-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Luca Barbato wrote: | Simon Stelling wrote: | |> Ciaran McCreesh wrote: |> |>> On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:51:38 -0500 Brian Harring <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> |>> wrote: |>> | define exactly how one proves themself, and in what context. |>> |>> Repeated good contributions. |> |> |> |> Just to clarify: We're not going around giving everybody AT-status who |> just asked for it. Normally, we note certain users filing many bugs |> (=useful contributions) and then we're going toward them to ask them |> whether they want to become ATs. Also, they have to pass the current |> dev quizzes before they become ATs, so the required knowledge *is* there. |> |> So, basically, ATs already HAVE proven themselves to be useful. |> | | Basically you are saying that they have the skill to be developers, they | prove them, but they don't have enough time to become full developers? | | lu No, you're confusing the different definitions of developers. In the gentoo sense of everyone is a developer(ebuild, infra, devrel, even forums), then yes, you would have to consider the AT as a "developer." If you take a more classical view, or at least acknowledge the fact that everyone has the term "developer" in their title and discount this fact, then no, they are no more "developers" than infra or docs or devrel.
When I started this project, I had in mind that all ATs would eventually become devs, but it's never been a requirement. Being an AT has many advantages over being a dev in some peoples eyes. Pros: As it's not official, you don't need to go through devrel(which at the time of inception was very slow) You are sheltered from a lot of the political bullshit that "developers" have to deal with. The commitment isn't nearly as large in terms of time. We mostly recruit ATs from those active on IRC. They already spend the time testing and filing bugs, helping user, and so on. It doesn't require a great change in time to move from helpful user to AT. It's a great training and recruiting tool. A number of ATs have stated that they don't feel they have the skills to be a developer. This is a statement that I would dispute in a number of cases. However, after being an active AT, you can't help but to learn how things work. ATs are encouraged to submit patches and solve problems. The transition from AT to dev is much less painful then if it was skipped. ATs come out of the program as knowledgeable people with a focus on testing. Gentoo /needs/ more of these people. And, most importantly, they get the feeling of satisfaction that comes with learning and the knowledge that they have contributed. Cons: Due to the fact that it hasn't been official, providing them with the tools to get their job done has been a challenge. I don't think it's right to ask for read-only CVS without them being official for example. While most developers have accepted them and use them, there are still those that look down on them. What can I say, other than a distro like gentoo inherently breeds a certain level of 31337ism, however misplaced or inappropriate it is. So, the choice for an AT to not pursue becoming a ebuild/arch dev is theirs to make, with a wide variety of reasons. It's not that they lack in any one skill that would otherwise make them a developer. Off topic, AMD64 requires that all new potential devs work as an AT for the reasons stated above. When they do make dev, they "hit the ground running," and we don't need to invest anywhere near as much time as we would without the program, nor are there any misconceptions about how we operate. - -- ======================================================= Mike Doty [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gentoo/AMD64 Strategic Lead PGP Key: 0xA797C7A7 Gentoo Developer Relations ~ ===GPG Fingerprint=== ~ 0094 7F06 913E 78D6 F1BB 06BA D0AD D125 A797 C7A7 ======================================================= -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFDJs9Z0K3RJaeXx6cRAj/XAKDJXKTeb4DsELKqC+EoOeLny1uRtQCfYx11 9a1/mby281fO6/0E6iTQAu0= =/S6n -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list
