coding style cleanup Re: cvs commit: httpd-2.0 STATUS

[Brian Pane <bp...@pacbell.net>]

Justin Erenkrantz wrote:

>On Sun, Nov 11, 2001 at 01:04:44AM -0000, jerenkrantz@apache.org wrote:
>
>>  +
>>  +    * Source code should follow style guidelines.
>>  +        This can't wait until we have a 2.0-gold release because then
>>  +        style corrections will conflict with bug fixes found after
>>  +        release which is not nice.
>>
>
>Personally, I think this is a release showstopper, but I can be talked
>out of that.  I don't want to end up in the situation where we go GA
>and then do style changes and then the diffs AFTER the GA become
>cluttered with style fixes.  So, I think this needs to happen before
>we go GA.  For now, it lands in release-showstopper category.
>
>It also may be best to devise a plan of attack for getting files 
>converted to the right style.  -- justin
>

Can you quantify the value of doing style cleanups before GA?
I.e., what's the value to the customers (the people who'll use
2.0) of holding up the release in order to fix up the coding style?

I might just be overreacting, but I'm particularly worried about
making this a release showstopper because I fear that it could
offset some of the potential benefits of 2.0.

I assert that a big part of the value proposition that 2.0
will offer to users is lower capital cost:
   * Compared to 1.3, it should require less hardware to handle
     the same volume of traffic.
   * Compared to various commercial servers, it should offer
     competitive performance, quality, and features without the
     licensing fees.
(Both of these points assume that we'll produce a 2.0 GA release
with great performance and quality, but I think we're close to
doing so.)

 From this perspective, delaying GA is generally a bad thing.
While we fix the code indentation, potential users may have to
buy more servers to handle traffic growth under 1.3, or buy
more per-host licenses for commercial servers.

While I'm not opposed in principle to doing a code cleanup before
GA, I'd feel much more comfortable if it either:
   * didn't delay the release, or
   * added some quantifiable, incremental value for users.

--Brian

Re: coding style cleanup Re: cvs commit: httpd-2.0 STATUS

[Justin Erenkrantz <je...@ebuilt.com>]

On Sat, Nov 10, 2001 at 06:21:18PM -0800, Brian Pane wrote:
> While I'm not opposed in principle to doing a code cleanup before
> GA, I'd feel much more comfortable if it either:
>   * didn't delay the release, or
>   * added some quantifiable, incremental value for users.

I think it adds some quantifiable, incremental value for the
people coding the bugger.  =)  You are right in that it would 
have no effect on the users.  

And, I think we could do it in such a way that it didn't delay a
release.  Realistically, we'll have some time after 2.0.X (28?) 
goes beta to do some last-minute things.  AIUI, all of the other 
release showstoppers *need* to be addressed before labeling 
anything GA, so I think that we have a few weeks before having a 
GA ready at the earliest.  That should be enough time to do it.
If we are to do style changes, I'd like to do it in a way that 
doesn't harm developers trying to get a release out the door.

If we don't do it before we go GA, we're never going to do it.
And, we'll be stuck with that style until we open 2.1 for
development.  -- justin