[oi-dev] Illumos/OI Projects Tooling

[Atiq Rahman]

> OpenIndiana we have a very simple process using github
Enabling github issues on https://github.com/OpenIndiana/oi-userland  will
help the simplicity

Same for https://github.com/illumos/illumos-gate

On Sat, Aug 16, 2025 at 6:36 AM Andreas Wacknitz via oi-dev <
oi-dev at openindiana.org> wrote:

> Am 16.08.25 um 15:09 schrieb Peter Tribble:
>
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 11:12 PM Joshua M. Clulow via illumos-developer <
> developer at lists.illumos.org> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 15 Aug 2025 at 14:56, Atiq Rahman <atiqcx at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Thanks to both of you.
>>
>> You're welcome!
>>
>> > May I suggest we move  https://www.illumos.org/projects to Github or
>> GitLab?
>> > Old tools look daunting and will essentially alienate new contributors.
>> Potential contributors are mostly using Github/Gitlab IMO.
>>
>> It has certainly been considered in the past, but it really isn't
>> clear that merely changing to a different bug tracker or code review
>> system is going to result in a significant wave of serious new
>> contributions.
>>
>
> The telling word there is "merely". It's not just about substituting one
> piece
> such as the bug tracker for another, it's about replacing the whole
> workflow
> wholesale.
>
> And if you were to pitch contribution to a newly interested person, which
> of
> the following would be more likely to succeed?
>
> 1. Hi! Yeah, set up a completely new account over here. Fill in a unique
> bugtracker over there. Follow a non-standard set of processes to create
> a change. Interact with a mailing list, which may or may not get back to
> you. Interact again with our bugtracker. Once you've got that far, interact
> with a different mailing list, and if you're lucky your change might get
> committed.
>
> or:
>
> 2. Hi! Yeah, just use the exact same process used for millions of other
> projects, on a system you've probably already using.
>
> No contest, really. Our existing processes, systems, and workflow impose
> significant barriers to contribution, which might go some way to explain
> why we don't get any new contributors.
>
> The heavyweight nature of our processes is also a major barrier that
> discourages contributions by existing members of the community. If we
> want illumos to improve, then barriers must be lowered.
>
>
>> The hurdle we actually have is that working on an operating system is
>> itself often daunting.  It's a large code base that has been around
>> for a long time.  It's not the kind of software that most people work
>> on.  There is a sort of implicit assumption, I guess, that it's going
>> to be very difficult instead of merely a different kind of work.  This
>> isn't actually the case, of course: the kernel is just a big C
>> program!  Anybody can learn enough to contribute, if they're
>> motivated.
>>
>> I think if you're already keen to contribute, it's unlikely, on
>> balance, that the bug tracker is going to be the reason that you
>> don't.
>>
>
> It won't be *the* only reason, but along with other impediments, it will
> be *a* reason.
>
> The problematic process you are referring to is for illumos-gate.
> For OpenIndiana we have a very simple process using github. You only need
> to clone our oi-userland repository to a local build machine and can start
> right away. Nevertheless the number of OI maintainers is very low and new
> contributors are rare.
>
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