Bugs with patches attached

[Caroline Ford]

On 09/04/2008, James Westby <jw+debian at jameswestby.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>  There is currently a discussion in #debian-devel that
>  would benefit from some input from triagers.
>
>  Part of the discussion is about making best use of the
>  patches that are attached to some bugs by people
>  that are not involved in Ubuntu development enough
>  to know how to take them further.
>
>  There is a worry that firstly there are plenty of patches
>  sitting in launchpad that just aren't getting seen by
>  the right people. The further concern is that when
>  they are seen we ask too much of the submitters and
>  so drive people away from contributing.
>
>  I would firstly like some input from people who deal
>  with bugs.
>
>  Do you see many patches attached to bug reports?
>
>  When they are are they looked at by a developer?
>
>  If they are does there seem to be too much asked of
>  the submitter, like needless changes the developer
>  could quite easily do themselves?
>
>  Do you know how to deal with a bug that has a patch
>  attached?
>
>  We have a problem if the answer to the first question is
>  yes, and the second no. If that is indeed the case we
>  need to do something about it. If the last answer is no
>  then we can do something about that as well.
>
>  I have added myself to the contacts page as a contact
>  for bugs with patches attached. Therefore if you see a bug
>  get a patch attached, and it's not clear whether it's being
>  watched by a developer then please contact me and point
>  me to the bug. I will then try and see if I can hook the
>  bug up with a developer to get the patch looked at.
>
>  I'm also happy to just give pointers to other people if
>  you want to asses a patch for yourself and get it looked
>  at.
>
>  I have no idea how much work this will be, so if it gets too
>  much we'll have to come up with something else.
>
>  Much in the same vein as this, does anyone know a way to
>  receive notifications whenever a patch is added to a bug
>  (defined by the checkbox that they can select as they
>  submit it)?

I once made a diff and submitted it to a bug. I got a form reply back
telling me a make a debdiff, with a link to the packaging guide. I
didn't as I didn't have time/know how.

The real problem is knowing that you have to subscribe a team. I made
a debdiff yesterday and looked on the wiki so I knew the exact name of
the *-sponsors team to subscribe. I wasn't sure whether I should
subscribe universe-sponsors or motu-release as it's never clear cut
whether bug fixes are a release exception or not. The various wiki
pages were not helpful. I didn't subscribe motu-release and I think
it's gone through.

People shouldn't need to know code *and* Debian packaging to submit
fixes. We also need to find a way of dealing with the patch
sponsorship bureaucracy.

Caroline