Is anybody is fixing bugs?

[Richard Kakis]

Sebastian Kügler wrote:
> Hi Sven,
> 
> On Friday 15 June 2007 08:36:53 Sven Anders wrote:
>> Im am a user, and write bug reports. I found an bug, which was 
>> found by an other user nearly two years (2005-07-14) ago [Bug 
>> 109059] . But nobody has fixed this bug until today.
>> 
>> So shall I write more bug reports, or shall I not write any bug 
>> reports, because it wont change anythink?

I would suggest that you continue to write bugs reports.  Try to make
them as specific as possible.  If possible include test cases that will
reproduce the bug.  If you have written the bug against the current
release, retest it and add a further comment with each new release.
This would probably prevent it from being ignored for two years.

>> I would like that a bug reporter is contact by a developer (who 
>> "owns" this bug) in a specific time (e.g. 1 month).

It could be worse.  They might close the bug as WONTFIX within 24 hours.
  Yes, someone should contact you within 30 days.

> Unfortunately, this is not how Free Software (and specifically KDE) 
> works. You can't force people to fix bugs or react to reports within 
> a certain timeframe -- most of the people are volunteers after all.

Volunteer != 'do what ever you want'.

If I volunteer to help Habitat for Humanity build a house, I expect to
be told what to do.  I might be offered a choice of jobs, but anarchy
doesn't really work in building a house.  I don't see how we should
expect it to work here.

> That said, it's wrong to conclude from one bug not being handled in a
>  timely manner that bugreporting is useless. There are a lot of bugs 
> fixed every day (http://www.commit-digest.org/ has more details in 
> the statistics section).

But, we do have a bug problem.  Perhaps we need to refactor our software
engineering methods.  We need a method where we can offer a higher
quality product.  The product should improve in quality with each stable
release.  This has not been the case.

> On another note, as you can imagine, KDE developers are busy people, 
> especially with KDE 4.0 approaching quickly

This is really a lame excuse.  If we are too busy developing new stuff
to fix bugs, we have a serious problem.

> and help would be greatly appreciated. Even if you're not into 
> coding, you can make a difference, either by triaging bugs (making it
>  easier for developers to find useful information in bugreports),

Actually, Bugzilla needs more than just triage to accomplish this.

> by promoting, translating, creating artwork, maintaining and
> developing websites, taking part in the HIG hunting season and so on.

But, please help.  Since there is a lot of obsolete open bugs in
BugZilla, this is what is needed most.

Do we have a list called: howtohelp?  Actually, it seems that what is
needed is a list for people to post requests for help.

TIA: RK