Leadership and philosophy

[alphapapa]

@tkf @titaniumbones

On #162 I posted a comment asking that you address the recent development philosophy that has foisted gratuitous changes on users.

In that case it was @dickmao's merging @conao3's changes in that PR, despite my pointing out that over 85 packages depend on request, and they should not have those unnecessary whitespace changes imposed upon them merely to satisfy the aesthetic preferences of @conao3 and @dickmao. @dickmao stated:

I consider whitespace changes of this kind forward progress, and am willing to impose the nuisance diff on anyone so bold as to press TAB on their request call.

@titaniumbones you are welcome to revert the merge if you feel strongly about it. It's not a big deal to me either way, but I do place a higher worth on aesthetically correct whitespace than most others.

Afterward, I posted:

@dickmao

I do place a higher worth on aesthetically correct whitespace than most others. I... am willing to impose the nuisance diff on anyone so bold as to press TAB on their request call.

It's not about you. Maintaining an important, widely used library package in the Emacs package ecosystem requires putting the users first, not imposing your own preferences.

@tkf @titaniumbones For the good of the Emacs package ecosystem, this package needs leadership who exercises restraint, fairness, and good judgment. In this PR and others, @conao3 and @dickmao have demonstrated the opposite. Please put a stop to this irresponsible behavior. If this does not change, I will no longer be able to recommend the use of this package, and a fork or reimplementation may be required to provide a stable foundation for other packages.

It is not possible to stand on the shoulders of giants when those giants are jumping up and down and dancing from side to side, riders be damned.

Since then, @conao3 has blocked me on GitHub, which prevents me from even commenting on that PR, even though he has no control over this repo. It's not even possible for me to comment on, e.g. MELPA PRs which he posts (I was going to helpfully point out to him that this docstring in his latest package has references to variables which are not actually used--I guess I'll do that here, instead, and maybe he'll notice).

Their lack of consideration for downstream users and passive-aggressive behavior is inappropriate for maintainers of a widely used Emacs library. Issues like this should be resolved thoughtfully, not forced through against reasoned objections. That PR, especially, should have not been merged until Matt had commented on my objection, since he is the acting maintainer with control over the repo. Instead, @dickmao forced his personal preferences upon all downstream users of the library over the objections of actual users (i.e. myself, since I am one).

@tkf @titaniumbones This is your package, so it is your decision how you want to develop it and whether you approve of their behavior. I have stated the problems as best I can. I ask that you address these issues so it is clear where we all stand, so that decisions can be made on how to proceed.

Thanks.