[D-runtime] This is why the auto tester is important

[Alex Rønne Petersen]

Hi folks,

http://d.puremagic.com/test-results/pulls.ghtml

Something like two browser pages of these were 100% green before the
master breakage. It's extremely hard to keep track of what pull
requests are passing whenever master breaks.

I'm not writing this just because I want to whine about red builds for
the sake of whining. I'm writing this for practical reasons: Whenever
master breaks and all pull requests are reset to a red state, we have
to wait for the *entire* pull auto testing queue to process before we
can start gaining an overview of what's currently mergeable and what's
not. And for the record, this is not a fast process. It takes days,
literally. Our pull request review/merge/reject process is slow enough
as it stands, and this is not helping. It's very frustrating, as a
contributor, to see something this trivial slow down possible merging
of pull requests. I imagine I am not alone in feeling this way.

All I'm asking is that a look be given to a pull request's state in
the auto tester *before* it's merged, so that we don't slow everything
down for everyone unnecessarily. Brad's GreaseMonkey script[1] makes
this even easier than just opening a separate browser tab. I don't
think it's an exaggeration to say that it takes less than 10 seconds
to check a pull request's state.

(I think I ought to mention that I have been the cause of master
breakage at least two times, if memory serves me right. I didn't
realize the impact it had until I started reviewing pull requests. Now
that I actually rely heavily on the pull auto tester, I've realized
just how annoying these master breakages can be when reviewing pull
requests (setting aside the issue of master being, well,
broken/unbuildable; this is easily rectifiable, but getting all the
pull requests into a green state again is very much *not*).)

So, please, let's all use the auto tester infrastructure properly. It
should not be a guideline, but a *requirement* to check the auto
tester before something is merged, IMHO.

Thanks and regards,
Alex

[1] http://d.puremagic.com/test-results/greasemonkey.ghtml