<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Yes, i am taking a direct jab at the mailing list's "mission statement" while at the same time beckoning, beseeching, begging even, for your involvement (yes, YOU!) So KDE 4 is just around the corner, for relative values of "just around the corner" and we want to make it rock. Yes, yes, the whole mission statement thing again. <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I'm calling upon you fine folk to contribute to the quality of KDE products by getting involved with a) contributing to the maintenance of the bug database or b) fixing bugs. This post however, is mostly centered around a). Recently some have begun to mobilize in this respect and as a result we have seen the birth of the Bugsquad: <A href="http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad">http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad</A>. Contrary to what you may be thinking, this is not a horde of insects which have been hired to do our QA for us (although the temptation must certainly have been very strong). Instead it is a somewhat loose collection of contributors who, on an appointed day go forth and scourge the unholy mass that is bugs.kde.org confirming, closing, and sometimes even creating bugs for a specific application (I know, I've been naughty). </DIV><DIV>For contributors who are unable to do so themselves, they can point these out on the bugsquad wiki, allowing those with the authoritah to excercise their awesome power, like so: <A href="http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad/Bugs_to_be_done">http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad/Bugs_to_be_done</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>On actual bug squad "cleansing" days you can actually join the gang in #kde-bugs, on the irc.freenode.net network, if you prefer more realtime interaction. Once bugs are properly triaged then developers can go through repairing, patching, and new string introducing as they will. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>"So what's the catch?" you ask. There is none. If you've never done anything like this before WE WILL HELP YOU. Currently "we" includes me and <A href="http://quality.kde.org/develop/howto/howtobugs.php">http://quality.kde.org/develop/howto/howtobugs.php</A> as I haven't spoken about this to anyone else. Sometime today or after work I'll pop in to #kde-bugs and pick a fight :-) More info will follow later on this later. I suspect a bug day requires a little more planning than a simple "Let's do this gang!" There has to be some coordination with both bugsquad and bugkillers, else all the triaging in the world is for naught. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>You may skip the next paragraphs if you're pressed for time as it is basically an impassioned plea re-iterating the above... >>>>>>>></DIV><DIV>And now it's time to have a little chat about time. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Some of us will never have the time to partake of the joys of a konqueror bug day. Maybe you have to work on that particular day(s), maybe you have a hot date. It's OK, I'd choose the hot date over KDE too. We're not all perfect. :-) I'm in grad school and have about 4 hours each day to either sit down in front of the TV and vegetate(yes the math is correct, ~12 hrs "working" + ~8 hours sleeping/eating). On fridays this is taken up by Sci-fi programming. This will never end so Friday is a lost cause. </DIV><DIV>On Mondays there is Lost, so we're now down to 3 hours. At least 1 hour for one app can still make a difference. Multiply that by a few days, if you feel so incline and it makes a bigger difference. Multiply that by about 80 people [1], and look at that, the bug database has almost been tamed. </DIV><DIV>Going to bugzilla, daunting a task though it may seem initially, and checking over one or two bugs in your favorite app is OK, AND it'll make you feel good, especially when it's a program you care about. </DIV><DIV>I believe the potential for the bugsquad extends far beyond the domain of KDE proper and can be used to serve KDE in general. "Users like you" should feel free to use it's resources to improve your favorite apps. Currently I personally far more familiar with apps outside of the official KDE repo, such as konversation or amarok. This doesn't preclude one from being able to work on applications included with KDE however. We're not fixing bugs (yet?) you just need to confirm or deny. It's simple, really. I'm not that smart and even I can do it :-) I started off sucking and now I suck less. And 'lo, I still live and haven't been burnt alive at the stake :-) <<<<<<<<<</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>As Jos pointed out KDE-Quality is a place to ask how to get involved. Well I'm saving you the trouble. If you're already here I'm assuming you want to get involved. Alternatively you may have been suckered in by the list's name (a misnomer if ever there was one) assuming that there would be some Quality Assurance work involved. If so we've just killed two birds with one stone. In conclusion I again ask for volunteers to make KDE rock. Don't all come at once</DIV><DIV> :-)</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span">[1] "Around 80 new bugs and wishlist items are filed in KDE's bug tracking system every day"<FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#414141" face="Lucida Grande" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </SPAN></FONT><A href="http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad/Guide">http://developernew.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad/Guide</A></SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>