cvs commit: src/sys/net if_gre.c

[Devon H. O'Dell]

On Thu, May 11, 2006 at 01:41:07PM -0700, Jeffrey Hsu wrote:
>   > I'm questioning where you're coming from.  You seem to pop-up every
> 
> Ahem.  I've been contributing to FreeBSD for over 10 years.  I was
> one of the first ten committers and have worked in many different
> areas of FreeBSD including participating in the initial ports
> architecture discussions, porting and maintaining most of the early
> language and compiler ports, provided the first JDK 1.0.2 for
> FreeBSD, and had done a lot of work on the networking stack, before
> being told explicitly and implicitly that only favored cronies were
> allowed to work on FreeBSD.
> 
> However, I've been around long enough to see the Project go through
> many changes and I'll still be around when all the current inner
> circle members leave for greener pasteurs, because, unlike one
> current inner circle member who told me over lunch that he doesn't
> really care about FreeBSD and was just doing it because he was about
> to get paid for it, I really do put my time and energy into making
> BSD better for its own sake.
> 
> 								Jeffrey

There's obviously bad blood here, and I don't want to get
involved. However, I've always tried to remain very, very
diplomatic and neutral between the two camps and viewpoints of
both parties. While the original question may be out of line,
I don't think your argument that ``only favored cronies were
allowed to work on FreeBSD'' stands up. Obviously, there are
reasons that I don't do work on DragonFly anymore, and to be
quite blunt, your harsh nature is one of these reasons.
Arguing that any harsh words were said to you only really
works if you're not being hypocritical about them.

Additionally, I've read and heard you say so many negative
things, that I believe you can't find it unsurprising that
people question your motives (and that you make [Free]BSD
better for its own sake).

That said, you've obviously done quite a bit of appreciable
work for the project, and I don't think that chastising your
commit is the right thing to do. It's commendable. Thank you
for committing this fix. No, I'm not being sarcastic.

I don't want to get into a big political war here, so I almost
regret my decision to send this, since I know I'm likely to
stir things up on both sides of the fence. However, I think
that the situation should be evaluated from both sides of the
fence.

My point is, whether or not Jeff has ulterior motives is
irrelevent. If you don't appreciate him, great... it's better
to do so in private. He fixed a bug. Hooray. On the same line,
your well-known dislike for the core people involved in the
FreeBSD project is not a scapegoat. You can't chastise others
for things you do yourself.

Perhaps this isn't diplomatic at all and I'm only making
myself look worse to everybody. I don't really care. I'm just
writing in hopes people will drop their beef, or take it
elsewhere.

--Devon