????? ???????????? wrote:
> Ada language support was not addressed, too. This is the second time
> the compiler project team is not implementing support.
>
> How do I appeal a PSARC case?
Well, first the case has to be closed. If it's not closed, then any
call to "appeal" is greatly premature.
Secondly, if the case is constructed in a way that it doesn't block
someone else from solving the problem on their own, then calls to appeal
may well be ignored. For example, if the project team chooses not to
deliver an Ada compiler, but if (after the decision) anyone else could
still do so without being blocked by the previous ARC decision (i.e.,
the original case didn't say "we must not deliver Ada"), then the right
answer is to do that technical work to deliver the feature rather than
just arguing about it on a mailing list.
Appeals structured around making other people do optional work that they
don't want to do tend to be somewhat less than effective. It's usually
better just to do the work!
As for an actual appeal, the process is a bit fuzzy, because the details
haven't been updated to deal with the "open" part of OpenSolaris.
In short, the first (and best!) place to appeal is to the project team
members directly. Ask them if they can change their minds and (as in
this case) enable the Ada support. It should be a trivial change on
their part, so it's hard to imagine that they'd actually say "no" unless
there was some compelling problem in doing so. It sometimes helps if
you offer to help in some way -- offering to do beta tests or the like.
If that fails, then the next step is to talk to the case owner and the
ARC chair about the case. Consider carefully exactly what you want them
to do, and explain why the decisions already made were the wrong ones.
Say something like:
"Could you please get the project team and the committee members
to agree to re-opening LSARC xxxx/yyy for discussion? I believe
that the decision was made without adequate consideration of
Ada support. All other distributions include it, and turning it
on should be quite simple. I believe the ARC members should
have discussed a TCR to enable all of the GNU-supported
languages in the compiler set, and that the project team should
follow up with technical details if this is somehow impossible
to accomplish."
If they can't or won't help, then you're in the formal appeal process,
which is the part that hasn't been (as far as I know) fixed for
OpenSolaris. The next step is to appeal to SAC (the ARC chairs), and
that takes endorsement from a Sun Distinguished Engineer or a
Director-level manager. You must include a concise explanation of why
you think that the ARC decision was wrong or why it was right _but_
needs to be reversed to accommodate some other concern. (If I were
rewriting the new process, entering this step would require a vote of
the Core Contributors to one of the OpenSolaris Community Groups,
instead of the DE or manager.)
If that doesn't work, the last appeal is to the CTO's office, and
requires Sun Fellow or VP-level endorsement. (I think that should be
the OGB serving as the final stop in a new process.)
Anyway, the right first step on an appeal of an ARC decision (assuming
there is one) is to talk to the project team members individually,
rather than a mailing list.
--
James Carlson 42.703N 71.076W <carlsonj at workingcode.com>
