Re: [HACKERS] Collaboration Tool Proposal

Tom,

> Our first try at a bug tracking system, several years ago, was open to
> anybody to create entries, and we found that the signal-to-noise ratio
> went to zero in no time. Too many not-a-bugs, too many support
> requests, too few actual bugs. We went back to using the pgsql-bugs
> mailing list.

I actually sort of agree with Tom, although I don't want to raise the barrier
too high. I'd suggest allowing all registered users to submit bugs.
Needing to go through registration should severely reduce the "noise", even
if we give no restriction on who can register.

I field the Advocacy webform right now, and only get about 10 e-mails a day,
even though some of those are really support requests better handled by the
mailing lists. I think we could handle 5 bad bug reports a day.

> As for raising the barrier, you can presently submit bug reports to
> pgsql-bugs by either mail or webform. Most of the bug trackers I'm
> aware of are webform-only. I don't consider that a step forward,
> especially since a webform isn't very conducive to making good reports
> (it's hard to attach test cases, for instance).

Both the BZ and GForge webforms allow uploading files. And I'd far rather
have a single copy of a test case on our web site than a couple dozen being
e-mailed out.

--
-Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco