Hi,
there are currently 122 RC bugs remaining that affect both testing and
unstable. We need to fix them NOW.
However, in the permanent BSP state that has lasted for quite some time,
people seem to lose focus on this urgent need for the release. So the
idea is:
122 developers × 5 days = 122 RC bugs fixed
The rules are : at the end of a 5-day period, the bug you are assigned
must be closed in unstable or have a lenny-ignore tag. Otherwise this is
a free-for-all.
The first 5 developers to fix their bugs will be sent a box of home-made
cookies. Those who can’t fix their bugs in 5 days will receive the visit
of a release manager who will hit them with a rusty shovel.
All we need is 122 skilled developers willing to sign in this contract
(with their blood).
Does it sound like a realistic idea?
Not to me. First, we're already doing good on RC bug fixing. We already
missed the original schedule, and AFAIK this time nobody announced that
lenny would be released according to the release schedule in an official
medium.
Second, several of these 122 bugs are either new or pending, so they're
likely already on the way of being fixed. After that, the list of bugs
need to be triaged. Then the release team will deal with some of the
remaining bugs by removing the packages from testing. Some can be
downgraded by documenting them. Some aren't regressions from Etch, some
are duplicates.
The about 50 bugs remaining won't be much for the number of developers
with free time willing to work on releasing lenny. It's unrealistic to
ask a random developer to fix an RC bug in a random package in 5 days.
If I'm assigned a bug in a GNOME package I never used, as a KDE user,
and which is coded in Perl, which I don't know, my motivation to fix the
bug will be low, and the chances I get the bug off the RC radar in 5
days very low, unless you actually plan to send cookies and beat me if I
fail. AFAIK, most of those participating in recent BSP-s didn't get any
particular reward for their work.
I think it's better for few bug and many developers, to let developers
work on the bugs they care about. Another way to increase the rate RC
bugs are dealt with would be to give particular reward to BSP
participants by crediting them in news. In the long-term, it would help
to create a ranking of Debian contributors according to the value of
their contributions to Debian, which would take RC bugs dealt with into
consideration.
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