[Dovecot] Bugtracking system

[Simon Waters]

On Tuesday 06 Dec 2005 18:09, Timo Sirainen wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-12-02 at 10:57 -0500, Glenn Leavell wrote:
> > Back in April, there was a little discussion about the possibility of
> > using a bug tracking system for Dovecot (Bugzilla, Trac, and Mantis were
> > mentioned).  Do you think it might be time to revisit that?
>
> Still would be a good idea. Hmm.

Merits of various bug tracking systems besides (please not another Bugzilla), 
I think part of the issue is release cycle.

Not my job to tell Timo how to do his, but a lot of the responses to the list 
seem to be along the lines of "use the CVS version". Suggests to me that 
there is a need for more releases, or at least point releases, whenever new 
features have been integrate. The website has some daily builds, but they 
don't obviously encapsulate what the author(s) believe is working in that tar 
ball.

That said I use the Debian stable package of dovecot, which is based on 
ancient code (well a couple of years according to the Wiki), and haven't 
really experienced any issues, except with mbox, so maybe I underestimate how 
much effort Timo puts into producing/testing formal releases. Perhaps we 
should just stare blankly at the people using mbox with dovecot (in anger) 
and ask "why?" in a particularly disdainful tone of voice till the next full 
release.

Wietse tends to release postfix (either full releases for security fixes, or 
point development releases) with every significant bug fix. Alongside an 
accurate, and verbose change log this seems to work well. Sometimes the point 
release will have a fix for bug X, but only half of new feature Y, because it 
is a work in progress, but that is fine for people who really need to fix X, 
the fact that Y is in a mess doesn't matter if you don't use Y.

I have a horrible feeling I've suggested this before.

Whether on top of that Timo feels the need for more formal bug tracking, is 
another issue, but I'd be surprised if it had much relevance for the 
"average" end user. Looking at the few bugs recorded in Debian's bug tracking 
system against dovecot, they are primarily packaging related, or wishlist 
items, plus a couple related to more complex integrations of dovecot. i.e. 
for many Debian users (at least those experienced enough to report bugs 
through formal channels) Dovecot "just works".