the answers, my friend, are blowing in bugzilla[0] - bug day 2004/02/12

[Luis Villa <louie ximian com>]

It's that time of the week again, where we seek understanding of the
state of bugzilla and hence the state of our project. (And your project
too.) This week's goal will be nailing UNCONFIRMED bugs- there are many
of them, and we need to clean them out[1].

What is this thing you call 'bug day'?
======================================

Bug day is a day we get together and find bugs and clean bugzilla so
that developers can get more work done. They need all the help they can
get. :) With over 7,000 open bugs, many of which (statistically
speaking) are bogus[2], we need as many people as possible to pitch in
and weed out those bogus bugs.

Who can help at a bug day?
==========================

Virtually anyone[3]. Bug day can be for the very timid, the very quiet,
or the very persistent. 

You do need:
* decent ability to read English 
* a user-level knowledge of GNOME
* 30 or so minutes of the day (the first time, after that you can do it
in very small chunks.)

You don't need:
* any programming ability
* any prior experience with QA
* a deep understanding of GNOME. 

On the other hand, if you do have programming ability, it's also a great
way to get involved- after a few bug days, you can figure out what needs
help in gnome quickly and apply your talents there.

I'm afraid I might be lonely at bug day.
========================================

Nonsense! Last week was our biggest turn out in some time. We had lots
of new faces, and I hope many of them will show up again. :) [Hello
hailstorm, ejchang, wench374, and others :)

So when is this 'bug day'?
==========================

Bug day is from 8:30AM EST to 8:30PMEST tomorrow (Thursday)- that's
13:30UTC->01:30UTC.
http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?day=5&month=2&year=2004&hour=8&min=30&sec=0&p1=179

Join us in #bugs on irc.gnome.org during that time, and we'll chill and
share the bugzilla love.

Luis, you are a wonderful source of enlightenment. But there must be
more.
=====

Indeed. The FAQ is here:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/bugsquad/triage/faq.html

See you all tomorrow:
Luis

[0] Because it appears that explaining inside jokes is probably a good
idea[4], I refer you to: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/blowin.html
[1] Next week will be nautilus, because Captain Nautilus is feeling
unloved and hailstorm suggested it.
[2] http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=134013 or
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=132374
[3] You must be at least this:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=4313204&section=news
smart to ride bugzilla.