Re: JDBC 4 Compliance

> I would like to start it. I do realize that my lack of time is probably
> paramount. But it needs to be solved.

I'll speak from my own experiences (XA Interleaving) and from watching
the mailing list over the last few months. Keep in mind, these are my
impressions, which are meant in no way to condemn, vilify, or point the
finger at any individual. Rather, I think it points to some cultural
pressures on the project as a whole.

* There are currently six open pull requests [1], some of which date
back 10 months. I can understand not merging a pull request. But things
this old that aren't merged probably ought to be closed.

* Initially when we contacted the list about implementing interleaving
we got everything from (paraphrased) 'it's a good idea' to 'if you need
it then you are doing it wrong'. Everything from our need for it to how
we eventually implemented was ridiculed.

* I finally took the time to jump through all the political hoops to
clean up the pull request (I still don't understand how a visual diff on
github is too hard to follow?!) I created a few months ago into two new
pull requests. It's been 3 days, and there's be zero activity or
comments on the requests. That seems odd. This is not a minor feature.

* I got the distinct impression that this project consists of an 'old
boys club' of developers who've worked on this project for a long time.
Outsiders seem to be treated in an almost hostile manner.

* A long-standing contributors misplaced emotional attachment to their
code should not justify holding on to artifacts which go against logic,
reason, and current best practices.

* It seems as though the project is resistant to any form of code-change
beyond a trivial bug fix to existing code. This seems like a release
management failure more than anything.

I completely agree with the assertion that it's easier to fork this
project than it is to contribute back to it. I will openly admit that
I've considered forking this project personally.

I've only been around since late January / early February, so I hope my
perspective in some way helps.

Regards,
-Bryan Varner


[1]: https://github.com/pgjdbc/pgjdbc/pulls