[python-committers] Proposed core developer for contributing to multiprocessing

[Ezio Melotti]

Hi,

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 1:09 PM, M.-A. Lemburg <mal at egenix.com> wrote:
>
> BTW: How about having an "incubator" phase for new core devs ?
> The new candidate will get commit rights for say 3 months and
> after those 3 months, the mentor then suggests whether make
> the status permanent or not.
>

Not sure this will work too well.  I'm assuming that new candidates
are good developers and reasonable persons that will still be chosen
based on their merits (previous contributions, recommendations from
other core devs, etc.), so nearly all of them will probably get the
permanent status.
I can't imagine many reasons why we wouldn't eventually accept a
candidate.  If they wreak havoc in the repo we will probably remove
their commit rights immediately, if they do something wrong we would
just tell them and they would hopefully fix the problem and keep it in
mind for the next time.  If they really can't figure out/follow our
workflow or have similar problems they will probably gave up being
contributors on their own, even if they still have rights.

> As long as this is stated clearly from the beginning, I don't
> think people will feel offended if they end up not receiving
> the permanent status, and this will reduce the barrier for
> entry a lot. Learning on the job is a rather common practice
> in the industry these days :-)
>

If they do something clearly wrong they shouldn't be surprised if we
revoke their right, 3 months period or not.  If they are just not good
enough they won't be offended but they will probably be disappointed.
Comparing Python with a paid job is also somewhat misleading, since
the only investment we have to do is following the new contributor for
a while and possibly intervene if something goes wrong (e.g. they made
a wrong commit and don't know how to fix it/revert it).  IME this
doesn't happen often and it's not a particularly time-consuming task.

TL;DR We can give access rights to whoever proves to be up to the task
and willing to contribute, the three month period is not necessary, if
they cause trouble we will just revoke the right (but that shouldn't
happen).

Best Regards,
Ezio Melotti