[OSM-talk] Flickr Now Supports OSM Tags

[Tom Hughes]

On 29/09/09 13:26, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason wrote:

> Generally bug trackers reduce work. They consolidate bugs/feature
> requests in one place, people can easily search for already filed bugs
> or see that they're filed already and not bother you again.

I absolutely agree as far as bugs are concerned, and features where 
there is a patch or some other concrete implementation plan.

Where I am less convinced is with pie-in-the-sky requests for features 
and enhancements - it is all to easy for those to arrive at a rate much 
greater than they are dealt with and the bug database to descend into a 
vast mire of enhancement requests which have virtually zero chance of 
ever being acted on.

> When I've become interested in helping with some application the bug
> trackers is usually a very good place to start for getting an idea of
> what needs to be done or what features are wanted. And when I'm
> maintaining something I very much like getting lots of enhancements
> requests. I can prioritize them and turn them into a TODO list.

I see that as potentially quite a dangerous approach unless somebody is 
rigorously triaging the feature requests as they come in and closing out 
the bad ideas - just because somebody has asked for something doesn't 
mean it should be done and if a newbie just turns up and starts 
implementing features that somebody somewhere once requested there is 
every chance that they will get dispirited when their enhancements are 
then turned down.

Tom

-- 
Tom Hughes (tom at compton.nu)
http://www.compton.nu/