Forum OpenACS Improvement Proposals (TIPs): Re: TIP #27 (Vetoed): Create a works-in-progress directory in /contrib

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17: Re: TIP #27 (Vetoed): Create a works-in-progress directory in /contrib (response to 15)
Posted by Andrew Piskorski on 10/30/03 05:39 PM
Incidentally, this does sound somewhat like the apocryphal example of everyone debating about what color the web page should be, simply because it's easy to debate. I was sufficiently tempted to put my 2 cents in, but in the end it probably doesn't matter all that much, as long as whatever decision you folks allows people to easily contribute all the random code they think worth contributing, somehow, somewhere.
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18: Re: TIP #27 (Vetoed): Create a works-in-progress directory in /contrib (response to 17)
Posted by Jeff Davis on 10/30/03 06:11 PM
Another thing to keep in mind is that when we branch the 5.0 release anything that is not "releasable" in contrib or elsewhere shouldn't go onto the 5.0 branch. If we do manage to get away from monolithic releases it becomes even less of a concern.

btw, Andrew, the thing you are refering to is "bikeshedding" and predates the web by a fair bit. I think it's a pretty common maladay of online communities for some reason.

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21: Re: TIP #27 (Vetoed): Create a works-in-progress directory in /contrib (response to 18)
Posted by Andrew Piskorski on 10/31/03 07:06 AM
I recall it being the cost of cofee or of a coffee machine in Parkinson's original, not a bike shed. (Probalby Parkinson presented wrote different variations.) But yes, that's the concept.
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22: Re: TIP #27 (Vetoed): Create a works-in-progress directory in /contrib (response to 21)
Posted by Jeff Davis on 10/31/03 11:38 AM
It was in the chapter "High finanace or the Point of Vanishing Interest" in "Parkinson's Law" and the funding decisions were:
  • £10,000,000 atomic power plant -- minimal debate (2.5 minutes).
  • £350 bike shed -- moderate debate (45 minutes).
  • £21 for coffee at a meeting -- extreme and devisive debate since everyone knows about coffee (1h15m).
Anwyay, bikeshedding is the word that ended up in the lexicon, maybe because "coffee-arguing" or "atomic-plant-not-debating" just don't work as well :)