[Python-Dev] Looking after the buildbots (in general)

[exarkun at twistedmatrix.com]

On 03:53 pm, g.brandl at gmx.net wrote:
>Am 04.08.2010 17:15, schrieb exarkun at twistedmatrix.com:
>>On 02:51 pm, barry at python.org wrote:
>>>On Aug 04, 2010, at 11:16 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
>>>>I think the issue is that many core developers don't have the reflex
>>>>to check buildbot state after they commit some changes (or at least
>>>>on a regular, say weekly, basis), and so gradually the buildbots 
>>>>have
>>>>a tendency to turn from green to red, one after another.
>>>
>>>I'd classify this as a failure of the tools, not of the developers.
>>>These
>>>post-commit verification steps should be proactive, and scream really
>>>loud (or
>>>even prevent future commits) until everything is green again.
>>>Buildbots
>>>themselves can be unstable, so this may or may not be workable, and
>>>changing
>>>any of this will take valuable volunteer time.  It's also unsexy 
>>>work.
>>
>>How hard is it to look at a web page?
>
>The hard part is to know *when* to look.  As you might have noticed, 
>the
>Python test suite does not run in ten seconds, especially on some of 
>the
>buildbots -- it can take 1-2 there to complete.  So if you look too 
>soon,
>you won't see all the results, and usually the slow systems are the
>interesting ones.
>
>Now we could of course have a commit hook that counts down two hours 
>and
>then sends an email to the committer "Now look at the buildbot!"...

I don't think it's that hard to take a look at the end of the day (or 
before starting anything else the next morning).  All it really takes is 
a choice on the part of each developer to care whether or not their 
changes are correct.

Jean-Paul