[phobos] Upping the number of bugzilla votes from 10 to 100

[Don Clugston]

On 9 December 2010 01:16, Andrei Alexandrescu <andrei at erdani.com> wrote:
> I don't really understand the stiff opposition to this. This is not the time
> and the place to criticize the past and present of our process, but instead
> to take steps to improve it. Part of improving the process, now that fixing
> bugs is a major focus, is to figure out a good ranking function for bugs.
> And I believe that increasing the number of votes per user would contribute
> to that. Could we please push this through? Let's make it happen.


Let me explain the stiff opposition.

This change DESTROYS THE EXISTING STATISTICS.
When you make a radical change like this, you have to wait for at a
least a year or so before the statistics are meaningful again.
It took a couple of years to get them to the level they are at now. Seriously.
As one of the very few people who actually *uses* the vote statistics,
to determine which bugs to fix,  I'm quite annoyed about this.


You also made this statement on the newsgroup:
> Right now the process of choosing which bug to fix next is unstructured.

I think this indicates a misconception.
Over the last six months, nearly 90% of fixed bugs were patches. I
think it's entirely appropriate that bugs with correct patches get
high priority.
And since they are community-driven, there's not  much control over
which bugs they are.

Half the patches are mine. I follow a definite priority in choosing
which bugs to patch.
1.  Wrong-code regression
2.  ICE regression
3.  wrong code bugs marked 'blocker' or 'critical'
4. Compiler segfault
5. Missing line number
6. ICE or wrong code, non-obscure situation
7. Regression, non-obscure (most recently introduced get highest priority)
8. ICE or wrong code, more obscure situation

Bugs with votes jump a couple of places up the list. There *ought* to
be categories below those I've listed, where votes and age would play
a big role,  but there have just been too many bugs in the top
priority categories.

I also patch a few bugs which aren't on that list, mostly when they're
very easy, or when I hit them myself. I also do CTFE bugs, because I
feel I've taken ownership of that part of the compiler.

Note that people don't tend to vote for ICE and wrong-code bugs,
because you don't notice them until after they've wasted days of your
life.