[OSM-talk] Being Constructive, was: Topology

[Frederik Ramm]

J.D.,

> Also, all the code for everything regarding OSM is in SVN. People are
> able to put their actions where their mouths are.

Oh well, nice of you to say that, I've just implemented a new data  
model in the server, would everyone please update their renderers,  
editors, and other applications...

No, honestly: This much-iterated mantra works if you are making  
small, incremental changes in relatively isolated areas. It works  
best for individuals who sit down, close the door, don't communicate  
at all, and the next morning, or the next weekend, come out with a  
finished solution. It effectively cuts off, even ridicules, any  
thinking about future technical development.

> But hey, we're all different. Some do things constructively, some  
> do it
> destructively. I know which way gets the best results, so I'm sticking
> to that.

It is not fair of you to dismiss anyone who believes in some talking  
*before* doing as not being constructive. (I've seen others in this  
project do it as well, you're not alone.)

I must say that a considerable part of the fun I draw from hobby  
programming is working together with others. This often takes the  
form of first identifying a problem (by talking and observing, not  
doing), then discussing about possible solutions (again, by talking  
to others, making plans, etc., maybe programming a prototype) and  
only in later stages actually churning out code.

In this project, it is very hard to find someone who's willing to  
even think about a problem requiring an attention span of more than  
five minutes and which cannot be simply fixed overnight.

In other words, the trivial stuff gets done and people boast about  
their achievements; stuff that is too complex for one person to  
tackle alone is left alone, and those who point out that something  
might have to be done are ridiculed for not doing it themselves. This  
project doesn't have a team, it has a ton of lone rangers. This  
project is driven by the "lowest hanging fruit" principle - find  
something that's easy to do, do it, and then tell the world that  
you're a doer, not a talker. Yippieh. A real man.

I am beginning to carve out my personal niches, find people in the  
project with whom I can cooperate on sub-projects and who don't laugh  
at me if I bring ideas to the table that may not be ripe for months  
to come. I play the game, by trying to isolate issues and work on  
them. There is progress in that; all is not lost. But it would do us  
all good to say goodbye to judging the vale of someone's contribution  
in number of lines of code committed.

I'd rather have a few people who *only* talk and *never* code if what  
they say is well thought out and leads to valuable discussion, than  
have a bunch of hyperactive hackers turning every posting on the  
mailing list into a new release overnight without having anything  
like a "big picture".

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00.09' E008°23.33'