[Gluster-devel] Locating blocker bugs for a release (and what is a blocker anyway)

[Shyam Ranganathan]

Hi,

Recently I was in some conversations that mentioned having to hunt for 
the mail that announced the blocker bug for a release, when there is a 
need to mark a bug as a blocker for that release.

This need not be done as here is the shortcut (if you did not know) on 
how to find the blocker,

Use this URL: 
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=glusterfs-<VERSION>

Replacing <VERSION> with the version for which you are attempting to 
find the blocker bug for.

Example:
   - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=glusterfs-3.10.6
   - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=glusterfs-3.10.7
   - https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=glusterfs-3.12.2

Some FAQs:

- When is the blocker bug created?

Blocker bugs are created post branching a release, so if you went around 
hunting for the 3.13.0 blocker today, it does not exist.

Blocker bugs for minor releases are created post closing the prior minor 
release, and migrating any blockers that did not make it in the prior 
release to the next minor release blocker (this is only(?) possible as a 
bug maybe marked as blocking a release post tagging the release and 
before actually announcing the release).

- When to mark the blocker bug as dependent on another bug:

Blockers are meant to track *just* blockers for a major or minor 
release, not all bugs that are a part of the release. Hence when a bug 
is actually a blocker for the release, only then should the tracker be 
made dependent on that.

- What is a blocker anyway?

Blockers can be broadly classified as, regression of functionality due 
to code introduced in prior minor releases for the current version, bugs 
identified causing corruptions, bugs identified causing crashes

If you believe a bug is a blocker, but still does not meet the criteria 
above, err on the safe option and call it a blocker, whose merit can 
then be discussed on the lists and appropriate action for the release taken.

- Other questions or comments?

HTH,
Shyam