Changes to the bugzilla workflow: 2 proposals

[Boudewijn Rempt]

On Mon, 12 Dec 2016, David Edmundson wrote:

> In terms of bugzilla workflow, we need to indicate 3 possible states of
> who we are waiting on:
> 
>  - needs bugzilla input from a developer (current unconfirmed)
>  - needs bugzilla input from the reporter (current needsinfo)
>  - doesn't require any further bugzilla input (current confirmed/resolved
> as appropriate)
> 

But are the states just there to reflect that we're waiting on something?

> I don't think it can be done in any fewer statuses, and I don't really see
> how it requires any more.

As I said before, and I handle the second-biggest KDE project in terms of 
new bugs per year, my workflow would be easier with more states, and I'll
describe them, instead of using existing terms: 

* new, haven't looked at it yet
* have looked at it, couldn't reproduce it or  couldn't understand it, but don't want to look at it again when I'm looking for new reports
* have looked at it, and I know the reporter hasn't told me everything I need yet
* have looked at it and I know what is going on
* have started working on it
* have finished with the darn thing
* never want to look at the report again, it was dumb (well, that's the same I have finished with the darn thing)

> Not arguing, but it's worth noting this was a deliberate default change
> between bugzilla 3 and bugzilla 4.

On a tangent, but something I've wanted to bring up for long time...

Yeah, they're nuts. Well, maybe not nuts, but bugzilla is a poster-child
of rudeness towards people who want to help. RESOLVED/WONTFIX, RESOLVED/
INVALID -- that all reads as "BUGGEROFF/YOUIDIOT. 

A bug tracker is in the first place a tool to help me, as a developer, be more
efficient in improving my software, but a very close second it's a marketing
tool, and a recruitement tool and a customer retention tool. It's one of the
most direct ways to stay in touch with our user base, with the users who are
fan enough that they scale the stairs to the Olympus and manage to make use
of a tool that must look like the Necronomicon to them. 

It's also a unique selling point, because with proprietary software, this
kind of contact is all but impossible.

I've said it before, but I _love_ and _admire_ everyone who reports a
bug in bugs.kde.org!
-- 
Boudewijn Rempt | http://www.krita.org, http://www.valdyas.org