Using version numbers on the bugtracker
Posted: 10 Sep 2017, 16:01
So, I try to ignore this topic as much as I can but it keeps waving in my face in one way or another so I guess we have to talk about it. I think we had one or two previous threads on this but they didn't go anywhere so I didn't bother digging them up.
The issue is that we have no guidelines for what the 'version number' for an issue on the bug tracker means, and different people seem to have different opinions on this, everyone does what they wants and the bugtracker becomes a mess. A common opinion I see is:
In my opinion, version numbers should be used for release planning, not for 'this issue is important'. A better way to give visibility is to 'Confirm' issues, set a Category and Priority, and/or add more information that is relevant.
Assuming that we actually want to use version numbers as a 'future roadmap' for the next version (which I'm not sure if we should, as hardly anything is planned), we should only set a version number for an issue when we are reasonably certain what needs to be done and how to do it, so that anyone can do so. Otherwise the issue is just going to carry on from one release to the next indefinitely and what good is 'visibility' then?
Also, discuss: would it be a good idea to disable version number changes for non-developer accounts?
The issue is that we have no guidelines for what the 'version number' for an issue on the bug tracker means, and different people seem to have different opinions on this, everyone does what they wants and the bugtracker becomes a mess. A common opinion I see is:
IMO, this reasoning is not great. We don't 'forget' issues because they don't have a version number. If we do forget, it's because there are 560 open issues currently, with or without version number. As a developer (speaking for myself anyway) I don't even look at the current version's roadmap, because its so cluttered and useless....I can see why people forgot about it; it was never assigned a version number and had no visibility).
In my opinion, version numbers should be used for release planning, not for 'this issue is important'. A better way to give visibility is to 'Confirm' issues, set a Category and Priority, and/or add more information that is relevant.
Assuming that we actually want to use version numbers as a 'future roadmap' for the next version (which I'm not sure if we should, as hardly anything is planned), we should only set a version number for an issue when we are reasonably certain what needs to be done and how to do it, so that anyone can do so. Otherwise the issue is just going to carry on from one release to the next indefinitely and what good is 'visibility' then?
Also, discuss: would it be a good idea to disable version number changes for non-developer accounts?