[context: a bug, that has been hard to track down for a while, sees a flurry of activity and improvement in multiple installations; and then the developer sees fit to apologise. I disagree; praise is appropriate.] On 28-Nov-2009, Mark Hindley wrote: > Sorry to have taken so long to get to the bottom of this. Surely you jest. This has been a prime example of a *good* response to a bug report, and I'm saying so here on ‘debian-devel’ to highlight a major reason why I preferentially choose Debian for systems under my control. The delay was, if I understand correctly, largely for want of a decent set of repeatable test cases. Once you had access to those (through users willing to repeat them on your behalf), your speed of improvements to the application has been exemplary. Rapid brainstorming and feedback of possible fixes, for a bug that the developer can't even replicate, involving exchanges across the world by email directly between the users and the developer. It doesn't even *compare* to projects without a free software code base and an open email-based bug tracker, so you have an advantage in Debian there. But even those are insufficient. This has been possible because of a package maintainer who sincerely cares less about programmer ego than about finding a proper resolution to the bug for the sake of all its users. So, I repudiate your “sorry”, and retort with “thank you” instead. More like this, please! -- \ “One bad programmer can easily create two new jobs a year. | `\ Hiring more bad programmers will just increase our perceived | _o__) need for them.” —David Lorge Parnas, 1999-03 | Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>
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