Something like that would be an improvement. I think my frustration stems
from a sense the burden isn't equitably shared. It also relates to what I
do as a RM which isn't policy per se. First, I run the unit suite several
times in a loop. This is scripted, but it takes time to complete and review
the results, and investigating failures and filing issues takes time too.
Then I will do the same basic checks a voter will take. Then I might run
LTT or ITBLL, which is hands on and takes more time. So far the volunteer
time spent seems perfectly reasonable and not onerous. This is not my
complaint.

When there is a veto, is the expectation the RM will follow up and fix the
problem? If it is a flaky test, that cannot be locally reproduced, this is
an additional mandate that could be costly in terms of time.

As a voter, when you cast a veto because of a compatibility issue have you
really considered if it might be allowed - our guidelines are just
guidelines, and are fuzzy by nature? Because as RM I looked at that report
too and thought it ambiguous enough to continue. The committer allowed it
implicitly by the commit. In some cases as RM I have reopened JIRAs for
compatibility problems. The recent 1.4.10RC0 is case in point. After back
and forth with the committer an incompatible change of low severity was
allowed on a Public interface. The voter should take this kind of action.
At the least we should have a JIRA reopened or filed for discussion of the
problem. What should not be considered valid, in my opinion, is a pedantic
veto that only mentions the compatibility report as reason. This is not
helpful. Guidelines, and fuzzy, if you recall.

In general for test or compatibility issues, is the expectation the RM will
fix it? That is a big assumption about the RM's personal circumstances,
wouldn't you think? Or interest in volunteering? Volunteer resources are
precious. We need to be mindful of the tradeoff here. It also applies in
code review. I think generally we strike the right balance between quality
assurance and considerations to volunteer time, but in some recent RC votes
I have gotten the impression not. No JIRAs for veto reasons. No proactive
debug of unit test failure. No patches. Hence a sense the burden for
maintaining the code isn't as equitably shared as it should be.

A policy as suggested, like a consensus that vetos should only be cast if
the issue deserves a JIRA with Critical would certainly be one way to shift
the balance. I don't think something like that is necessary. Smaller steps
as simple as giving the RM the courtesy of filing JIRAs that explain the
veto and describe steps to fix would be enough. This would shift the burden
for test failures onto the observers, who are in the best position to
understand the failure because they are the ones seeing it. It also shifts
burden on disagreements over compatibility report results. A veto for a
compatibility issue is a priori a disagreement between the voter and the
committer, and the voter and the RM. Proactive effort and remedy on the
part of the voter should be implied by this.

Thank you for your consideration.

For your consideration.

On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 9:52 AM Artem Ervits <[email protected]> wrote:

> should -1 only apply with a valid critical Jira in hand?
>
> On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 12:41 PM Andrew Purtell <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> > .. a code base to the RM role. I don't believe vetos for RCs for flaky
> > tests should be considered valid reason to vote -1. I think we may be
> > erring toward excessively maximal interpretation of compatibility
> > guidelines in some cases. At any rate, where does the responsibility lie
> > for fixing the issues? And do voters consider the personal cost to the RM
> > in terms of time and attention in rolling the RC when deciding to vote
> -1?
> > The -1 vote has a cost. It requires the RM to restart the RC. My
> impression
> > is this isn't a consideration.
> >
> >
> > On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 9:37 AM Andrew Purtell <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > /cc private@
> > >
> > > I believe you are pushing your collective burden as a group of
> committers
> > > sharing responsiblity to
> > >
> > > On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 9:33 AM Andrew Purtell <
> [email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> My experience with the last four RC attempts I have made has been
> just a
> > >> constant stream of vetos for flaky tests which I can't reproduce (at
> > least
> > >> not with the usual 10 iterations of the suite) and possibly pedantic
> > >> compatability report interpretations with no patches to help and in
> some
> > >> cases not even JIRAs filed to follow up on specifying the complaint.
> > Life
> > >> is too short to waste time and effort like this.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > > --
> > > Best regards,
> > > Andrew
> > >
> > > Words like orphans lost among the crosstalk, meaning torn from truth's
> > > decrepit hands
> > >    - A23, Crosstalk
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Best regards,
> > Andrew
> >
> > Words like orphans lost among the crosstalk, meaning torn from truth's
> > decrepit hands
> >    - A23, Crosstalk
> >
>


-- 
Best regards,
Andrew

Words like orphans lost among the crosstalk, meaning torn from truth's
decrepit hands
   - A23, Crosstalk

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