code cleanup in druntime and phobos

[Walter Bright via Digitalmars-d]

On 8/30/2014 7:37 AM, Daniel Murphy wrote:
> "Ola Fosheim Grøstad" " wrote in message
> news:pmrjlrkkaaiguefnqypr at forum.dlang.org...
>
>> Here is a good reason: «I have no interest in learning github, and I
>> personally don't care if you accept this patch, but here you have it in case
>> you want to improve your system».
>>
>> Here is another good reason: «Figuring out the D process is waaaay down on my
>> todo list, maybe sometime next month, next year, next…»
>
> If it takes longer to work out how to submit a pull request than make your
> patch, your patch probably wasn't worth doing.


While we of course would prefer that all contributors use github, there is 
another side.

I, of course, use lots of different software products. I often encounter bugs 
(obviously). So what to do about those bugs? When I try to report them, I 
discover far more often than not:

1. the vendor's web site has no mechanism for reporting bugs

2. if there is a mechanism, the vendor throws all sorts of annoying roadblocks 
in first, such as:

a. forcing me to click through their faq
b. having a 'keyhole' text entry box for the bug report (I defeat these by 
composing the bug report elsewhere and then cut&paste it into the keyhole)
c. putting a limit like of 300 characters for the bug report
d. making me create an account in order to submit the report
e. rejecting my bug report because I didn't fill in the form exactly right

3. the vendor will tell me I'm a unique snowflake and nobody else has the 
problems I reported so it won't be fixed, and btw, I should buy their upgrade 
for $75.

It isn't just paid software, try submitting a bug report to Thunderbird Mail.

[One of the most miserable bug reporting systems is the Patent Office's form for 
submitting prior art. It's hell just trying to figure out how to fill out the 
form correctly, and of course if you do anything wrong it just throws it on the 
floor.]

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The end result of all this is I very rarely submit bug reports anymore. If the 
maker makes it hard for me to submit one, I infer they don't want to hear about 
bug reports, so why bother?

(I also cannot recall any vendor actually fixing a bug I reported, EVER, in 30 
years.)

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Bottom line is, if someone wants to submit a patch via bugzilla, or even email, 
we should be accommodating, or at least not blow him off. I've often added 
Bugzilla issues for things I've received via email.