[development] Some issues and their fixes with Drupal 4.6.6 andPostgreSQL

[Jeff Eaton]

>Gary (Lists) wrote:
>>If a patch fixes a bug, and someone has taken the time to spot the 
>>bug, fix the bug, and make a patch, then why do they also then need to

>>engage in personality politics to get the fix applied?
>>
>>This statement reads a bit like  "Well, even you fix a bug, we may not

>>apply the fix if we don't like you."

I've never seen that problem, to be honest. There are good patches that
have been shot down, but they were almost invariably written by people
who were active and respected members of the community: they were
rejected for core not because of personality politics, but because there
was dissent among core Drupal contributors about the necessity and
usefulness of the patches. A number of these have gone on to become
contrib modules (See the prepopulate.module). Others are still being
maintained and lobbied (see the trashbin patch). This is frustrating
when it's MY patch I'm lobbying for, but tremendously helpful when I'm
putting a new site together and don't have to work around cruft from
everyone ELSE'S pet features. It's not perfect, but it's a balance I'm
happy with these days.

The *really* simple stuff tends to get committed quickly as long as it's
an actual bug and isn't just masking a more fundamental problem. One
thing that I've noticed about the Drupal community is that there is a
VERY high value put on a clean and cruft-free core for contrib modules
to build on. There is also a STRONG community aversion to 'band-aid
fixes.' In other words, if there's a fundamental problem in a particular
module or subsystem, it's often easy to slap in a workaround. MANY of
the patches submitted by those less familiar with the Drupal
architecture are like that.

Often, these patches are shelved in favor of solutions that take longer
to complete but solve the underlying problems.

--Jeff