IMO +1 for closing if the issues are not getting any updates in a decade.
Closing unattended issues reduces clutter in Jira and frees up mental space
for reviewing new items; of course, the issue can be reopened.
But I do understand the sentiment for leaving it open after reading
comments from other members.

Thanks
Mukund


On Thu, Mar 26, 2026 at 10:43 AM Aaron Fabbri <[email protected]> wrote:

> Good points. Agree if an issue hasn't had any comments for over a decade,
> it is unlikely to be significant. And resolving issues with a comment
> should avoid any confusion:
>
> "This issue has not been updated for <X> years, and has been marked as
> Abandoned. This does not mean the issue is not valid. Please reopen if this
> issue is still valid. Alternately, if you know it is not valid, please
> leave a comment explaining and change resolution to Not A Bug"
>
> I think people are used to finding resolved bugs. When I'm searching for a
> bug, I still look at closed bugs. Often they've already been Fixed or
> resolved, but my version doesn't have the fix yet.  Other times the project
> decided not to fix it. Either way, the bug is still documented and
> available for comments and reopening.
>
> Another idea is to use a "stale" label or other means of filtering issues
> that haven't been updated in a long time.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 26, 2026 at 1:14 AM Xiaoqiao He <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Great, Thanks for the detailed update. I didn't oppose resolving
> > these stale JIRAs, just some confusions are not very clear for me.
> > One obvious issue for example is that if the JIRA is really BUGs
> > but we didn't reach a consensus or didn't have a solution for it, we
> > close it or mark it as `abandoned` now, it could confuse to the end
> > users if the issue has been resolved or not. Of course, from another
> > view, one JIRA opened for many years without anymore progress
> > could not be one critical or important issue from my side. From this
> > point, closing them makes sense to me. One word, this is not one
> > blocker comment, I would like to see more suggestions.
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > - He Xiaoqiao
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 3:32 AM Aaron Fabbri <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > On Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 4:03 AM Xiaoqiao He <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Thanks for starting this thread. It's a good topic.
> > > > +0 from my side. I don't get what's the profit if we close these
> stale
> > > > issues or keep the status as current.
> > > >
> > >
> > > Hi He, thanks for commenting. Let me try to explain the motivation a
> bit
> > > more. Why is bug triage important?
> > >
> > > There is a lot of research on the topic. I'm not very familiar with it
> > all,
> > > but this may be a good starting point:
> https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.08607
> > > "Triage in Software Engineering: A Systematic Review of Research and
> > > Practice"
> > >
> > > TL;DR My understanding is: untriaged bug tracking is bad for quality
> and
> > > wastes time.
> > >
> > > It is like a signal to noise ratio. Say I want to answer the question
> > "What
> > > are the 10 most critical bugs in the project". I should be able to
> answer
> > > that question in a few minutes IMHO. Instead, we (I) spend a lot of
> time
> > > reading old JIRAs, looking if they even still are valid (the code often
> > has
> > > changed). That effort is spent over and over again because we are not
> > > triaging our bugs. It is especially painful for people new to the
> > project,
> > > or coming back after a long break.
> > >
> > > I think we need to at least start manually closing old issues when we
> > can,
> > > after pinging the authors and giving them time to respond. Bugs can
> > always
> > > be reopened!
> > >
> > > Over 2000 Major priority issues just makes it difficult to understand
> the
> > > state of the codebase. For the sake of discussion, let's say they're
> all
> > > accurate. Then I'd argue we have significant quality issues and we
> should
> > > start prioritizing the most important fixes, since we are not keeping
> up.
> > > This prioritization process should to be surfaced in our isssue
> tracker,
> > > not in just our brains, so the greater community can participate in
> > > improvements.
> > >
> > > Similar reasons behind our auto-triaging of github issues; so we can
> > focus
> > > our limited (reviewer) time on issues that are current and ready for
> > > integration.
> > >
> > > Thank you,
> > > Aaron
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > Best Regards,
> > > > - He Xiaoqiao
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, Mar 21, 2026 at 11:33 AM Edward Capriolo <
> > [email protected]>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Sorry to be crabby but it's like bringing back my PTSD.
> > > > >
> > > > > Would make a great talk for "https://communityovercode.org/";
> > Wouldn't
> > > > it?
> > > > > -------------
> > > > > Topic 1:
> > > > > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HIVE-867?filter=-3
> > > > >
> > > > > How many reviewers will go on vacation before merging my PR? Then
> > > after 3
> > > > > reviewers and 4 rounds of comments. They give up and dont merge. It
> > > goes
> > > > > stale. Just ask me to do it again!
> > > > > -----------------------
> > > > >
> > > > > Now really, let me free myself from that rant.
> > > > >
> > > > > This linux container-executor is supposed to be the linchpin of
> > > "secure"
> > > > > hadoop. IMHO making the container-executor more robust by fixing
> > issues
> > > > > (pointer, double free, buffer overflow type stuff) is a big win vs
> > one
> > > > > extraneous comment.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 10:41 PM Edward Capriolo <
> > > [email protected]>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Larry,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "As far as committers being in the business of cleaning up
> > > > > contributions, I
> > > > > > am mostly against this.
> > > > > > Contributors learn proper skills by getting things in - not be
> > others
> > > > > doing
> > > > > > it for them.
> > > > > > It can be painful but such is growth."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Larry, it is not a skill to sit around and wait 4 days for a
> > review.
> > > > > This
> > > > > > is what happens to me quite often.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > submitter: 5 line PR.
> > > > > > submitter: wait weeks for a review.
> > > > > > review: clean up a and b
> > > > > > submitter: drop everything in life to try to rebase 1 hour
> > > > > > reviewer: one day later ow hey one more comment on //59
> > > > > > Now its done again
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Now its 7 hours later
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Now the build is broken again
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://ci-hadoop.apache.org/job/hadoop-multibranch/job/PR-8177/7/artifact/out/patch-unit-hadoop-yarn-project_hadoop-yarn_hadoop-yarn-server_hadoop-yarn-server-nodemanager.txt
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Now Its friday night
> > > > > > Now its gonna probably wait till monday or worse.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > This isnt a "skill" its like an episode of the office.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 3:45 PM larry mccay <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > >> +1 on closing them.
> > > > > >> I would do it based on updated dates.
> > > > > >> If there is no movement in a given period then close it.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> As far as committers being in the business of cleaning up
> > > > > contributions, I
> > > > > >> am mostly against this.
> > > > > >> Contributors learn proper skills by getting things in - not be
> > > others
> > > > > >> doing
> > > > > >> it for them.
> > > > > >> It can be painful but such is growth.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Projects can add linting to remove the burden of the frustration
> > and
> > > > the
> > > > > >> need to review nit-picky things which would go a long way.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 3:02 PM Aaron Fabbri <
> [email protected]>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> > On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 10:38 PM Ayush Saxena <
> > [email protected]
> > > >
> > > > > >> wrote:
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > > I’m not particularly in favor of this activity, but I won’t
> > > stand
> > > > in
> > > > > >> > > the way if there is sufficient agreement to move forward
> with
> > > it.
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> > Hi Ayush! Thanks for the input. Fair points.
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > I'll note we do have a bot to resolve stale PRs. I've seen
> > similar
> > > > > >> worflows
> > > > > >> > work well for issues, perhaps with a label/tag when we want to
> > > > > override
> > > > > >> > cleanup and keep an issue open.
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > > From my perspective, if something is identified as an issue,
> > it
> > > > > should
> > > > > >> > > remain open until one of the following happens: it is
> > resolved,
> > > it
> > > > > is
> > > > > >> > > determined not to be an issue, or we consciously decide to
> > drop
> > > it
> > > > > due
> > > > > >> > > to technical limitations. Closing an issue simply because it
> > > > hasn’t
> > > > > >> > > been addressed within a certain arbitrary timeframe doesn’t
> > feel
> > > > > like
> > > > > >> > > the right approach.
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > In an ideal world, I agree. I'm being pragmatic in realizing
> > that
> > > > > >> nobody is
> > > > > >> > going to take the time to dig through the code and see if
> > ancient
> > > > > issues
> > > > > >> > still apply. Some of these are just old, e.g a bug against
> > 0.6.1,
> > > > > >> > HADOOP-743
> > > > > >> > <
> > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-743?filter=12354400
> > > >.
> > > > > If
> > > > > >> > this
> > > > > >> > project gets a sudden influx of new developers maybe we could
> > > tackle
> > > > > it,
> > > > > >> > but today we're struggling to keep up. Some of these are
> really
> > > > > >> > time-consuming to re-test and see if they still apply (at
> least
> > > for
> > > > > me,
> > > > > >> > without context on the entire codebase).
> > > > > >> > But you have a good point, say, for a critical bug. Another
> idea
> > > > would
> > > > > >> be
> > > > > >> > to filter by severity.
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > Open to your suggestions. This filter sorts by oldest Created:
> > > link
> > > > > >> > <
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >>
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://issues.apache.org/jira/issues/?filter=12354400&jql=project%20%3D%20HADOOP%20AND%20resolution%20%3D%20Unresolved%20ORDER%20BY%20created%20DESC
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> > How about if I ping the Jira asking if it is still valid, and
> > if I
> > > > get
> > > > > >> no
> > > > > >> > response, resolve it?
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > So, instead of a bulk action, we just spend some time
> resolving
> > > > these
> > > > > >> > oldest issues one-by-one? I'm happy as long as we can make
> some
> > > > steady
> > > > > >> > progress.
> > > > > >> > For serious bugs, we could lean towards not resolving them.
> For
> > > > random
> > > > > >> > "wishlist" items people have created over the years, IMO, we
> > > should
> > > > > >> resolve
> > > > > >> > them (e.g. HADOOP-1257
> > > > > >> > <
> > > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-1257?filter=12354400>
> > > > > and
> > > > > >> > HADOOP-1307
> > > > > >> > <
> > > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-1307?filter=12354400
> > > > >)
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > Let me know what you think.
> > > > > >> > Thanks
> > > > > >> > Aaron
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > > -Ayush
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> > > On Fri, 20 Mar 2026 at 10:49, Cheng Pan <[email protected]>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > Hi Aaron,
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > The condition `updated  < 120m` seems incorrect, I use
> your
> > > > query
> > > > > it
> > > > > >> > > returns 2970 tickets, but if I replace it with `updated  <
> > > > > >> '2016-01-01'`,
> > > > > >> > > only 857 results.
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > And I am neutral for bulk closing, since I see neither
> much
> > > > > benefit
> > > > > >> nor
> > > > > >> > > any harm.
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > Thanks,
> > > > > >> > > > Cheng Pan
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > On Mar 20, 2026, at 00:21, Aaron Fabbri <
> > [email protected]
> > > >
> > > > > >> wrote:
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > Hi everyone,
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > I'm going through our issue backlog and noticing we
> have a
> > > lot
> > > > > of
> > > > > >> old
> > > > > >> > > > > issues.
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > E.g. This filter for issues not updated for 10 years
> > > > > >> > > > > <
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >>
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://issues.apache.org/jira/issues/?jql=project%20%3D%20HADOOP%20AND%20resolution%20%3D%20Unresolved%20AND%20updated%20%20%3C%20120m%20ORDER%20BY%20updated%20ASC
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > has
> > > > > >> > > > > almost 3000 results.
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > How do people feel about me doing a bulk resolution with
> > > > > >> "Abandoned"?
> > > > > >> > > I'd
> > > > > >> > > > > add a note saying this issue hasn't been updated for 10
> > > years,
> > > > > >> reopen
> > > > > >> > > and
> > > > > >> > > > > update if needed.
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > Thanks!
> > > > > >> > > > > Aaron
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 9:18 AM Aaron Fabbri <
> > > > > [email protected]>
> > > > > >> > > wrote:
> > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > >> > > > >> Hi Wei-Chiu,
> > > > > >> > > > >> Thanks for the feedback. I will resend on common-dev
> > list.
> > > > > >> > > > >> Cheers,
> > > > > >> > > > >> Aaron
> > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > >> > > > >> On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 9:35 PM Wei-Chiu Chuang <
> > > > > >> [email protected]
> > > > > >> > >
> > > > > >> > > > >> wrote:
> > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > >> > > > >>> +1
> > > > > >> > > > >>>
> > > > > >> > > > >>> And I mean, this matter is better discussed in dev
> > mailing
> > > > > >> lists.
> > > > > >> > > > >>>
> > > > > >> > > > >>> On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 5:33 PM Aaron Fabbri <
> > > > > [email protected]
> > > > > >> >
> > > > > >> > > wrote:
> > > > > >> > > > >>>
> > > > > >> > > > >>> <snip> pasted above </snip>
> > > > > >> > > > >>>
> > > > > >> > > > >>>
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > >>
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> >
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