Re: CVS commit: src/usr.bin/pwait

[Joerg Sonnenberger <joerg%britannica.bec.de@localhost>]

On Wed, Mar 04, 2015 at 08:10:57AM +0700, Robert Elz wrote:
>     Date:        Wed, 4 Mar 2015 00:13:01 +0100
>     From:        Joerg Sonnenberger <joerg%britannica.bec.de@localhost>
>     Message-ID:  <20150303231301.GB13722%britannica.bec.de@localhost>
> 
>   | It comes with a maintainance price. Add something better a version later
>   | and it is significantly harder to get rid of the once shiny toy.
> 
> Taken even part way towards its extreme, this says that nothing new can
> ever be added until it is known to be perfect - information that cannot
> be obtained until it is added and used.  When coupled with some requirement
> that there be some degree of consensus amongst developers the whole thing
> becomes impossible to ever achieve.
> 
> Just trust the developers to make reasonable choices - any that make a habit
> of recklessness should simply be turfed out.

*sigh* I was asking about requesting feedback before adding new components.
That doesn't mean the new component has to be perfect, but it should
demonstrate a need and give others a chance to make sure it is not too
restricted to be useless for related problems they know about. I have
been asking this before, exactly because I don't like having to maintain
lousy interfaces like strtonum long term. New programs are no different.

People love to kill such requests as color decisions. It is more a basic
case of "step back, let it settle for a moment and give others a chance
to shime in". I'm not a proponent of "base must be minimal" nor do I
belong to the "base must have a kitchen sink". I've written on
tech-userlevel what problems I have in this very area and why this tool
doesn't help. I believe a better solution can cover both needs, but now
it looks like we will maintain a new script interface with very limited
functionality.

Joerg