[Opensim-users] they way the project works and to support it....

[Diva Canto]

Ralf,

My $.02 on this, and I don't speak for all the developers.

People who use opensim must have two important things in mind: (1) 
OpenSim is not Second Life; and (2) The developers are not Linden Lab. 
These two things are subtle but critical. Specifically, to put it 
bluntly, "costumer service" is non-existent. Ppl who run OpenSim grids 
in an organized manner may have their costumer service for their grids, 
but there is no such thing for the OpenSim project itself. The 
developers are [almost] all volunteers who contribute their time for a 
variety of different personal reasons.

There is no JIRA here, nor is there the concept of "voting for features" 
outside core developers, because the core developers always work on 
whatever parts they are more interested in working, and not on some list 
of features that is produced and prioritized externally.

If someone wants something new implemented, the process is always the same:

(a) define what you want and discuss it on the -dev mailing list
(b) if you're a programmer, code it yourself and submit a patch via mantis
(c) if you're not a programmer, convince someone who is to implement it 
for you and submit a patch via mantis
(d) all patches on mantis are evaluated by the core developers and 
committed if there are no objections

If someone notices an annoying bug that is getting in their way, the 
process is also always the same:

(a) define what the bug is in Mantis
(b) if you're a programmer and you enjoy doing these things, try to fix 
it yourself and submit a patch
(c) if you're not a programmer, and you want the bug fixed, you need to 
describe the problem with as much detail as possible or the developers 
won't be able to even reproduce it. Without reproduction, there is no 
possible fix.

Ppl who take time to file good and detailed issue reports give an 
enormous contribution to the project!

Hope this helps clarify the process-according-to-how-I-interpret-it, 
which I'm sure is not the only interpretation :-)
Crista


Ralf Haifisch wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
>  
>
>  
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> I need some idea how to work on this project... 
>
>  
>
> My coding is back 20 years, I did develop some other skills and I 
> don´t wanna go back.  I did follow sl since end 2004 and was a heavy 
> tester in the time you could email lindens team. But although active 
> via JIRA the later days.
>
>  
>
> I did run the first internetserver in the region at that time, and see 
> plenty similarities in things right now.
>
>  
>
> I´m pretty impressed by the stuff I see in opensim (wich I follow for 
> ~ 9 month) and after I did sell my estates and almost left SL did 
> decide to put some time into opensim.  Since then, I did try to 
> promote it (since I think we need "user" and not only tech and dev 
> people) and tried to report issues and put up suggestions.  I think 
> that the dev´s did a huge job -- but the project is groing, so maybe 
> the development needs a feedback channel, as well as more tester to 
> maybe specialize on some issues. There are now common problems, like 
> people that don´t speak English or have no clue how to use the usual 
> ticketing tools. Even having to have 3 or more different accounts is 
> too much for the typical user -- for whom the system is created I guess.
>
>  
>
> I though the way to collaborate is Mantis, but I need some advice.
>
>  
>
>  
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> To have 2 examples:
>
> 1)      Feature request -- collada
>
> http://opensimulator.org/mantis/view.php?id=2827  - last comment was 
> "Please post a note on the opensim-dev mailing list and ask for 
> feedback. If you cannot write the code for it, then you're going to 
> have to convince one of the developers to do it, (or get another 
> programmer to do it).  I'm suspending this pending a mailing list 
> discussion."  So i´m even doing a step more and get some user feedback 
> before.  The tickets status is closed.  Closed to me would mean:
>
> -          We will not do that
>
> -          We have done that
>
> Or is mantis just the wrong tool to put in a structured feature request ?
>
> Or mantis is missing a "open for discussion / voting" feature like JIRA ?
>
> 2)      Bug report -- covenant
>
> http://opensimulator.org/mantis/view.php?id=2879 -- i´m now activily 
> saearching for someone who has a off-world backup of his
>
> crashed covenant. Spoke to some people who had the same effect.  To me 
> , it´s a serious error if a object stored inwolrd is damaged.
>
> Anyway, I can understand if teravus can´t check that without the 
> original data.  But: if I can´t get someone with a local backup of his
>
> Notecard, the call is to be closed.  To me it´s a maybe seriours 
> problem to be closed.  I know: it´s alpha software. 
>
> Maybe mantis needs some more states, like "search for evidence till..."
>
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> This are just examples -- to me it´s like a wall I hit.   I guess 
> mantis is just the wrong tool I use.
>
>  
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>  
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> Any advice to handle my will to support without coding or just consume 
> "as is"  ?
>
>  
>
>  
>
> And sorry if anything is unclear, i´m not a native English speaker.
>
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>  
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>  
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> Cheers
>
> Ralf
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>   

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