Include fixes in the bug tracker

[Wolfie]

If this has been asked before then ummm.. Oops.

Anyway... It would be nice if fixes made were to be documented as part of a fix in the bug tracker. I'm not talking about complex fixes, but more of simple or of elevated severity/importance.

If it's a small typo in the php code or if it's something else that only takes a couple of minutes to do, then it'd be nice to know so that members can apply the fix themselves.

If it's got a more than average severity level, that fix would be appreciated as well, at least if it's something that is severe because of the amount of functionality it affects, etc. I know that security issues are always made available via announcements, so that's not really a concern (kudos to IPS for always making those available in a very timely fashion).

Obviously if it gets complex, requiring an edit in multiple files, SQL queries, etc, then it's best for us to just wait as the instructions would take up quite a bit of time to include. But simple fixes could help us not only do minor 'upgrades' while we wait for the next release, but also if that bug fix causes another issue or isn't working quite the way it's supposed to, then it can be addressed again and another attempt made before the next release.

I'm also not talking about nightly releases or anything. Just something we we customers can do fixes to our installs if we want (and we could even pick and choose the fixes to install until the next release). When a fix isn't made available, something that explains what was happening or what was changed would be nice to.

Sometimes a fix or an explanation is included and that's very much appreciated, as it's usually done in a way that helps us to understand (in concept at least) what was wrong and what was done to correct it. Just would be nice if this was done more as a standard.

Just in case there's any misunderstanding, I'm not dogging on IPS in any way. Just that I noticed a bug in which the fix was included and it was nice to see it. I know that it'd be next to impossible to do it for every single bug reported, but if it's a simple enough fix (and I do mean simple) or if it's an important enough fix, just be nice to be able to apply it without having to wait. Obviously, all bugs reported and fixed up to this point should just be left as is. Just some feedback as 'food for thought'.

[Mark]

I think some people tend to forget that the bug tracker is for reporting bugs and nothing more. Some people read through the tracker regularly and turn the reports into discussions - that's really not what the bug tracker is for.

If you are experiencing an issue that is critical to the running of your board, then submit a ticket and we'll do the best we can to resolve the problem. It would be far too time consuming to expect the developers to post a fix for every issue.

[bfarber]

Yes, unfortunately what you're requesting is already done to the best of our ability. If it's simple and actually of importance (e.g. not a language typo, for instance) I'll try to post fixes where possible. If it's more than one edit, I usually don't - we don't have the time to do that on a regular basis.