Bug tracking

[Martin D Kealey]

On Mon, 11 Dec 2023, 05:19 Chet Ramey, <chet.ramey@case.edu> wrote:

> On 11/30/23 5:18 AM, Martin D Kealey wrote:
>
> > If there's a bug tracking system beyond "threads in a mailing list", I'd
> > like to know how I can get access to it.
>
> https://savannah.gnu.org/support/?group=bash


That's a good start, but it seems incomplete, and there's little -- perhaps
no -- overlap with bug reports in this list.

Has bashbug always sent email to bug-bash@gnu.org, or was it previously fed
into Savannah?

Savannah seems too simplistic, as it ignores what happens after code is
written, and fails to distinguish other important steps. (Among other
things: it lacks a field for "intended release" and lacks numerous status
options including "awaiting design review", "awaiting code review", "ready
for release", & "release scheduled"; there's no link between bug reports
and the source repo (so management of pull requests); and it doesn't have
any form of continuous testing or integration.) And of course, it's
disconnected from this mailing list.

Perhaps bug tracking could be migrated to a more modern system? I know that
(for good reason) GNU projects won't use proprietary services like
Bitbucket or Github, but perhaps Bugtraq or Gitlab would be acceptable, or
maybe some other project management tool?

Aside from the shortcomings of Savannah itself, I'm concerned that bug
reports in Savannah can only be assigned to three people, two of whom have
been inactive for years. (I'm guessing they're the same people who can
update bugs.) Are we building a cathedral with gatekeepers, or a bazaar
where the masses can contribute?

-Martin

PS: bashbug announces «Bashbug is used to send mail to the Bash
maintainers», and then addresses the message to *this* mailing list. I read
that as "this list is only for maintainers". (And yes, I distinguish
between subscribers, who receive messages from the list, and submitters,
who send messages to the list.)

Somewhere along the line this list has ceased to fulfil that role, instead
becoming an informal bash testers list, while the actual
bash-testers@cwru.edu list doesn't rate a mention here, and moreover
attempting to subscribe by sending to bash-testers-request@cwru.edu bounces
(550 5.1.1 User unknown). If the testers list is elsewhere, bashbug needs
updating.