[Asterisk-Dev] Features requests on bugs.digium.com

[Josh Roberson]

Darren Nickerson wrote:

> Josh,
>
> In my experience, feature requests are a natural component of any bug 
> tracking effort, and something every software product being written 
> via a collaborative development model will face. I've been involved 
> intimately in several such projects, have looked closely at a myriad 
> of others, and I think the approach being advocated by you and bkw 
> (and possibly the majority of the current bug marshals) stands way 
> outside of the norm. I think the aggressive closing of bugs, and 
> rejection of feature requests has already had an impact on Asterisk, 
> and will hinder it significantly in the long run.
>
Pardon me, but we do not aggressively close them.  We set guidelines, 
and the guidelines must be followed.   The fact of the matter is, this 
project stands way outside the norm already.

> Don't get hung up on the word 'bug'. Think of them as issues. It's 
> entirely normal to have a large list of open issues in any actively 
> maintained product ... some of them will be heart-stoppingly nasty 
> bugs that must be fixed, and at the other end of the spectrum there 
> will be "nice-to-haves" that would make Asterisk better if someone 
> would only implement them (aka feature requests). If mantis doesn't 
> help you easily distinguish them from each other, then I think someone 
> should consider better isssue tracking software (or better 
> configuration of the current one). The goal of having zero open items 
> in Mantis should be abandoned IMHO, ... it's not appropriate or 
> reasonable to expect anyone to do that with a maturing software 
> product. Perhaps it was reasonable back when all the issues were 
> show-stoppers, but Asterisk has come a long way since then.

The goal is not to have zero open items in Mantis.  The goal is to keep 
it within a reasonable amount.    Perhaps you should actually confer 
with us before making assumptions about the way we operate.

> I think Olle recently suggested that there's a way to tag things as 
> feature requests in Mantis, which would seem to make this whole thing 
> a non-issue. If feature requests can be identified as such, then 
> anyone looking for a rainy day coding project can find them and become 
> a hero, and those of you who are more focused on fixing true bugs can 
> exclude feature requests from your searches.

There is a feature requests category, however, rarely used.  Fact of the 
matter is, we need a system to actually tackle bugs and bug fixes, and 
keep them seperate of feature enhancements/feature requests.    Again, 
don't be quick to make judgements and tell us how we should be 
operating, if you're that concerned with it, get involved.

> -Darren