Hi folks,
So while I was in the process of making comments on Trac tickets about the github move, I
noticed there were a large amount of tickets that have been left open for a rather large
amount of time -- several hundred, many open for over a year. This is bad and will
ultimately destroy any piece of software. Scott, James, and I can't manage this
alone.
While I'm sure not all of these are active bugs, and some are more like ideas or
support requests, I don't want to see the queue get in this state again. That's
our record of what's broke or not broke -- so it needs to be small at all times.
Here's the challenge and ultimatum to you:
(1) We will not release with a bug queue in that state again. Full stop.
(2) Our next release should be about releasing with as low of a bug count as possible.
(3) More people absolutely need to be committing and fixing bugs. This means everyone.
As this list is full of immensely talented sysadmins, I think we can all shoulder the load
and make this pretty darn easy. The more work everyone does, the less work everyone
does.
That makes sense! So here's your new years resolution, which is also the requirement
for success of the project.
(1) new bug queue to bookmark --
http://github.com/cobbler/cobbler/issues -- it's
small now, but expect it to grow as people move things over from Trac. Bookmark it.
(2) Learn Python if you don't know it, we'll help on #cobbler and cobbler-devel
list as much as possible. If you know it, help others here learn it. There was a
"Learn to Hack on
Cobbler Week" once. Let's make that every day and multiply the contributor
pool. Like Tribbes. (Did I mention OSS contributions look great on your resume? They
do).
Join the development list if you haven't already.
(3) Fix bugs and send in pull requests, and close bug tickets that are user error with
explanations of what the users should be doing. Help keep the bug queue extra small and
the master branch very high quality. If you're submitting a feature or a bug fix for
something that affects you, also try to fix some bugs that don't affect you. If you
are submitting a bug, see if you can also accompany that bug report with a fix.
If we all do this, we can release quicker, have a higher quality app, and have more time
for amazing new features. For those starting and those that have already been helping
alike, thank you very much!
And may everyone enjoy flying their Christmas Sharks.