Re: bonobo-activation doc build fixes

[Ross Golder <ross golder org>]

On Mon, 2002-02-04 at 16:59, Bill Councill wrote:
>

<snipped two paragraphs of almost disrespectful, totally unconstructive
criticism of Darin et al>

> The IEEE publishes a standard on CM. It would be well worth the money to
> purchase the standard; it will save you much time and wasted effort.
> Most books on software configuration management derive much of their
> material from the IEEE standard. The standard is available at most
> university libraries and can be purchased directly from the IEEE
> Publications division.
> 

And where do I get my free copy? I'm a free software developer giving up
my free time for free. I'm not forking out my savings for stuff I don't
need.

> I have been reading e-mail distributed by your listserver. I've noticed
> the lack of formal software process; configuration management is an
> example. I recognize that in the Open Source movement, you don't want to
> subject programmers to many, extensive standard processes, especially
> requiring lots of reporting. Individualization is prized. But, in some
> areas, such as configuration management, there must be standardization
> of the configuration management of source code; otherwise, four or five
> builds may eventually comprise a product version. And, when customers
> ask for defect repairs, finding a way to make those repairs through all
> that spaghetti is next to impossible.
> 

Customers? Defect repairs? Spaghetti? Ahh, you mean bugzilla ;o)

> I would recommend that before you go further, a group of senior Bonobo
> developers develop a configuration management policy. To keep the policy
> simple, borrow extensively from the 1998 version of the IEEE's Software
> Standards Manuals. Then, your whole organization will know how to
> implement the tenets of configuration management, especially, the
> ability to check in and check out source code and other software assets
> correctly. 
> 

Would the rest of us need to read 'The 1998 version of the IEEE's
Software Standards Manual' in order to understand this policy? For me at
least, spare time is at all time low these days, better spent hacking
than reading.

> Additionally, there are now Web-based applications on the market that
> can assist you to manage large numbers of software assets: source code
> and descriptive documentation. I am using a program entitled
> SourceOffSite (SOS). It is relatively inexpensive for UNIX-based
> workstations and almost flawless in design. I use the Windows version
> that sits on Visual SourceSafe and never have problems. Clients are
> either Web-based or client-server based. The producer was SourceGear;
> they have just been acquired by a larger company.
> 

Great. Where do I download my free copy for Linux? And where's the
source code if it goes wrong?

> I hope this missive has been helpful.
> 

Don't get me wrong, it was a reasonably on-topic and valid suggestion,
but I think way off the mark for political correctness. Except for the
unnecessary first two paragraphs that effectively dismissed Darin and
the team as incompetents, and the rest of the missive which seemed to
big up your status as an expert in the field of Configuration
Management, what have you suggested? That we all go find (buy?) and read
some IEEE documents, and start to use Windows configuration management
software?

> Bill Councill
> bcouncil cbseng com
> Co-editor and an author of "Component-Based Software Engineering:
> Putting the Pieces Together," Addison-Wesley, 2001
> 

Good for you! Hope you make lots of money.

--
Ross