[erlang-questions] Emysql: a cry for help (Harbinger is releasing control)

Jesse Gumm gumm@REDACTED
Wed Nov 19 17:18:06 CET 2014


Oops, that was meant to be a reply all.

--
Jesse Gumm
Owner, Sigma Star Systems
414.940.4866 || sigma-star.com || @jessegumm
On Nov 19, 2014 10:16 AM, "Jesse Gumm" <gumm@REDACTED> wrote:

> What about creating an organization on github called emysql and move the
> repo over to that, promoting a handful of team members whose contributions
> you trust to be acceptable.
>
> Then we don't have to figure out whose repo is "official" every couple of
> years, just promote contributors to the repo and magical things happen.
>
> -Jesse
>
> --
> Jesse Gumm
> Owner, Sigma Star Systems
> 414.940.4866 || sigma-star.com || @jessegumm
> On Nov 19, 2014 9:39 AM, "Garrett Smith" <g@REDACTED> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Jesper Louis Andersen
>> <jesper.louis.andersen@REDACTED> wrote:
>> > Hi Everyone,
>> >
>> > You may know that I was maintaining the Emysql code base for Erlang for
>> a
>> > while. It is a driver for MySQL which seem to be quite popular.
>> However, as
>> > of late, I have not really been maintaining it anymore, and I see no
>> reason
>> > to continuing doing so:
>> >
>> > * I have no passion for MySQL. It is the worst database in existence
>> ever
>> > and I utterly hate working with it.
>> > * Its client/server protocol is utterly useless in every way. How to
>> parse
>> > the response to a command depends on which command you send which
>> requires
>> > you to textually parse the command.
>> > * Like many other drivers, it conflates the communication protocol with
>> the
>> > pooling facility.
>> > * The low-level protocol handling is wrong, which leads to a wrong
>> timeout
>> > structure in all of the code base.
>> >
>> > ... and many more things I dislike. However, since so many are stuck
>> with
>> > MySQL, there is a genuine need to maintain a driver, however weak it
>> happens
>> > to be.
>> >
>> > Currently, the project is slipping through my fingers. There are several
>> > pull requests which has not been addressed but ought to be. If I were
>> > involved with the driver at work, I would be able to set aside some
>> time for
>> > the maintenance, but frankly, it is not something I am willing to do
>> unless
>> > I get paid for it. The code base simply burns me out.
>> >
>> > So I am throwing the towel into the ring. Don't look at this as a bad
>> thing!
>> > What I am doing is to make it official that I have no intention to
>> maintain
>> > the driver and someone else has to do it. This is a much better outcome
>> in
>> > the long run than me pretending to maintain something which I really
>> don't.
>> > I better do this than keep people in limbo as to where the code base is
>> > headed.
>> >
>> > I hope someone picks up the reins. There are several pull requests
>> which all
>> > have to be merged. There is a nice test suite, and with little work,
>> Travis
>> > CI support is salvageable. And I am here to answer any questions someone
>> > might have.
>> >
>> > In general, however, database drivers are in a very sad state in
>> > Erlang-land. But fixing that requires someone who will write a generic
>> > driver infrastructure and not doing so in anger because there is another
>> > project which needs to be addressed. Loic Hoguin's "bank" project is
>> > promising, but I don't know where it stands.
>> >
>> > And now, to address other projects for which I still do have the
>> passion :)
>> >
>> > Code is here:
>> >
>> > github.com/Eonblast/emysql
>>
>> I have zero cycles to spend on this, so I volunteer!
>>
>> This is indeed important and I agree completely with you on all
>> counts. This driver is a product of evolution and is fit for a
>> purpose, but, like the dinosaurs before it, I fear it's headed for
>> extinction.
>>
>> It's history is a fascinating chronicle of how things seem to work in
>> Erlang land - and here we are :)
>>
>> Proposing a direction at this point is just talk (from me) since I
>> really don't have a ton of time for this, but I have a spark of
>> interest, which is something. I think this could be an opportunity to
>> move a generic DB interface forward, which seems like a fun project.
>> That's as much as I can say now about the future.
>>
>> I believe I have at least one, maybe two, pending pull requests for
>> this library, so I can take a look at the others as well. I'd be happy
>> to take on the repo at gar1t, but I have a sinking feeling that I'll
>> just be in the same state as you. Not quite as soul crushed, but
>> sounds like that's just a matter of time.
>>
>> If there are any others we can fight for who wants this less,
>> otherwise I'll grab the latest, merge my own PRs and reject all others
>> as "overly complex and out of scope" (kidding, maybe).
>>
>> Who else?
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
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