[Matplotlib-devel] please be slower to close bug reports from first-time reporters

[OceanWolf]

But doesn't the issue of triage mean we distinguish between issues/PRs based on severity e.g. ranging from critical to wishlist.  To me at least open suggests that the issue still exists and closed means that it doesn't exist as a issue for us, either because we don't see it as an issue, or because it has been fixed, and thus says nothing about triage state.
In terms of workflow I see the difference as if something has been marked closed and someone comes along with the same issue, it can give the suggestion that we don't value the reopening the issue/PR, and thus it indicates that we value it a waste of time for anyone to spend their time on it, and for some issues that might exist as the case seeing something as out of scope for MPL, but for others we should just assign a low triage status to it so that if we get people super keen about a particular issue then we let them know that we welcome their input on it :).

      From: Eric Firing <efiring at hawaii.edu>
 To: matplotlib-devel at python.org 
 Sent: Friday, 2 November 2018, 18:14
 Subject: Re: [Matplotlib-devel] please be slower to close bug reports from first-time reporters
   
On 2018/11/02 5:03 AM, Thomas Caswell wrote:
> The backlog problem is also real, however I am not sure that just 
> closing old issues / PRs and rapidly closing new issues will actually 
> make it better.  It will make the number smaller, but the underlying 
> issues (either the bugs or documentation deficiencies) will still be there.
> 

Tom,

It is a matter of triage.  I think you are missing a critical point: 
closing issues *can* make the situation better by reducing the time that 
is lost on scanning them, or diving into them, when that time would be 
better spent actually fixing something.  Furthermore, the list of open 
issues can simply be overwhelming, discouraging work by existing 
developers, and probably also discouraging potential developers from 
joining us.

It is not a tragedy if a genuine issue is closed.  If it is reporting a 
major problem, it will crop up again, and eventually get the necessary 
attention.

There will *always* be bugs and documentation deficiencies; the question 
is how to maximize available developer time and attention, and how to 
make the best use of it.

Eric
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