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Git commit labels offer a way to test a geometric maintenance model

entropicthoughts.com 13 min read Editor score 6/10

The piece proposes labeling commits as new development or maintenance, then counting them over time to test a model of induced maintenance. Empirical evidence about maintenance costs could improve planning for code written by people or AI.

What

- The geometric maintenance model posits that each person-month of code creates 10 maintenance days in year one and 5 days annually afterward.

How

- Using git labels or gross additions plus deletions, the analysis estimates tmux spent about 430,000 lines of effort on maintenance versus 230,000 on features.

Why it matters

- Maintenance accounted for roughly two-thirds of tmux’s roughly 660,000 lines of effort, showing that feature output alone can miss substantial long-term work.

Read on entropicthoughts.com → Lobsters

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