> There seems to be a lack of recognition here of how free software development
> works. When people are contributing their time scratching an itch for their
> own edification the LAST thing they want is to have a manager to report to.
I have heard you make this argument before, and it is just is not true.
Even Debian is moving toward a more formal structure as has FreeBSD. You
seem stuck in this world where everything is still 1994 and all FOSS
software is developed in academia.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/releng/
http://lwn.net/Articles/144281/
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/checklist.html
>
> Now not all the developers working on Postgres are unpaid volunteers. But the
> ones that aren't have their own managers to report to already and their own
> timelines and other responsibilities to deal with. They're not being paid to
> meet yours.
No one is expecting them to. However we are expecting some communication
about it. When you start developing with a community you have a
responsibility to that community. That means you let people know if you
are not going to finish something, if you need help, if you can't help,
or if you are going to bail on a project. You should also do so with
(hopefully) the ability for someone to pick up where you left off.
Sincerely,
Joshua D. Drake
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