On Saturday, June 29, 2002, at 09:27 AM, Peter Schuller wrote:

> Hello,
>
> what's the current procedures/policies for accepting changes into
> Squeak?

You submit them here.  From time to time they are collected, usually 
before a new rev is released.  Some get accepted for the core image, 
some don't.  Some get listed and saved as "goodies," others don't.  Most 
properly submitted submissions get posted to the Swiki.

> Back in January of 2001 I submitted an enhancement of the
> ConnectionQueue class (http://swiki.gsug.org:8080/sqfixes/1285.html). I
> never received any response.

The URL reflects that it was "collected" in the Swiki.  This is as much 
response as is likely to happen before a version collection.  Usually 
when fixes are being formally collected, an inquiry goes out for 
"reminders" that something was overlooked.

> I suppose my enhancement may have contained a bug / been considered
> badly written; but I would at least have expected to receive some sort
> of response.

Not likely, here or in many OSS projects.

> My question is - did my enhancement slip through the cracks, or are the
> maintainers simply too busy to handle all the changes that come in? Is
> this a general problem?

Not really, although folks do comment as you have from time to time, 
both here and in many other OSS projects.  Thanks for the contribution, 
by the way.  As a general matter, this "problem" is going to be obviated 
after general adoption of the new Module systems, in which every user is 
empowered to post Modules in the Squeak People path.


> There is much talk
> about Squeak being Open Source and how easy it is to contribute to the
> project; but if changes go ignored, the submitter is less likely to
> continue submitting enhancements.

Squeak is open source and it is easy to contribute to the project.  
However, not every submission gets committed to the core image.  Many of 
my submissions were included, others were not.

> I get the distinct impression that this is a general problem. Surfing
> the Wiki one can find various nice things (such as better-looking
> themes, a new and improved system browser, etc) - but they are not in
> the official Squeak release even though they are seemingly things many
> people would want - and particularly things that would help Squeak
> achieve success among newcomers.

That is why they are on the Swiki -- this is one of the primary places 
for inclusion other than incorporation into the "core image."  There is 
a strong current prejudice against image bloat, with a focus on 
refactoring the image for breakout into modules.