A proposal to combine quality and bugsquad teams

[Matthew Fischer]

I think the release distinction for triage is artificial and possibly
incorrect. Unlike a tester, a triager does not need to have the release,
specific software, or even required hardware to triage a bug. They mainly
exist to move new bugs into the right bucket, remove dupes, and to get bugs
into a triaged state (Full list of
responsibilities<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad>).
They certainly can attempt a repro if possible, but it's not necessary.
Pretty much everything the triage person does is possible from a web
browser open to Launchpad and maybe Debian/Gnome BTS. They could triage
bugs on a Windows tablet for all it matters. Note: not a recommended
platform for triage ;)


On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Nicholas Skaggs <
nicholas.skaggs at canonical.com> wrote:

> On 10/24/2013 08:49 AM, Matthew Fischer wrote:
>
>> I'll second what's been said here by Dave. Combining the teams is a good
>> idea. The Bug Squad team could benefit from having more active management.
>> Howver, the Tester role needs to be expanded or perhaps a new role added.
>> As Dave said, people on the Bug Squad do not always run dev releases. Many
>> are still on precise, triaging bugs there. And I think bug triage should be
>> called out as a separate activity.
>>
>
> Hmm, ok, so we can add a 4th role without it getting too confusing ;-)
> Shall we call it simply 'bug triager', and focus the activities on doing
> SRU's and stable release triage work?
>
> If we do so it might make sense to push the SRU activity to this role from
> the 'tester' role. Essentially then you would have the following in regards
> to bugs --
>
> testers, working on the devel release and doing bug work around it
> bug triagers, working on the stable release(s) and doing bug work around
> them
>
> Does that distinction work well? Folks of course can still do both roles,
> I would just like to define them crisply for newcomers :-) I would like to
> encourage any current bugsquader's who've only dabbled in the devel
> releases to take a more active tester role (I think you might find it quite
> enjoyable), but there is no obligation to change your commitment level. I'm
> pushing us as a team to run the devel release for the entire cycle and look
> for bugs as we do so -- I think it's a fun and exciting way to be involved
> and it will really help find bugs sooner and get them fixed. I think
> bugsquaders may enjoy doing this also :-) For those bugsquaders adhering to
> only stable releases, the proposed 'bug triagers' role should fill that
> niche and contain everything you do today.
>
> For example, Dave mentions
>
>  I primarily triage and don't test.
>> Other than one or two dev installs as part of a cycle, I'll tend
>> to only test things in bugs being triaged for repeatability/repeatability
>> on the latest dev.
>>
> I think this is perfectly fine, and I would consider you today to have a
> "tester" hat on :-) Your current activities wouldn't have to change at all.
>
> So how does adding the additional role sound? If we like it I'll add it to
> the wiki.
>
> The feedback I've recieved on and off list has been positive. Does anyone
> have any concerns about the transition? Do you know of activites that
> aren't yet listed on one of the roles pages? I don't want to lose anything!
>
> I'd like to leave this thread open for a bit longer to collect feedback
> before we commit one way or the other so everyone has a chance to read and
> respond.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Nicholas
>
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