Hi,
--- Filip Navara xnavara@volny.cz wrote:
I doubt someone would vote for me, but if it would be collective decision I'll not object. (Personally I have two candidates for the position that I would propably choose from in the voting...)
Well I am divided on who I would vote for as the people I named would all be great in the role but I would like to hear something alone the lines of
"If I was KC I would try to implement the following development method, rules, reactos coffee maker, etc...."
Thanks Steven
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Steven Edwards wrote:
Hi,
--- Filip Navara xnavara@volny.cz wrote:
I doubt someone would vote for me, but if it would be collective decision I'll not object. (Personally I have two candidates for the position that I would propably choose from in the voting...)
Well I am divided on who I would vote for as the people I named would all be great in the role but I would like to hear something alone the lines of
"If I was KC I would try to implement the following development method, rules, reactos coffee maker, etc...."
I personally think that I can help with specific problems in specific occasions and I'm not considering myself as a leader. In past there were some occasions where I wanted to step in ... the Alex's misc. branch and the recent Alex vs. Hartmut arguing ... and guess what? I haven't done that and that itself makes me bad for the position :)
So far all the problems were eventually settled down... the Alex's branch was merged patch by patch to trunk and we had a voting about whether it's good idea to allow such branches in future. And here's the point ... every problem so far was solved in a (relatively) civil way and it got even better with the introduction of voting system. So what's left for the coordinator?
I don't think there's a need for the coordinator at all except for very rare occasions ... actually we have been living without a coordinator for quite some time (Rex and Vizzini were mostly away). If there would be something I can see that needs to be improved it's the management of branches and distribution of the developer manpower. We have there New Cache Manager, EXT2FS and few other gems which unfortunately can't be merged due to some small bugs / unimplemented features ... while other people spend time rewritting stuff that works. Of course as we're FOSS community there's no way to force people to do something that they don't want to work on unless you have a congenital authority, a lot of spare money or a bunch of ROS mugs (some people know what I mean ;-). Also I would like to see the Kernel Status Reports back (for those who don't know what I'm talking about, see http://mok.lvcm.com/reactos/kernel/) though I'm not sure if it can be realized ...
SO DON'T VOTE FOR ME UNLESS YOU JUST WANT SOMEONE WHO WILL SETTLE ARGUMENTS. ;-)
Let's see if someone will have creative presentaion or present some nice visions ... but I won't do that myself. My big candidates are Alex and Hartmut, so let's see. :)
- Filip
P.S. Extra points for those offering ROS mugs as a reward for work :)
"Here at ReactOS, the whole kernel team is nuts!!!" ~ Rex Jolliff
Steven Edwards wrote:
Hi,
--- Filip Navara xnavara@volny.cz wrote:
I doubt someone would vote for me, but if it would be collective decision I'll not object. (Personally I have two candidates for the position that I would propably choose from in the voting...)
Well I am divided on who I would vote for as the people I named would all be great in the role but I would like to hear something alone the lines of
"If I was KC I would try to implement the following development method, rules, reactos coffee maker, etc...."
Thanks Steven
Well since a bunch of people have recommened me to apply, and since I don't think it's a bad idea, I'll start my own little rant.
I feel I should be KC for 4 main factors:
- Technical knowledge - Vision - Diplomatic abilities and attitude/contacts - Free Time
I'll elaborate on all of these points below:
1. Technical Knowledge ---------------------------------
In my opinion, I have a vast amount of knowledge on NT's Kernel Design and Architecture. Although I admit that I have some weak points in the Cache and Memory Managers, I know the other subsystems like the palm of my hand. My knowledge has always went into applying it into code and fixing broken parts of ReactOS, as well as implementing new APIs (I have implemented around 100 new APIs). Secondly, this knowledge has also went to help other developers who were in need. I have always been a helping hand in the channel, and developers often come to me to seek answers to technical questions, architectural design or just some weird undocumented API or structure. My code is of relatively high quality, even though it can sometimes have bugs (beware of bug-less code). I always properly test code in a variety of scenarios, and for really big patches, I also have other people test them for me (Waxdragon can attest, for example). I highly value code review and testing procedures. In sum, I know a lot, I produce a lot, I help a lot and I'm structured with my knowledge and its product.
2. Vision ----------------------------------
Since my beginnings at this project, I have always had a clear consistent vision:
1) Developers should be allowed to work on whatever they want. I do not believe in forcing people, but I'm not against having "Focus Weeks" in which the developers would be invited to focus on something, if they wish to. But I am against telling people what to do, and this has been a great freedom that ROS coders enjoy. 2) We must strive for 100% in order to achieve 90%. I have always believed that we must pay attention even to undocumented APIs and closely mimic Windows behaviour to the external callers. For example, is MSDN lists a parameter as 'reserved', but we later find out by a test case that it's being used, then I don't think it's OK to say "well, everyone listens to MSDN and nobody will use the reserved parameter". There is always a chance for some developer finding out what the Reserved parameter does, and using it. If it's on MSDN, the change is actually pretty large. Sometimes MSDN themselves document/undocument various parameters and APIs. *IF* the developement effort is minimal and someone wants to do it, then I strongly believe that reserved parameter should be handled. It shouldn't be a priority, but it shouldn't be ignored. Even if we only make 5 extra apps work, the sum of "All these little things" will make 5000 apps work. And that's a key difference between 60% and 90%. Sure, most people use only the 60%. But some very big clients could use the other 30%. Do we want to ignore them? Not in my view. 3) ReactOS is not a game project. It will become a serious tool, similar or superior in popularity to Linux. Many people mock us, or think of us a past time to code. Maybe some of the developers also feel like that (I don't think so). However, I am truly *dedicated* to ReactOS. I believe in its future, and I want to be a part of it. I am not only coding to spend time. I am coding to make ReactOS a powerful OS that will be used by the masses. I am coding with the same passion and desire to free the world from proprietary OSes just like Linus strived to free the world from UNIX. I am here in the long run, and I see a future for ReactOS in 3 years. I see 1.0. 4) Structured views. I have always viewed everything in a structured fashion. I know the goals (in the Kernel) for each major milestone, and they are achievable and plannable. I don't believe in totally random coding that will get us somewhere. I feel that I have a deep sense of organization that is needed for a KC. 5) PR and Users are our target, not power-users. The problem of many alternative OSes are that they try to be "leet" or "high-tech" for power users. Many boast "built-in compiler!" or "emacs-based web browser!" (silly examples). These are cool toys for the Linux geeks, but not for Windows users. I know it sounds like what we are fighting against, but our OS must also boast things like "Easy to use!", "Friendly wizard for Desktop Organization!". I'm not saying that we need to create Clipit, but we defintely need to emulate and also ADD our own wizards, helpful tools, and yes, even themes. Because in the end, our users make us what we are, and it's them that will decide our success. And to reach these users and get our point across, we need good PR and good Marketing. This is why Firefox has been so popular, and we will eventually need such a campagin as well.
3. Diplomacy/contacts ---------------------------------------
I have an ability to solve conflicts, and although I've been in the center of two large flame-fests, I think the end situation came up pretty good. In the branch affair, I admitted my mistake and the created mini patches, with some help, in order to get the code in. Sure I was a bit offended at first, but in the end the situation was solved nicely. Whenever there is a conflict, I've always tried to solve it in a diplomatic way, and have never forced my point of view on someone. I've never reverted someone's code, as some people have done in the past, but have always asked the person to do it, and gave my reasons why. And sometimes people refused and I was wrong, or other times I was right and the person understood. In each case there was trust and understanding.
I also have pretty close ties with most of the developers and know most of them personally, and met with some of them as well. I would say I'm pretty 'connected' in the ROS crowd and talk with almost all the active devs on a weekly basis (a lot of them on a daily baisis). I also have some important contacts outside the ROS world, which can be very valuable for PR and also for Development in general.
Finally, I have very good English/French/Spanish/Romanian writing and reading skills, love producing documentation, doing presentations etc.
4. Free Time ------------------------------------
My final point is that I will have a lot of free time to take care of this, at least for the next year. Many developers have a job, a family, etc, but I have none of that. I'm happily in front of the computer, dedicating 90% of my time to ReactOS. When am I not on IRC? I'm always opened to emails, I read the ML, and I'm pepetually on IRC. I'm an available and open person.
Finally, I'll end with my goals as a KC:
- Expand the Wiki with some basic Kernel Keywords (I've already started on this) - Be present as a mentor, problem solver and decision making individual - Insist on good quality code, good coding habits, testing procedures and code reviews. - Come up with a plan to solve quarrels between developers on a certain issue. Preferable through a vote, or moderated by someone that has been known/chosen as an expert in that field (note I said moderated by, not decided) - Set up clear plans all the way to 0.5.0 - Continue to work and improve the kernel. - Collaborate with the Project Coordinator on wider project-related advancements. - Give interviews, promote, "sell/pitch" ReactOS to users, the media and companies from my point of view (ie: give presentations at conferences about our kernel, give seminars at univerisites, teach people about the benefits of an NT kernel and our implementation of it etc). - "Do no evil" (c) Google
Best regards, Alex Ionescu
-
Alex Ionescu -
Filip Navara -
Steven Edwards