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Author Topic: Contributing a patch  (Read 4195 times)

daz

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Contributing a patch
« on: October 26, 2019, 05:24:18 am »
I am a little disheartened it's been nearly 11 months since I contributed a patch to fix an issue on Linux and it's just sat there.

Link:

https://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=34791

Did I submit this patch to the wrong place? Is there something wrong with the patch? Is there just no developer with Linux experience and RichMemo experience with commit access?

Is this component just not used or maintained anymore?

skalogryz

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2019, 05:47:31 am »
Is this component just not used or maintained anymore?
The maintainer had problems launching VirtualBox under Win10.
For whatever reason Win10 didn't want to start VB at the time.

dbannon

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Re: Contributing a patch (Rich Memo)
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2019, 12:07:16 pm »
Like Daz, I have a couple of RichMemo bug reports in that have sat there for quite a while. 

I wonder if it would work to some some "lower power" people, like myself, that the developers can ask to test things for them ?  I am acutely aware of the demands we put on the Lazarus Developers and reckon it would be a good thing to ease that pressure a bit.

I don't use RichMemo but do have an app that is heavily dependent on KMemo. KMemo is not being developed anymore and a patch I sent in has been unanswered for some five or six weeks, I am a bit worried neither of the two rich text memo components available to Lazarus are going anywhere.

I can test on a range of Linux platforms, Windows 10 and 7 and a Sierra Mac. But would not bother if its not going to take us anywhere.

Davo

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My Project - https://github.com/tomboy-notes/tomboy-ng and my github - https://github.com/davidbannon

skalogryz

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2020, 03:49:21 pm »
RichMemo needs to go to GitHub.
ability to fork and self-patch will make it better!

JuhaManninen

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2020, 06:41:45 pm »
RichMemo needs to go to GitHub.
ability to fork and self-patch will make it better!
Sorry but GitHub does not solve anything really. It is way overrated. A project there also must have a maintainer to pull the pull requests, just like other projects must have maintainers to apply patches.
If there is no maintainer, there will be forks. It is unfortunate if the requested changes were just bug fixes and nobody had a fancy idea of diverting a project's developement to a new direction.

Right solution is to give the maintenance of RichMemo to somebody with enough time and enthusiasm. Here we have seen already daz and dbannon as potential candidates.
This is no criticism for skalogryz's work obviously.
I feel the development of libraries and components for FPC/Lazarus is too much concentrated for the same people. Getting more people involved as (sub-)maintainers would bring new life to them.
Don Alfredo and "fpcup" project is one good example. There was discussion if FPC developers would take over the project after its original author died. It was a doomed idea, it would be a very low priority for FPC devels.
I remember in this forum persuading a contributor Don Alfredo to take over its maintenance. First he gave some weird political mumbo-jambo and nobody understood is it YES or NO. Then he took the maintenance anyway and has been very enthusiastic and productive maintainer since then.

Now I suggest either daz and dbannon take over the maintenance of RichMemo. I don't even know who is its original author. Not skalogryz I guess (?).
The maintenance can mean as little as testing patches from other people and applying then, or it can mean developing the component forward furiously.
Remember, authors of components in Lazarus-CCR have mostly fleed and disappeared. Nobody has made efforts to get maintainers to replace them. Now this is such an effort.
Mostly Lazarus trunk and FPC 3.2 on Manjaro Linux 64-bit.

marcov

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2020, 07:15:55 pm »
I agree with Juha. Github just means that the authors will have put more time in their branches before they get the first feedback about merging.

Quite often they mix small fixes and invasive ones (or worse, source beautifiers) and then expect it to just merge it.

« Last Edit: January 13, 2020, 10:26:25 pm by marcov »

skalogryz

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2020, 07:36:01 pm »
Sorry but GitHub does not solve anything really. It is way overrated. A project there also must have a maintainer to pull the pull requests, just like other projects must have maintainers to apply patches.
There's no statistical proof of either improvement or deterioration in project development.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59710749/statistics-of-improved-project-contributions-git-vs-svn/59710862#59710862
I've asked, but have been banned for the question on stackoverflow.
(seeking the truth always gets one in trouble :))

I don't even know who is its original author. Not skalogryz I guess (?).
i'm the original author.


FPK

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2020, 10:03:56 pm »
Sorry but GitHub does not solve anything really. It is way overrated. A project there also must have a maintainer to pull the pull requests, just like other projects must have maintainers to apply patches.
There's no statistical proof of either improvement or deterioration in project development.

My personal impression is that software quality deteriorated during the last years with a quality peak around 2012-2015. In particular those software which switched to some kind of agil or whatever development modell (I have this impression e.g. for Windows, Firefox or Thunderbird). And if quality didn't deteriorate, features did.

skalogryz

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2020, 10:21:12 pm »
My personal impression is that software quality deteriorated during the last years with a quality peak around 2012-2015.
It might be due to a high speed internet became a norm.
Since, now it's easier to deliver a patch to the end user, there's an option to do less QA.
Needless to say, that for web applications it might be a bit worse.

JuhaManninen

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2020, 11:21:39 pm »
i'm the original author.
Oops, sorry. It was already years ago I played with the component.
Mostly Lazarus trunk and FPC 3.2 on Manjaro Linux 64-bit.

skalogryz

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2020, 02:40:15 am »
ahaha, time flies!

winni

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2020, 03:05:17 am »
Time flies like arrow
Fruit flies like banana

Groucho Marx

dbannon

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Re: Contributing a patch
« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2020, 11:03:21 am »
Hmm, KControls has just now moved to github.  But that was from bitbucket, IMHO, a shared floppy disk would easier to use than bitbucket !

My interest in RichMemo is as an alternative to KMemo, a component within KControls. See the connection ?

I am quite happy to help with 'maintenance' but there is no way I would claim to be able to 'develop' RichMemo. skalogryz was, is and probably will remain the developer.  But if it comes to testing and even applying patches, maybe even triaging issues, I am willing to help.  But I am out of contact for weeks on occasions.

For the record, I'd rather use github .....

Davo

PS - "time flies like an arrow" - often quoted as why computer reading of natural language is hard. Has, apparently 9 (?) different possible meanings.
Lazarus 3, Linux (and reluctantly Win10/11, OSX Monterey)
My Project - https://github.com/tomboy-notes/tomboy-ng and my github - https://github.com/davidbannon

 

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