OpenJDK bug database: DRAFT Developer Workflow

[Brian Goetz]

> However, i think it is crucial to start from what process we want to use
> instead of what JIRA can do.

I think what you're getting at here is trying to avoid having the tail 
wag the dog.  So far, I agree.  But I think trying to do either without 
thinking about the other would be foolish.  Yes, of course we should 
consider what process we want -- after all, the tool is there to serve 
us, not the other way around.  But to do so without considering *at the 
same time* what the tool can easily support, that will almost certainly 
lead to a suboptimal result.  (Starting from what the tool does without 
any regard for what processes would work for us would be equally silly.)

Processes don't fall from the sky; they are compromises between many 
forces (such as what we've done historically, the temperament of the 
people involved, industry trends and fashions, what we were most 
recently burned by, etc.)  To pretend that the ability to represent the 
process easily in the tools available is not a consideration is 
unrealistic.  Instead, we have to seek a balance between "what would the 
process look like in an ideal world" and "what is easily expressible in 
the tools available to us."