> My whole argument goes about the following hypotheses: > 1. increasing the amount of contributions may not scale in > the current model. > 2. submitting trivial contributions is not trivial for the contributor.
Both of these points seem to come from a mental model that just doesn't apply to Plan 9. In earlier messages, you used the word team to describe the set of people contributing to Plan 9. However, in reality, there isn't a Plan 9 team, per se. Essentially, Plan 9 is a research system. It's a platform and a vehicle for doing systems research. It is true that it has been very useful as the basis of products, as infrastructure, and as a daily-use OS. However, rather than being its raison d'etre, Plan 9's utility is a tribute to and the acid test of the research work done on it. After all, I'm hardly going to suggest that a file system I develop is worthy of study or use if I'm not willing to put my own data on it. (So yes, my main file server is running on thetafs, and has been for months.) Given that the primary function of Plan 9 is to be a research system, neither increasing numbers of contributions nor trivial contributions are to be expected. In fact, it's not clear they would be particularly desirable. The flip side of all this is that because it has been very useful, many of us use it heavily enough that we'd be loathe to return to a world where we'd have to do without it. So there is valid motivation to expand the set of supported hardware, fix bugs, make it easier to install and use, etc. While, I'm not in a position to speak for the principals involved, from my perspective, both 9atom and 9front are laregely so motivated. I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I say that the maintainers of both of those systems would be more than happy to accept contributions to them. If, in the course of making such contributions, you reach a point where the contribution channel could be improved, then contributing an improved contribution mechanism would be just as welcome, I suspect. In other words, welcome to the Plan 9 community. We'll be glad to help you however we can. We encourage and look forward to seeing any contributions you make that emerge from what captures your interest. BLS
