Are JBS' policies flexible enough to welcome the JavaFX community?

[Ryan Jaeb]

I've stepped through the process at bugs.java.com a few more times and each
time I find myself more annoyed.  For anyone who's seen my last few posts,
you'll see that I was under the impression that following the contributor
guidelines would be a requirement for me to submit bugs.

Since I think a large portion of the fault for that misconception lies with
the bugs.java.com page, I'm going to give a detailed step through of my
thought process when I go there.  I'll put my thoughts in parentheses.

I need to file a bug.  I visit bugs.java.com.  There are 3 sections on the
landing page:

1) Report an Issue.  (These are the instructions I need to follow if I want
to file a bug)
2) Suggest an Enhancement.  (These are the instructions I need to follow if
I want to file a RFE)
3) Submit a Code Fix or Test Case.  (These are the instructions I need to
follow if I want to submit a patch or a test case.  I have a code sample,
but I wouldn't consider it a (ex: junit) test case, so I'll skip this for
now and come back if needed.)

I want to file a bug, so I click through, fill out the initial form, and
land on the main form.  I start filling out my bug and I get to the section
"Source code for an executable test case" (The term "test case" is only
used in exactly two spots; here and in the original instructions.  This is
the only place those instructions could be referring to, so I better go
back and read those guidelines I skipped).

I go back and follow the link to the contributor guidelines.  This is the
point where I give up because I'm under the false impression I need to sign
the OCA and complete the steps required to become a JBS author if I want to
include a test case (aka code sample) with my bug report.

I now know the "Submit a Code Fix or Test Case" section contains
instructions for people that want to _bypass_ bugs.java.com, but how am I
supposed to figure that out from the information on that page?  There's no
mention of an alternate bug tracker.  Even knowing there's an alternate bug
tracker, bugs.java.com is presented as though all of the information is
intended for people that want to _use_ bugs.java.com.

To me, it makes sense that a developer might want to cut and paste from a
submitted test case (aka code example) to build a (ex: junit) test case.
It's not crazy to think that Oracle would want everyone including test
cases with their bugs to sign the OCA because of that and it becomes easy
to believe that my (mis)interpretation of the instructions is correct.

I'm also guessing the terminology overlap is obvious here.  The bug report
form should probably be asking for something like an SSCCE (
http://sscce.org/), not a test case since the term test case implies you
want a formal (ex: junit) test case.

In my opinion, there are 2 improvements that could be made to bugs.java.com:

1) There should be a link to bugs.openjdk.java.net.
2) It should be made clear the contributor guidelines are not applicable if
all you want to do is file a simple bug report.  If I had to write the
third section on that page, it'd be something similar to:

  Become An OpenJDK Contributor
OpenJDK contributors can file bugs directly at bugs.openjdk.java.net rather
than using the resources on this page.  If you would like to become an
OpenJDK contributor, please start by following the contributor guidelines.

Alternatively, the third section shouldn't even be on that page.  To me,
instructions to become a contributor, especially at the level of a JBS
author, don't belong in the bug system; they belong on the project pages
(ex: http://openjdk.java.net/projects/openjfx/ or
https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/OpenJFX/Main).

Ryan Jaeb


On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 1:29 PM, Chris Newland <cnewland at chrisnewland.com>
wrote:

> +1 to all of these.
>
> I've had the same frustrating experience as many with bugs.sun.com doing a
>  good impression of /dev/null
>
>