[zeromq-dev] C++ assertion failed with Java client

[Pieter Hintjens]

On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 6:57 PM, john skaller
<skaller at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> So I would stop feeling nervous about vetting of patches .. and start
> feeling nervous about the lack of test code :)

Actually there is test code, lots of it, written on top of the
bindings. PyZMQ for instance has a huge test suite that has caught
several major regressions.

As regards the process, I'll explain once more, because this seems to
be a subtle point:

* In unstable code you want the maximum possible contribution range to
ensure that real problems are solved accurately
* In stable code you want the most brutal possible test policy, to
ensure that existing applications are secured.

My business, for 30 years, has been to deliver robust
industrial-quality code that people can rely on 24/7. There is no way
in heck anything calling itself "ZeroMQ" will be released as an
*official* stable package by iMatix without satisfying extremely high
levels of quality.

The debate here is whether the old meritocracy can deliver that
quality or not. The evidence suggests it can, but only with huge
effort. However, over the last years I've been able to maintain
several 2.x releases with minimal effort, and maintain high quality,
by allowing _anyone_ to submit patches and at the same time apply a
tough fix test process.

If I can do it, anyone can. Hence, the role of maintainer as neutral
bureaucrat, and contributors (all of us) as votes.

And yes, a large part of this dictatorial move was to relieve Martin
Sustrik of an enormous burden, to allow him more space to do what he
does best, write amazing code that does amazing stuff, simply and
elegantly and faster than anything ever before.

Now, i see another FOUR pull requests have piled up in the last hours,
so I'm going to process them.

Cheers
Pieter