bug crossposting

keenerd · 2009-11-11 12:59:44

Glancing at a thread identifying problems, I got a slightly less terrible idea. It is still pretty terrible, but for a different reason.

Basically, automatically crosspost anything from the bug tracker to the forum. The bug tracker is a crude forum with the ability to flag/rank/assign threads, so it passes mental type checking.

The cross posting would be one way only, so the dev's won't get flooded from the forum. The big gain is making the bug tracker easier to follow, and get more people from the forum involved in bug finding/fixing.

It would not even require any modifications to the bug tracker, a crawlbot could do it automatically. But this is where the "terrible" part comes in. Bots (and automation in general) are really frowned on. Phrik is the only sanctioned one I've seen. Maybe if it was contained to a sub forum? I started to write code, but then realized that I'd probably get banned from the boards for using it.

Allan · 2009-11-11 23:35:46

And then all the devs need to look at comments on the tracker as well as in the forums?

keenerd · 2009-11-12 01:14:12

No. Hopefully it would be used to determine the scope of the bug, or verify if it is a bug at all. A person, having gained some sense of confirmation and clarity in the discussion, would then post the information back to the tracker. This happens all the time with the wiki. People discuss it here, and then clarify it over there.

Bugs would also become more well known. Very few people bother to vote on bugs. The max right now has what, 32 votes. Fully half the bugs have no votes.

(Optimally, it would work the other way. A forum thread, once it has collected enough information, could be flagged by mods as a bug report. Thus saving the devs loads of hassle from weak or mistaken info.)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-11-11 12:59:44

bug crossposting

#2 2009-11-11 23:35:46

Re: bug crossposting

#3 2009-11-12 01:14:12

Re: bug crossposting

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