-----Original Message----- From: boost-bounces@lists.boost.org [mailto:boost-bounces@lists.boost.org] On Behalf Of Daniel James Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 9:00 AM To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: Re: [boost] Review Queue Needs Attention
Paul A. Bristow said
(And a state not damned with faint praise like 'unstable' - which is perhaps better described as 'likely_to_be_improved' rather than actively 'not stable').
The apache incubator might be a more appropriate inspiration than Debian unstable.
What's the difference between a non-stable branch as you're suggesting and the existing sandbox? The only difference I could see is to establish some kind of pre-review
I like 'incubator' :-) Hartmut Kaiser wrote process. Sandbox is vital for authors to develop code *jointly* - but for a long time it may not be fit for public consumption. OK, that will take some admin, but much less than a full review because it's not such a long-term commitment that a full review involves. It's pretty obvious if something is worth giving wider exposure. Competing libraries can happily compete ;-) (It would also take some admin to agree that some 'bad egg' libraries might be *removed* from the incubator - but that should be much less contentious too - author 'missing in action', no maintenance, no docs, no users, no progress...).
But that would just move the problem to a different spot, no?
OK It doesn't solve the review problem, but stuff that comes up for review should be in a finished (polished even) state - unlike too many of the things that come up for review. It should be easy to say 'not ready yet' to projects that lack documentation, user base, adequate testing etc without the risk of the authors giving up. As I see it, people are reluctant to put in the considerable amount of 'polishing' work to 'Boost Quality' unless they are reasonably confident that it will prove worth the effort. Incubating will build that confidence. Paul --- Paul A. Bristow Prizet Farmhouse Kendal, UK LA8 8AB +44 1539 561830, mobile +44 7714330204 pbristow@hetp.u-net.com