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Date:      Sat, 23 Nov 2002 04:35:34 +0100
From:      Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>
Cc:        Robert Watson <rwatson@FreeBSD.org>, Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>, current@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re: Searching for users of netncp and nwfs to help debug 5.0 problems
Message-ID:  <a05200f1cba04a1c4d4ea@[192.168.0.3]>
In-Reply-To: <3DDEB038.5C8BA89A@mindspring.com>
References:   <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1021122082107.81249T-100000@fledge.watson.org> <3DDEB038.5C8BA89A@mindspring.com>

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At 2:31 PM -0800 2002/11/22, Terry Lambert wrote:

>  A "bug-filing wizard" would be useful.  The "send-pr" system
>  doesn't cut it, and most people are unaware of how to file a
>  decent bug report.  It doesn't help when the process involves
>  another computer, a serial cable, recompiling a kernel to use
>  a serial console and turn DDB support on, special configuration
>  for system dump images, and changing the size of your swap
>  partition to support the amount of RAM you have put into the
>  machine.

	Speaking as someone who is about to step off the deep end and 
start trying to actually run and test -CURRENT on my system here at 
home, I believe that this kind of resource would be vitally important.

	In contrast, I've had a few crashes this past week from other 
programs here on my PowerBook G4 running MacOS X (primarily Chimera, 
based on the Mozilla Gecko engine with native Aqua interface), and 
they have made it very easy for me to report crashes.  They have 
integrated tools to extract the maximum amount of information from 
the system as to exactly what other programs were running, what the 
program stack was, and a whole host of other things.  All I have to 
do is type in my e-mail address, optionally describe what I was 
trying to do at the time, and have a functioning Internet connection 
so that they can upload the reports.  I'd share some examples with 
you, but they are *huge*.


	Now, we can say that running -CURRENT is not for people who want 
to be molly-coddled.  But I believe it's a good idea to give people 
better tools to help make a better system.  I am convinced that we 
can find a better compromise.

>  If the PR contains a patch, and the owner does nothing in the
>  allotted time, then give the PR submitter a commit bit, and give
>  ownership of the area over to them.
>
>  At the very least, PR's will be closed, and more people actively
>  writing code will end up with commit bits.

	Gack.  I'm not sure even I would be quite this radical -- any 
moron (like me ;-) can generate a PR that might include a patch. 
IMO, better would be to give the area to another person who is 
suitably qualified, has the available cycles, and presumably already 
has a commit bit.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles@skynet.be>

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
     -Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.

GCS/IT d+(-) s:+(++)>: a C++(+++)$ UMBSHI++++$ P+>++ L+ !E W+++(--) N+ !w---
O- M++ V PS++(+++) PE- Y+(++) PGP>+++ t+(+++) 5++(+++) X++(+++) R+(+++)
tv+(+++) b+(++++) DI+(++++) D+(++) G+(++++) e++>++++ h--- r---(+++)* z(+++)

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