mickey, (Wed Oct 31, 12:47 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Bret Lambert, (Wed Oct 31, 1:08 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, n0g0013, (Wed Oct 31, 11:50 am)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Jason McIntyre, (Wed Oct 31, 1:10 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, mickey, (Wed Oct 31, 12:58 pm)
Re: OpenBSD kernel janitors, Ted Unangst, (Wed Oct 31, 12:54 pm)