Bugs with patches attached

[Emmet Hikory]

James Westby wrote:
>  There is currently a discussion in #debian-devel that
>  would benefit from some input from triagers.
<...>
>  Do you see many patches attached to bug reports?

    It is uncommon, but there are at least hundreds of patches
currently available.

>  When they are are they looked at by a developer?

    Typically only when the developer would look at the bug otherwise,
although some developers search for bugs with patches available.

>  If they are does there seem to be too much asked of
>  the submitter, like needless changes the developer
>  could quite easily do themselves?

    It very much depends on who looks at the patch.  If the patch is
first examined by a potential sponsor, they may ask for corrections to
be able to sponsor the patch.  For developers working on a package,
the patch is often integrated with their own work.  Some new
developers, used to sponsor feedback, might also pass sponsor-type
hints to the patch submitter, which in some cases can be frustrating
to the patch submitter.

>  Do you know how to deal with a bug that has a patch
>  attached?

    Personally, it depends on where I find it.  If I encounter it as
part of a bug report that I'm triaging, I tend to consider it
confirmation, and if the patch seems to do the right thing, even
consider it Triaged.  If I encounter the patch as a bug on a package
that I'm updating, I typically include the patch in the changes for
the next update.  If I encounter a non-debdiff patch in the sponsors
queue, I add the patch tag, and ask for a debdiff.

>  I have added myself to the contacts page as a contact
>  for bugs with patches attached. Therefore if you see a bug
>  get a patch attached, and it's not clear whether it's being
>  watched by a developer then please contact me and point
>  me to the bug. I will then try and see if I can hook the
>  bug up with a developer to get the patch looked at.

    Daniel Holbach recently introduced the "Really Fix It" site (1),
which acts as yet another means by which developers can easily find
bugs with patches attached (or other simple cases) to help combine
those patches into a new revision for upload.  This is relatively new,
and external, so it may not yet be part of many developers common
resource lists, but it may be a help to you in interesting developers
in these bugs.

1: http://daniel.holba.ch/really-fix-it/

-- 
Emmet HIKORY