[Python-Dev] Moving bugs and patches through the pipeline more quickly (original) (raw)

Skip Montanaro skip@pobox.com
Wed, 6 Mar 2002 19:51:01 -0600 

Guido> [Skip]
>> ... formal triage system ...

Guido> Sorry, since we're all volunteers here, I don't see how a formal
Guido> rotation could work.  Since you're a volunteer, I don't feel
Guido> comfortable to tell you to do something.

I wasn't thinking about it quite like that. I was thinking more along the lines of a subset of people would volunteer to do the triage, passing it off between themselves at the rotation boundaries. That's more-or-less how Cameron Laird does it for the weekly Python URL stuff.

>> As an "official" developer, I would find it useful to get a summary
>> mailing weekly of stuff that's assigned to me.  I have no particular
>> other reason to login to SF.

Guido> When something's assigned to you, you get an email.  Isn't that
Guido> enough?

Well, like most people, I need occasional re-reminding. ;-)

>> This suggests that it would be useful if SF allowed people to
>> temporarily inactivate themselves.  Is there such a feature?  (I
>> didn't see anything, though I was just able to change my timezone
>> from US/Eastern to US/Central.  woo hoo!)

Guido> There's no such a thing.  I suppose you could remove yourself
Guido> from the list of developers, and later when you want back on, you
Guido> can ask to be added back.  But that only works for long absences
Guido> (like several months).

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

Guido> Playing games with the bug priority to get someone's
Guido> attention is also the wrong thing to do ...

>> I don't believe I suggested this as a way to grab peoples' attention.

Guido> No, but Jonathan Gardner did that, and really p*ssed me off (he
Guido> was complaining he didn't get a response to a bug he reported the
Guido> previous evening).

I wasn't aware of that. He obviously didn't raise the priority of a bug that was assigned to me...

Guido> I would certainly like to see more applications from people
Guido> interested in getting developer status, even if it means I'll
Guido> have to do semi-formal "interviews" or reference checks myself.
Guido> How can we encourage the good developers that exist to help?

I suggest you post an announcement to c.l.py. I don't know where best to have them reply. Sending mail to guido@python.org would clearly not be the right place. Python-dev wouldn't normally be the right place for this either, but that's where all the people qualified to do the reference checks hang out.

>> Still, I sort of doubt this is how other large open source projects
>> work.  I can't imagine it's a real productive use of your time or
>> that of other gifted folks (Larry Wall, Ben Wing, etc).

Guido> I'll do anything I can to get more people to volunteer.

Do you think if the PSF sold a Guido swimsuit calendar it would help? ;-)

be-careful-when-you-say-"anything"-ly, y'rs,

Skip