[9fans] ports duplication

[9fans] ports duplication

[Lyndon Nerenberg (VE6BBM/VE7TFX)]

I really think this idea that duplication of things in contrib is bad,
is bad (or just a red herring).

For ports of big applications (python, say), the amount of work involved
is going to self-limit the number of ports right up front. And the ones
that do make it will self-select based on the quality of the port.

As for the smaller things, I would prefer to see ten different bits of
code that achieve the same end vs. just one. Diversity is good, and a
broader selection of code gives a bigger field to mine for ideas and
concepts.

--lyndon

Re: [9fans] ports duplication

[Eric Van Hensbergen]

Augment the contrib tools (or a fork or facsimile thereof) to including user-defined rankings and reviews.  Forks and duplication sometimes make sense, sometimes they don't -- but the better versions will percolate to the top.

Its a community driven thing, we need the right tools to enable that.

     -eric


On Mar 7, 2010, at 1:49 PM, Lyndon Nerenberg (VE6BBM/VE7TFX) wrote:

> I really think this idea that duplication of things in contrib is bad,
> is bad (or just a red herring).
> 
> For ports of big applications (python, say), the amount of work involved
> is going to self-limit the number of ports right up front. And the ones
> that do make it will self-select based on the quality of the port.
> 
> As for the smaller things, I would prefer to see ten different bits of
> code that achieve the same end vs. just one. Diversity is good, and a
> broader selection of code gives a bigger field to mine for ideas and
> concepts.
> 
> --lyndon
> 
> 
> 

Re: [9fans] ports duplication

[lucio]

> As for the smaller things, I would prefer to see ten different bits of
> code that achieve the same end vs. just one. Diversity is good, and a
> broader selection of code gives a bigger field to mine for ideas and
> concepts.

I really don't think that's going to be the problem here, we do not
have an excess of ports, we have a problem determining whether a port
exists or, and that is where I started thinking about this, we
discover by accident that something that could have made Plan 9 more
attractive all along has been around a long time already.  That can be
fixed and so it should.

It also helps a lot if one can establish a level of confidence in a
port, and having many redundant efforts is the same as encouraging
Open Source re-invention, which has both pros and cons, although my
minimalist heart suggests that the pros are greatly overshadowed by
the cons.

++L

Re: [9fans] ports duplication

[Iruata Souza]

On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 1:26 AM,  <lucio@proxima.alt.za> wrote:
>> As for the smaller things, I would prefer to see ten different bits of
>> code that achieve the same end vs. just one. Diversity is good, and a
>> broader selection of code gives a bigger field to mine for ideas and
>> concepts.
>
> I really don't think that's going to be the problem here, we do not
> have an excess of ports, we have a problem determining whether a port
> exists or,
i don't think we have that problem if the port in in sources. you may
have it because you don't seem to use fgb/contrib or any other tool
for that.

> It also helps a lot if one can establish a level of confidence in a
> port,
what would that level be?

iru