From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <d05abb8c42c2cafa1494be94426c4870@quanstro.net>
From: erik quanstrom <quanstro@quanstro.net>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:32:58 -0500
To: 9fans@9fans.net
In-Reply-To: <140e7ec30812181006k1d44ccdfke1d748203b4d6e7c@mail.gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [9fans] devtrace release time
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 68af4c14-ead4-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025

On Thu Dec 18 13:08:15 EST 2008, sqweek@gmail.com wrote:
>  No no no, this is all release oriented stuff! Just put the code up so
> if someone really interested happens by they can check it out and work
> the details out themselves. What's the disadvantage there?

i think you have to understand that some people do not
approve of hanging their dirty laundry in public.  i think
one has to afford them this space.

>  Of course. But it's silly to entertain the notion that code comes off
> our fingertips perfect and fully formed. It's software: there's bugs,
> there's design flaws, development is incremental. Often it can be
> useful long before it is perfected.
[...]
> > whats worse is if you publish a tar and then somone fixes a load of
> > stuff but in the meantime you are working and your code gets out of sync
> > so you have to merge by hand.
[...]
>  At least this represents a modicum of cooperation. Without the

i have some experience in this.  i've published some
plan 9 early.

the downside is that you no longer have any control.
and thus you can't necessarly get bug fixes published.
there is no law that says, if you accept the original,
you must accept bug fixes and improvements.

so if one cares about the quality of the result, one
believes in one's own abilities, publishing a finished
thing can make a lot of sense.

this isn't what i do, and i pay a price for it.

- erik