A Newsletter for Rails Tickets
While closing a few tickets on Rails Lighthouse I had a crazy idea. Why not compile a list of unresolved tickets and send it as a newsletter! I could create categories like stale tickets, feature requests/patches, tickets needing minor work and desparate love needing tickets. This would allow developers who wish to contribute to Rails get a quick overview of tickets that need attention.
What's wrong with Rails lighthouse?
The biggest problem with Rails LH is the growing number of stale tickets. Many of them were created long ago and aren't even relevant now. Unfortunately finding them was made harder by the spammers. The false updates made tickets which had not been updated for months become recent.
Poorly tagged tickets are also frustrating. If you are comfortable with Active Record and you wanted to help out with related tickets — it's not so convenient. Tickets are tagged very poorly thus your ability to focus on issues dealing with specific parts is restricted. There is also a growing list of tickets that have patches which haven't been reviewed or even looked at. For a patch to get into Rails it needs to get at least 3 positive reviews . Unfortunately plenty of wonderful patches are just lying there.
These problems discourage developers who want to start contributing to Rails. Existing contributors also hesitate because there is a good chance that their patches will not even be reviewed. Would be bug reporters also hesitate since nobody looks at their tickets. The core team find it hard to sift through the tickets to find those that matter. Basically contributors and core members have limited time to work on Rails and most of it is spent on needless persuits.
Why Rails lighthouse needs you
We need you to confirm/deny bug reports. We need you to write patches for issues. We need you to review patches written by your peers. We need your valuable opinion on feature requests. We need you to write patches for that wonderful feature you thought of. Basically you are the life of Rails LH and Ruby on Rails.
Why a newsletter?
The main idea behind having a newsletter is to allow developers to receive a concise list of tickets that need attention. Thus allowing them to gradually enter into the world of contributing to Rails. It will also allow patches to get some eyes on them. Most importantly I'm hoping to distribute the task of classifying tickets as stale and no longer relevant thus allowing us to close these tickets.
A leaner issue tracker will allow developers to be more inclined to help out. They will be willing to write patches. Will be willing to report bugs. I strongly believe that in the long run these contributions however tiny will help Rails become even more awesome.
When is the newsletter out?
I have created a small survey with simple questions regarding the newsletter. I've posted it on the core list and on rubyflow.
I'll be keeping it up for a few more days to collect as many responses as possible. I'll post the results of the survey in another article along with the decisions I make and when you can expect the first issue to be out.
In the mean time if you are a Rails developer of any skill level, please do take the time to fill the survey and don't hesitate to send an email if you have any questions, suggestions or would like to help.