Use extortion to get bugs fixed!
Alex Blewitt doesn’t like the way the downloads pages and mirrors work at eclipse.org. He’s mentioned it before, and each time I’ve asked him to raise bugs. Bugs == open == community == feedback == ideas. Sounds fair and constructive, considering this is also the approach we prefer. So he kindly raised two bugs: 134630 to add a visual identifier for FTP/HTTP mirrors, and 134634: Easier downloads using right-click/no http meta tags. As per the Webmaster FAQ, if we get enough community support for them, we’ll fix them. Keep in mind, these are high-impact changes that will affect hundreds of thousands of web surfers. We don’t just change these pages to meet the desires of one individual.
But I recently read this juicy nugget on PlanetEclipse. Wow. It seems the message here is “I think the downloads pages suck, so instead of using mirrors, just download Eclipse directly from the Eclipse Servers”.
That, to me, is extortion. Eclipse.org can’t sustain the volume of downloads it currently has without mirrors — otherwise, we wouldn’t have mirrors, right? — so to encourage folks to not use mirrors is to harm the Eclipse community. Doesn’t seem like behaviour an Eclipse Top Ambassador nominee would exhibit. Then again, this comes from a gentleman who states, “Perhaps I’ll have to wait for the next best IDE to come out and throw decisions like this one away instead of hoping that Eclipse improves.” Great community spirit there, Alex. Thankfully, he didn’t win as Eclipse Top Ambassador.
Alex has been waiting 2 years for this WONTFIX bug. I can just imagine the harm he has wished upon the Platform Releng team. Mail bombs to the developers? “If you want this fixed, e-mail the developers directly.” is something I can somehow imagine him saying. Why not? Doesn’t seem that far-fetched to me.
Alex, I think everyone appreciates suggestions. Nothing is perfect, and there’s always room for improvement. But just because Alex Blewitt thinks something sucks doesn’t mean it NEEDS to be fixed. Is that so hard for you to understand?
In the meanwhile, yours truly will consider setting up Apache redirect rules to catch direct hits to download.eclipse.org and send them to the Please Select A Mirror script. If I feel ambitious, I’ll dig out Alex’ IP addresses and redirect him to the FTP server 
Posted April 5th, 2006 by Denis Roy in category: Uncategorized
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7 Responses to “Use extortion to get bugs fixed!”
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zx Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
We love you Denis!
Nathan Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Quoting zx “We love you Denis!”
+1
Dominik Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Quoting zx “We love you Denis!”
+2
I have to admit Alex raises some valid arguments though. You have to click a lot to find a specific download on eclipse.org. Some clicks less won’t hurt.
Why don’t you just sit down and find a way that both of you are pleased with, i guess that would serve the community better than having a fight about it.
Denis Roy Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Dominik, I’ll be the first to agree that his points are entirely valid, and I will +1 both of those bugs.
But to encourage everyone to bypass the mirror system, making the entire site slower for everyone, is not a very good tactic under any optic.
EnderJSC Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
don’t get me wrong, but wouldn’t the fact that multiple people start using the links he posted suggest that these people wanted this feature. Which in turn would make it obvious that the bug should be resolved… or something like that. Sounds to me like you are getting far to worked up about this. I’m wise enough not to use his links because I’m aware that a mirror will most likely be faster for me. However, I’m tempted because it does provide some simplicity. Looks to me like he is just trying to demonstrate a point. Also, this post seems a bit vendictive. Making assertions about what someone may or may not say is kind of petty…
Ian Skerrett Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Denis,
Aren’t you overreacting a bit? As enderjsc stated, if people start using them, maybe it is a message that they are valuable.
I also think it is too bad your post is vendictive. Not the type of community I would like to see developed at Eclipse…
Denis Roy Says:
April 5th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I feel bad as well. http://eclipsewebmaster.blogspot.com/2006/04/apologies-for-alex.html