Re: Why Emacs needs a modern bug tracker

[Eric S. Raymond]

Andreas Röhler <address@hidden>:
> Concerning the bugtracking: a lot of bugs reported
> aren't really one. That can't be changed. What with all
> this false bugs in a database?

The Wesnoth bug/issue tracker has statuses "Wont Fix" and "Invalid".  
Our devs apply these according to their judgment.  Such decisions
have implicit review because everyone on the bug-notification
email list sees the status changes. Sometimes, another dev
will change the tagging, explaining why in a comment.
 
At each release we close bugs still marked Invalid or Wont Fix.
 
> OTOH some severe bugs seem reported from time to time,
> but not fixed so far. Will a database change that?

Not directly, no.  But it will help focus attention on the
most important bugs.

> What about some kind of a blackboard, establishing a
> hierarchy of important bugs naming a person in charge
> for it?

Two of the main purposes of a tracker are (1) to make bug
priority apparent, and (b) to document who, if anyone,
has taken responsibility for each bug.
-- 
                <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/";>Eric S. Raymond</a>