Re: request to kill nag messages
[You don't need to send me an extra Cc as I read the lists on which I
write. Thanks!]
Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 19 May 1999, Christian Kurz wrote:
> > Branden Robinson <branden@ecn.purdue.edu> wrote:
> > > On Tue, May 18, 1999 at 03:32:20PM -0400, shaleh@clifford.livenet.net wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm not the only one to be annoyed at the nag messages that are sent out.
> > > > > Can the script please be disabled. There are better ways to find out bugs
> > > > > you have open. Long-standing bugs are likely to be less important than
> > > > > recent bugs too.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > I would rather see the old bugs closed. An old bug is still a bug.
> > > >
> > > > Don't like the messages, help close the bugs.
> >
> > > Wrong. Brian White is no longer the release manager, so he has no special
> > > privilege to send mails like this.
> >
> > Oh, does somebody need a special privilege to tell us which general bugs
> > are too old and need to be resolved? I don't think so.
> No one needs to take on that job, as the BTS already reports all open bugs
> twice a week to every developer.
Are you sure? I don't know that this is done by the BTS and have never
heard about this?
> If this was simply a report to the list, once in a while, like the
> "critical bugs that need to be fixed" list, there would be no problem.
> Instead this mail is generated automatically and sent to every developer
> with an open bug report over a certain age.
Well what is the problem with this? I don't see any offence in getting a
message that says that I (the maintainer) has still open bug over a
certain age. I think this is a good reminder for the maintainers as you
may forget to fix bugs. Take a look at the ppp-package and how many open
bugs there have been. The maintainer hadn't fixed them and so I helped
him. (Sorry Phil, but this is a good example and No, I don't want to
praise me with this). Or have you taken a look at the list on
http://master.debian.org/~ajt/bugsbyage.txt? Have you seen how many open
old bugs we got? How do you think we get this fixed without reminding
the developers of their open bugs?
> > > This is no different from some "helpful" developer spamming people who,
> > > say, have had bugs open for over a year. Such people have (rightly) come
> > > under fire in the past.
> >
> > And what do you propose should be done with bugs that are so old? Still
> > let them stay open and look somewhere else? No, that isn't a solution.
> > The solution is to contact the developer and ask them about the bugs and
> > try to track the problem down and fix the bug. This has nothing do to
> > with spamming instead these are person, which are interested in
> > improving th quality of the distribution.
> >
> This is not a "person" asking a developer to fix a bug. This is an
> automated system that spits out messages with NO content of use to the
> developer, and adds nothing but bulk to the already functional system.
Where has the message no content? It tells you which bugs are very old
and haven't been fixed, so you can take a look at them and fix them. And
the point that this is an automated system doing this is IMHO no cause
to treat them like spam. It's has been automated as a normal person
can't to this on her own.
> This _is_ spam, and nothing more. Please be aware that any message with
> the word "Nag" in the subject is always deleted and never read when sent
> to me, so if you really want to contact me don't use that word ;-)
Well, that's you problem, but better would be a kill on the From-Line
instead of the Subject.
> You aren't really suggesting that any "well meaning" person is correct to
> set up an automated system for notifying developers about <place your
> important issue here>, then you should not complain when some dodo sends
> you, and the list, critical information about how to get rich quick. He is
> only trying to be informative...
Well, I don't like spam as it has nothing to do with my work or my
hobby. But these messages are there for informing me, that I have open
bugs and that I need to fix them. So it's a reminder for me as
developer. Or how should we remind developer of their old bugs? Go by
hand through the BTS and sort them out? Are you sure that every
developer knows which open bugs he has and how old they are? I'm not and
since the messages are not send every day or every week or every month
but instead after a certain amount of time, more than 4 months, I don't
treat them like spam.
Cheers
Christian
--
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* Christian Kurz Debian Developer *
* Use Debian - a free Operating System for your PC *
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