Hello, I went through the long thread "FSFE-defined coding standards". Did not read all the mails in this thread as at the end it deviated from original topic.
I developed software for different domains and I do not think it is a good idea to promote one-fits-all approach for coding standards. E.g., coding guidelines for safety-critical applications (which do actually exists as industry standards) are different from coding standards for financial applications. Therefore I do not think that FSFE shall develop any coding guidelines for open-source apps. Coding guidelines to follow are dictated by domain, not by the fact that the specific software is open-source. However, it is very important to promote quality in software. And open sourcing actually contributes to a software quality in a number of ways. To mention couple: * Education. Juniour developers use open source software to study how the code shall be developed in a professional way. They also learn how to cooperate with other developers in the mailing lists, bug trackers, git repositories etc. * Independent reviews. Open source software is constantly under review from the community. More eyes you have, easier it is to find a new bug (yes, including security vulnerability). I think that FSFE can focus on promoting open source as a way to improve software quality. What practically can be done? Couple of ideas: - FSFE quality award to the open source software projects (based on the objective metrics - lint, coverity, relative defects amount etc) - Educational track. Promote open source as a way to create quality software. Online courses, hackatons with quality as one of the focuses etc. But FSFE coding guidelines sound like a wrong goal for me. -- WBR & WBW, Vitaly
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