So, I'm finding myself irritated with OSS again. Yesterday, I found a bug in postgres' handling of ipv4 addresses. However, it was a peculiar bug in that it only affected a kind of notation that none of the postgres developers use.
So their first reaction was "well that's not even valid." After finding that it is valid -- and explained in the manpage for inet_aton -- and finding documentation on a mailing list from Vixie, they agreed that it "might" be valid.
Now you can imagine how many RFC's are out there on TCP and IP. When they asked me to come up with an RFC that said it was a valid abbreviation (eg. 127.1 vs 127.0.0.1), I couldn't find one.
At that point they lost any interest in the problem at all. If they had said that they didn't have time to code it, or that it might be confusing to people, or it would break the parser, i would have been okay with that.
In fact, that's what I expected.
Instead what I got was "we don't like that notation, we're aware it is okay, and we're still not going to use it."
Funny how two projects I love using -- postgres and openbsd -- are the only two projects I've ever sworn off using. Both of those instances were due to some figurehead/demagogue being irritable and prone to offhanded dismissals of dissent (or even bug reporting). Theo de Raadt, and Tom Lane.
Tom's a nice enough guy, I suppose. However, every time I've suggested anything to him, I get not only a "no," but I get a "and your idea is stupid, too."
Unfortunately, as is the case with OpenBSD, I can't just swear off it. There is just no other database anywhere near as good for the price.
This problem is endemic to the community. I wonder how much of it would be necessary to crush OSS entirely. People can't be lead developers and prone to temper tantrums forever. As OSS becomes more accepted, some of the more vocal, flame-prone types leading projects are going to have to grow up and get some manners. It is almost as if they've been in their "worship" circle for long enough that they expect everyone who comes along to be in that worship circle too. How many ninnies have you seen lauding Theo's recent one-line "slackass!" replies?
It must be going to their heads.
Now you can imagine how many RFC's are out there on TCP and IP. When they asked me to come up with an RFC that said it was a valid abbreviation (eg. 127.1 vs 127.0.0.1), I couldn't find one.
At that point they lost any interest in the problem at all. If they had said that they didn't have time to code it, or that it might be confusing to people, or it would break the parser, i would have been okay with that.
In fact, that's what I expected.
Instead what I got was "we don't like that notation, we're aware it is okay, and we're still not going to use it."
Funny how two projects I love using -- postgres and openbsd -- are the only two projects I've ever sworn off using. Both of those instances were due to some figurehead/demagogue being irritable and prone to offhanded dismissals of dissent (or even bug reporting). Theo de Raadt, and Tom Lane.
Tom's a nice enough guy, I suppose. However, every time I've suggested anything to him, I get not only a "no," but I get a "and your idea is stupid, too."
Unfortunately, as is the case with OpenBSD, I can't just swear off it. There is just no other database anywhere near as good for the price.
This problem is endemic to the community. I wonder how much of it would be necessary to crush OSS entirely. People can't be lead developers and prone to temper tantrums forever. As OSS becomes more accepted, some of the more vocal, flame-prone types leading projects are going to have to grow up and get some manners. It is almost as if they've been in their "worship" circle for long enough that they expect everyone who comes along to be in that worship circle too. How many ninnies have you seen lauding Theo's recent one-line "slackass!" replies?
It must be going to their heads.
