[kepler-dev] Bugs vs. Features

[Christopher Brooks]

Below is just my opinion, but I thought it would be useful to
discuss this so that we are all on the same page.

When adding something to bugzilla, it is useful to differentiate
between bugs and enhancements.

In my mind, a bug is problem with the current set of features.
Common bugs:
  - Crash or stack trace
  - Incorrect results
  - Documentation does not match reality
  - Can't do something obvious

An enhancement is missing functionality.  
Common enhancements:
  - Demo idea
  - Need a new actor that does xxx
  - "It would be nice if . . ."

The reason to differentiate between the two is that bugs
should usually be handled before enhancements

The issue is that it can be hard to differentiate between
bugs and enhancements.  I usually use the litmus test of
is the issue "wrong"?  If it is wrong, then it is a bug.
If the issue is "missing", then it is an enhancement.
One person's bug is another person's enhancement.


I'll sometimes use the term RFE for Request For Enhancement.

Bugzilla has these fields under severity:
Blocker	   Blocks development and/or testing work
Critical   crashes, loss of data, severe memory leak
Major	   major loss of function
Minor	   minor loss of function, or other problem where easy
workaround is present
Trivial	   cosmetic problem like misspelled words or misaligned text
Enhancement	    Request for enhancement

There are also priorities, where P1 is the most important.

There is a social issue where when someone adds an issue to bugzilla,
and someone else changes the classification, there can be hurt
feelings because of the "one person's bug is another person's
enhancement" issue.

Any comments?

_Christopher