Bugs forum

[netmaestro]

I don't wish to offend anyone and I hope I don't end up doing that, but I think an idea to consider for the bugs forum would be to limit access to it for anyone who a) hasn't been a member for x amount of time or b) hasn't reached x number of posts. It wouldn't cut all the fat out of it but it would cut a lot. Team members scrutinize Coding Questions thoroughly anyway so nothing would be lost imho. I can't imagine this hasn't been suggested before, though I don't remember it. I mean posting access, they should still be able to see the existing issues. I dunno - what do you think?

[auser]

limit access to it for anyone who a) hasn't been a member for x amount of time or b) hasn't reached x number of posts

Number of posts just shows if you are a communicative person but does not verify if you are a good bug-reporter or a bad one or if you are experienced in programming knowing that you are the source of error all times until verified at max that there is most likely no other possibility left or if you are just lazy choosing the most convenient way to move the fault from you to somebody else as first step until somebody put your nose to the problem done by yourself.


As user of PB I would prefer real bug-tracking tools like http://www.bugzilla.org/ or http://www.mantisbt.org/ or http://trac.edgewall.org/
I've posted more then one bug (real bugs) that got often some (no bug, do this do that) discussions previously which could get pretty anoying. So from my sight of view the current bug-report section is more like a battlefield of discussion with possibilty to add some smiley than some serious bug-tracking where I know as user which bug get fixed in which version. I does not know this for sure even if it's marked [Done] in the thread-topic because release-notes of PB lack some "Bug #1234, #1235, #1236, fixed". There are no visible numbers for us at all but instead some "and lots bugs fixed" in release notes. Anyway I think it's easier that way for Fred so he probably get more time to add more new features which is nice as well. And that said... even if I hate that discussions in bug-forum it might help to reduce waste of time as well if some other users could help solving some issue that are no bugs. I know some other forum that had (at first) some forum-bug-reporting as well but there where some further forum-admins that was experienced and had the permission to move bugs from the "put in by user section" to the "considered as real bug and developer-only forum section". Anyway even that guys changed to some real bug-tracking afterwards (which was probably a bit more logical step if it's open-sourced development which is not the case here).

[PB]

> an idea to consider for the bugs forum would be to limit access to it

Definitely. The Bug Report FAQ doesn't seem to solve anything, and
newbies still post bugs where there are none. (Even I did when I was
a newbie here, so I'm not claiming to be exempt).

[davido]

In the end it is up to the TEAM to decide.

I have no problem having to post 'what I think are bugs' in Coding Questions.
Yes, it is probably a good idea.

[heartbone]

Am I the only one who thinks this solution is a problem?
X days or X posts?

Is it unheard of for someone who happens to be a veteran programmer to join this forum just to communicate a problem that they are experiencing?
Now that "newbie" with a problem would have to post elsewhere in the forum, or try to convince an authorized member to post the situation as a bug, or wait until they are seasoned.
If dealing with what I think to be a stoopid bug I might be already frustrated.
To alleviate any further frustration I'd likely create X garbage posts, then post the alleged bug.

It is informative to see what sort of problems those less experienced than the old heads think that they are encountering.
If the old heads get tired of seeing the problems posted by newbies, there are other solutions.

[Fred]

I think it's working OK. Even if some posts are falses positives, it's better to have them in the bug forums first as we can actually miss a post in the coding section. Moving a post if it's not a real bug isn't a big deal and can be done by moderators. Thanks for the concern

[IdeasVacuum]

It's really a matter of etiquette. I think everyone, veteran or newbie, should post to one of the other forums first. The ensuing discussions will arrive at whether there is a bug to be reported.

[freak]

I am wondering. Do you have a concrete example of a bug post that should be prevented by this policy?

We have to keep the bar low for bug posts or we will lose valuable reports too. I try to encourage people who report bugs per mail to rather post them here because they are much better to track for us and other users can help confirm/narrow down the problem better. If you can't just register&post the bug, then this would no longer be possible. Keep in mind that there are lots of PB users that don't use this forum at all. If they join just to report a single bug, its still good news for us.

Besides, moving a false positive to another section is just a matter of clicks, so its not really an issue for me.

[PB]

> Do you have a concrete example of a bug post that should be prevented by this policy?

http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 68#p431358
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 01#p425401
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 71#p429383
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 35#p429823

[Lord]

> Do you have a concrete example of a bug post that should be prevented by this policy?

http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 68#p431358

Oh, and these three:

http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 01#p425401
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 71#p429383
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 35#p429823

These examples do not match creteria defined by netmaestro.

All example:

a) hasn't been a member for x amount of time or
b) hasn't reached x number of posts

Example 2 to 4:
Only Fread or freak know which "bug" is really a bug in PureBasic.
So they decide wether there is a bug or not.
That is the reason for a bug section.
A bug posting is not meant as a coding question. Not the result
determines the section where to post.

And even if Fred stated that it is not a big deal to move a posting,
there would be more moving in than out of bug section.

[netmaestro]

If the team is happy with the current arrangement, it's all good. I only suggested it because I thought it might save them some work.