From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Date: Wed,  7 May 2014 16:56:04 -0400
From: sl@9front.org
To: 9fans@9fans.net
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Subject: Re: [9fans] [GSOC] plan9 which arch code to use?
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>> What I know is that I turn on my Thinkpad x230 and everything
>> works. After the boot process finishes I just carry on with my
>> work.
>
> sure that's fine.  but if everyone does that, plan 9 will fall into disrepair,
> because nobody's willing to do the work.

What are you talking about? If everyone fixes Plan 9 to
work on their computers then Plan 9 will fall into disrepair?

What has changed is this: Code is being made available
because some people decided to make their code available.
Notice the key phrase: "make their code available." Anyone can
take that code and do with it whatever they want. The major result
is that now Plan 9 now runs on more computers. Some bugs got fixed.
Some new (useful) programs got written. These things only happened
because those people made their changes available. Otherwise, we
wouldn't even know it had been done. I have trouble seeing this
as a net loss.

On the other hand, innuendo about code that may or may not ever
be released doesn't help anyone, and at this point serves as
little more than the traditional way to end a conversation.
By now this tradition is decades old. Feels great! I agree with
you that over 9,000 private projects that don't communicate with
each other and keep their results secret don't result in progress.
You can tell because the definition says that the results are kept
secret. The difference between that and what is happening with the
forks is that the changes made by the forks (including your own)
are available for anyone to read, use, adopt -- or not -- at their
own discretion. The important morsel to digest here is that the
code is out there for people to evaluate. It's not just a legend.
Not just a rumor. You can read it, compile it, run it; then decide
what to do with it. Again, I have trouble seeing why this is a
problem, or how it makes the situation worse than what we have
already lived with since long before the forks came into
existence.

I hope everyone gets good use out of whatever Plan 9 code
they manage to load onto their computers. I enjoy using Plan 9
and I enjoy talking to people who are still working on Plan 9.

If you want to keep secrets, keep them. But nothing done by
any of the forks is secret. Just take the code and do with it
what you will. Why is this controversial?

sl