Comments on: Why MySQL 5.1 Is Not GA Yet, and How You Can Help

By: Michael Denney

Michael Denney — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:10:14 +0000

If the “me too” model is not working, at the least they should just start fixing bugs. Just showing that things are being fixed in the bug tracker alone could go a long way for inspiring confidence in MySQL 5.1, increasing the usage rates, and then as a result increasing the bug reports.

Fixing bugs based on the number of reports received for a bug would work, if a large amount of users were using the system, if you only have a few users you’re only going to get a few bug reports, even if the bug is major.

By: Sheeri Cabral

Sheeri Cabral — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:08:34 +0000

Mike and James — I think the issue is that the internal team can’t get a good sense of priority of which bugs to fix unless there’s some way to see whether it’s affecting one person or many.

Tony — yes, it would be much easier, but there isn’t currently one there, and we’d like 5.1 released as soon as possible.

By: James

James — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:38:42 +0000

Which is completely crazy. A bug exists in a bug tracker to be fixed, not to be fixed once it reaches enough “me toos!”

I wonder about the quality of Linux (the kernel) if a similar prioritisation model was adopted…

By: Tony Marston

Tony Marston — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:18:52 +0000

Wouldn’t it be easier to have a counter that people could increment simply by pressing a button that says “This bug affects me too”? Seeing a counter with a high value would be better than having to trawl through all those “me too” posts.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:50:26 +0000

That’s an interesting way of doing things. Shouldn’t the internal team be reviewing the severity of the bug and fixing it based on that? I just can’t understand the way MySqlAB (and now Sun) works sometimes…

By: Joe Izenman

Joe Izenman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:35:00 +0000

Unfortunately you do, on some level, run into the same paradox, albeit indirectly. Because fewer people are using the non-GA version, you have fewer people to notice/report these bugs. This in addition to having people like you who tend to avoid echoing existing reports.

By: Arjen Lentz

Arjen Lentz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:30:05 +0000

Bugs are found when software is used in “interesting” environments.
MySQL 5.1 has seen plenty of downloads I’m sure.
The issue is indeed the feedback cycle not functioning. If someone finds a problem, reports it, but it doesn’t see action, then this causes a negative chain reaction for this person’s participation.
They won’t bother filing more problem reports, they won’t bother downloading newer 5.1 versions, and they might not even bother continuing to use 5.1 at all if the problems are hindering their work.

By: Colin Charles Agenda » Blog Archive » “Me too” comments in bug systems

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:58:21 +0000

[…] don’t know about “me too” types of bug replies, but before everyone goes to the bug database and starts saying “me too”, “this […]