Re: Resuming maintenance

David Kilzer via xml <[email protected]> Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:27:52 -0800
Newsgroups gmane.comp.gnome.lib.xml.general
Message-ID <[email protected]>
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On Jan 12, 2022, at 7:24 AM, Nick Wellnhofer via xml <[email protected]> =
wrote:

> On 10/01/2022 20:47, Mike Dalessio wrote:
>> Although I'm relieved, the potential loss of maintainers from the =
project =
<https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/319#note_1348651> was =
alarming. Perhaps another goal to consider for the year is to expand the =
pool of contributors and maintainers. I (and others, I assume) am =
interested in volunteering more time so that the burden isn't carried by =
you alone, and so that if in the future you're unable to secure funding =
the user community will be able to sustain that loss.
>> Thanks again, and please think about what work volunteers can pick up =
to get more involved.
>=20
> Anyone is invited to help with maintenance. But I can't think of many =
simple issues for people to get started. Fixing bugs and reviewing merge =
requests often requires deep knowledge of the code base which in turn =
requires to invest considerable amounts of time. On the other hand, =
everyone has to start somewhere. The best way is probably to start =
working on interesting issues, learn from any mistakes you make, and =
repeat.

Welcome back, Nick!  I plan to contribute by posting patches to upstream =
changes from Apple=E2=80=99s port of libxml2 and libxslt.  While I know =
enough about libxml2 and libxslt to fix some bugs, I am not in a place =
where I could be a maintainer.  (I also have limited time to spend on =
these projects based on assigned tasks at work.)

I also plan to link up CVE-IDs that Apple assigned to specific issues:
<https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/186#note_1088985 =
<https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/186#note_1088985>>

> Personally, I think the main problem is funding. The pool of competent =
programmers willing to spend months of their time to work on a rather =
outdated code base implementing mostly legacy technology for free is =
tiny or even non-existent. It's really the large corporations who could =
make a difference by sponsoring OSS maintenance directly. I'm sure you =
can find people like me who would work on OSS at a discount, but not =
without any monetary compensation.

When an official process is set up for funding libxml2/libxslt (per your =
original email), I=E2=80=99ll inquire about contributing to it at work.

Dave


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<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=3D"">On =
Jan 12, 2022, at 7:24 AM, Nick Wellnhofer via xml &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" class=3D"">[email protected]</a>&gt; =
wrote:<div class=3D""><br class=3D""><div><blockquote type=3D"cite" =
class=3D""><div class=3D""><div class=3D"">On 10/01/2022 20:47, Mike =
Dalessio wrote:<br class=3D""><blockquote type=3D"cite" =
class=3D"">Although I'm relieved, the potential loss of maintainers from =
the project &lt;<a =
href=3D"https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/319#note_1348651" =
class=3D"">https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/319#note_134865=
1</a>&gt; was alarming. Perhaps another goal to consider for the year is =
to expand the pool of contributors and maintainers. I (and others, I =
assume) am interested in volunteering more time so that the burden isn't =
carried by you alone, and so that if in the future you're unable to =
secure funding the user community will be able to sustain that loss.<br =
class=3D"">Thanks again, and please think about what work volunteers can =
pick up to get more involved.<br class=3D""></blockquote><br =
class=3D"">Anyone is invited to help with maintenance. But I can't think =
of many simple issues for people to get started. Fixing bugs and =
reviewing merge requests often requires deep knowledge of the code base =
which in turn requires to invest considerable amounts of time. On the =
other hand, everyone has to start somewhere. The best way is probably to =
start working on interesting issues, learn from any mistakes you make, =
and repeat.<br class=3D""></div></div></blockquote><div><br =
class=3D""></div><div>Welcome back, Nick! &nbsp;I plan to contribute by =
posting patches to upstream changes from Apple=E2=80=99s port of libxml2 =
and libxslt. &nbsp;While I know enough about libxml2 and libxslt to fix =
some bugs, I am not in a place where I could be a maintainer. &nbsp;(I =
also have limited time to spend on these projects based on assigned =
tasks at work.)</div><div><br class=3D""></div><div>I also plan to link =
up CVE-IDs that Apple assigned to specific issues:</div><div>&lt;<a =
href=3D"https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/186#note_1088985" =
class=3D"">https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/186#note_108898=
5</a>&gt;</div><br class=3D""><blockquote type=3D"cite" class=3D""><div =
class=3D""><div class=3D"">Personally, I think the main problem is =
funding. The pool of competent programmers willing to spend months of =
their time to work on a rather outdated code base implementing mostly =
legacy technology for free is tiny or even non-existent. It's really the =
large corporations who could make a difference by sponsoring OSS =
maintenance directly. I'm sure you can find people like me who would =
work on OSS at a discount, but not without any monetary compensation.<br =
class=3D""></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">When an official process is set up for funding =
libxml2/libxslt (per your original email), I=E2=80=99ll inquire about =
contributing to it at work.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div=
 class=3D"">Dave</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div></body></html>=

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