Re: Patch pinging

[David Edelsohn <dje dot gcc at gmail dot com>]

On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 5:43 AM, Manuel López-Ibáñez
<lopezibanez@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 27 June 2010 11:32, Tobias Burnus <burnus@net-b.de> wrote:
>> Gerald Pfeifer wrote:
>>> We actually do have an issue with the Bugzilla instance on gcc.gnu.org
>>> being rather old, so if anyone with Bugzilla foo wants to donate time
>>> and effort, looking into upgrading that might be even preferrable.
>>
>> See http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=43011 for more details.
>>
>> I concur an update would be very useful!
>
> Bah! Someone already volunteered to do it in several occasions.
> Myself, a long time ago. Someone else a few months ago, Frederic
> Buclin volunteered to help and Nightstrike in that very same PR. The
> answer was silence. It is not a matter of volunteers. The problem is
> elsewhere, deeper in the (mal)functioning of GCC as a project.

Manuel,

The GNU Toolchain projects currently are hampered by a lack of
volunteers or sponsors to maintain the support infrastructure around
the core projects.  The GNU Toolchain projects have not retained a
diverse community to work on infrastructure like Bugzilla, Issue /
Patch Tracking, Repository, and Wiki, which usually are
under-appreciated.  No companies have stepped up to pay for such work,
unlike other projects (other than "let us take it over").

However, characterizing the GCC project as malfunctioning is not
correct.  Acting like a victim because the project does not do what
you want speaks for itself.  And repeatedly complaining about the
project certainly does not help GCC attract and inspire new
volunteers.  Practical suggestions and contributions of resources
would be helpful.

Thanks, David