[Xesam] NRL; Need your input - Leo proposes to allow from now on only "one patch per ticket" because we are slow and discussion is endless

[Leo Sauermann]

Hi Peoples,

Evgeny - please send all ontology related emails to the xesam list.

good news:
I found out why we are so slow  -- and how to fix that.

its because we don't use patches, as every good project does.... how
stupid of us.

I looked at the tickets and I found that some of the tickets carry an
undertone of
"something is wrong, can't exactly say what, we need to change
everything, I think you guys did the ontologies totally wrong".

For example, here:
https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/oscaf/ticket/14
This ticket contains:
* a vague request to remove around 15 properties
* very vague answers and comments about other properties.
* many errors and unprecisely researched assumptions about what may be
or what is or what should be done
* an undertone saying that the approach of 1:1 compability with existing
standards (ID3, EXIF) is totally yesterday and we must move on.

This ticket does not contain:
* a precise N3 diff of what to remove and what to add to the ontologies
(ha, because when you remove a property, you also have to add some
comment saying why and what and how to do it now. a "deprecation
message", you know.)

If your read the discussion, you will notice that this causes us to mix
political discussions ("be backward compatible or not") with concrete
suggestions ("remove nid3:comments!") with general architecture changes
("we must have equivalent property relations or constraints").

Of course, as now 15 topics are discussed in one ticket, including
political minefields, we will never reach agreement quickly.

Of course, as you all know, in other projects such tickets would be
immediately closed as invalid saying
"submit a patch for a single bug and then we can talk".
and these other projects took some years to come to this practice, you
know how it works....

To spare us more endless discussions, I propose that from now on, we
only allow

"one issue per ticket and a patch to fix it"

the ticket submitter must state her or his change request with a precise
N3 statement saying what must be removed and what must be added
(a "diff" or "patch")

if a submitter does not comply, the ticket is invalid and gone within a
minute.

if the submitter does comply, a decision can be done within a week,
because its only one decision, and its "yes/no".
If the answer is "no", the submitter can try again with a slightly
changed suggestion in a new ticket.

I don't have to remind you that this is how open source patching works,
and that patches have the great property that there can be a "yes/no"
vote on accepting them,
and moving on with life.

Also, it is common practice to allow only "one fix per patch".
again, you all know why.

if you don't agree,
please say so and suggest something better.

If you do agree,
please give some positive feedback and your own view on this,
rephrase my improper language and copy this into the wiki page:
https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/oscaf/wiki/OntologyMaintenance

and send an answer to this mail.

does this help?
i hope it does.

best
Leo



It was Evgeny Egorochkin who said at the right time 12.11.2009 04:46 the
following words:
> Hi fellow Nepomukians,
>
> You input is needed on this ticket:
> http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/oscaf/ticket/52
>
> It involves some Nepomuk fundamentals such as NRL, so I'm trying to get a bit 
> more feedback than usual.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- Evgeny
>   


-- 
_____________________________________________________
Dr. Leo Sauermann       http://www.dfki.de/~sauermann 

Deutsches Forschungszentrum fuer 
Kuenstliche Intelligenz DFKI GmbH
Trippstadter Strasse 122
P.O. Box 2080           Fon:   +43 6991 gnowsis
D-67663 Kaiserslautern  Fax:   +49 631 20575-102
Germany                 Mail:  leo.sauermann at dfki.de

Geschaeftsfuehrung:
Prof.Dr.Dr.h.c.mult. Wolfgang Wahlster (Vorsitzender)
Dr. Walter Olthoff
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats:
Prof. Dr. h.c. Hans A. Aukes
Amtsgericht Kaiserslautern, HRB 2313
_____________________________________________________