[Python-Dev] Moving bugs and patches through the pipeline more quickly

[Martin v. Loewis]

"Mark Hammond" <mhammond@skippinet.com.au> writes:

> Let me first get the most benign comments out of the way first: I hate
> sourceforge's bug manager!!  

I quite like it.

> I have fallen in love with bugzilla, as it works oh-so well.  I know
> it is too easy to blame the tools, but having a discrete CC list
> per-bug really works well.

Not sure what that is, but on SF, there is a "discrete CC list" as
well: You can easily add yourself to the CC list, by commenting;
removing yourself is not supported, but I don't see the need: Just
delete the messages you don't want.

> At the moment I have 129 unread messages in my python-bugs folder -
> only because I wiped it out a week or so ago.

If I get a follow up on a bug report that I don't care about, I just
delete the message - I won't have time to go back to it for the next
25 years, at which time I can find the issue (and the text I just
received) quite easily.

> However, I think the real problem lies in the basic fact that developers
> tend to scratch their itches.  Python is mature enough that many of the bugs
> are obscure and don't really affect anyone in the main Python community.

I agree; this indeed is the reason for the status quo.

> In the example that spawned this thread:  Jonathon could mail me saying
> "could you please have a look at bug xxx.  It has been reviewed by Skip and
> isn't really that deep".  I would say "sure", and have a cursory look at the
> bug, noting Skip's comments.  Worst case I would ask a few question to try
> and make me look clever, fail miserably, and apply the patch locally.  I
> would build Linux and Windows, and run the test suite.  Then just check it
> in.

I think this process could work: it makes it ultimately the
responsibility of the patch author to get her patch into shape. It
also does not need any change in software infrastructure: those parts
of the process that deal with assigning/unassigning would always be
initiated by the patch submitter.

There will be always patches where the submitter does not care about
whether it gets in or not, either; those may remain unreviewed under
this process. I think nobody would have a problem with that.

Then, there are patches where authors care but don't know how to
advance it: for those, it would be good if someone would write up your
proposal and stick it into the SF FAQ, or Andrew's python-dev
document.

Finally, this process does not help with bugs that have no patches; I
guess Mozilla has no recipe for these, either - it comes back to your
observation that few people care about obscure problems.

Regards,
Martin