>> Ray has listed a number of things that have been implemented during the >> past few months. All of them have been written by a single committer who >> also happen to be the one modifying the spec document. >> >> > This is factually incorrect at least for the Converter implementation at > Felix. Just look at the commit history for commits done on behalf of > community members and also check the mailing list for discussions that > definitely provided great feedback on the work done.
I have been doing a very tiny bit of work on the Converter as a double outsider (non committer in Felix, and non OSGi member). I completely rely on others to accept my contributions and suggestions, making me a kind of second class citizen. It does work, but I need to either (i) become a first class citizen either by merit or paying fees, depending on the organisation, or (ii) accept my dependence on the goodwill of others. Currently I have a de facto sponsor who has been very attentive to my questions and contributions, so (ii) is working out well enough. If it didn’t work out, could always fall back on option (i). So I can understand the frustrations and agree that there is a bit of a grey area, but at the same time I understand that in the end I have the same opportunities as everybody else. In this case, I am not willing/able to “pay the price” for full citizenship, so I don’t feel I have the right to complain. Just my 2¥. Cheers, =David