Re: IDE?

[Larry McVoy]

> I actually don't think it's the people as much as it is the ridiculous 
> linkages inside ide.c and the hugely complicated rules. The code is messy.

So of all the people you know floating around in "active hacker" state, who
seems like the sort of person who could handle this mess?  If there is no
person, is there a description which is more specific than "wanted: person
who wants thankless abusive non-payed job to clean up what is inherently a
mess"?  

People are pretty amazing and I've found if you spell out exactly what
you are looking for you can sometimes get it.  People tend to step
up to the plate more willingly if they know what is expected of them.
You are the master of getting people to do that, so this is sort of the
blind suggesting a path to the sighted, but this area seems harder than
normal so maybe it can benefit from a more defined description.  Dunno.
Can't hurt.  I hate to see more crap piled on Alan, he's a finite and
useful resource.  Seems like spreading the load around would be good.

Another question: is there any operating system out there which handles
the IDE mess well?  I suppose Windows is as good as it gets, right?  Or
does Solaris/x86 do a good job?  If so, maybe we can get them to donate 
their work to Linux, since they seem to be looking for "we're good guys"
press coverage.