I support this point. Not from a semantic or categorical point of view (the
fact that an "issue" can be categorized as "invalid" is befoisted upon us by
issue tracking systems ("bugs" was earlier judged to be too judgemental)) but
from the practical position that everything in the ooRexx source realm which is
captured in version management repositories should be correct.
The particular problem with not working test cases is that it muddles the
definition of what the interpreter should do. This also holds for test cases
failing on a subset of the supported platforms.
I agree that the tone is important. We should all be very careful in our
interactions with others - we are all members of a very small group that use
and like the Rexx programming language in all its variants. So the signalling
of errors in tests should be acknowledged and the tests should be fixed - even
if we invent a friendly synonym of "invalid" - I think it is the intent that
counts.
best regards,
René.
> On 18 Sep 2024, at 10:46, Josep Maria Blasco <jose.maria.bla...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi P.O.,
>
> Well, not everybody seems to appreciate the "invalid" treatment, see
> https://sourceforge.net/p/oorexx/bugs/1976/?limit=25#2ef9 as a recent example.
>
> To state the obvious, when somebody spends her time detecting and documenting
> a bug, she's working for free for the project, she's giving to the community.
>
> For example, somebody who detects a malfunction in the test suite has to: a)
> know that the test suite exists; b) have the test suite installed; c) have
> run the test suite (which takes some time), and d) document the said
> malfunction.
>
> All of this requires a non-inconsiderable skill set. "Invalid" ---says
> Google, following Oxford--- means "not legally recognized because it
> contravenes a regulation or law" (as a noun, it means "a person made weak or
> disabled by illness or injury").
>
> To summarize, we have a certain user, let's call her A. A has a considerable
> skillset. A has donated her free time and resources to the community to
> report what she considers to be a bug. This bug happens to refer to the test
> suite. Then A is told that her contribution is not legally recognized
> "because it contravenes a regulation or law".
>
> To me, this looks like a fantastic recipe to alienate A from the community.
> Specially when, as far as I know, there is no established protocol to report
> bugs in the test suite.
>
> Words are not meaningless identifiers. They are important, because they
> happen to have meanings. Meanings are dangerous: they can please and hurt,
> they can bind and unbind. When used wrongly, they can alienate very valuable
> people. People we need, because we are not precisely a huge community.
>
> My impression is that new, different names should be chosen, with some
> urgency. Names that do not have these ugly connotations: "Invalid", for
> example, is a toxic word. And the work that somebody has done for the
> community should always be acknowledged and appreciated. When I work on a
> project, the results R of my work may be wrong, but the fact F that I have
> worked can never be wrong. "Invalid" might apply to R, but never to F. One
> has to be careful.
>
> Josep Maria
>
> Missatge de ooRexx <oor...@jonases.se <mailto:oor...@jonases.se>> del dia
> dt., 17 de set. 2024 a les 23:03:
>> Hi Joseph Maria,
>>
>> If the reason for the behavior emanates from a change to the code it is a
>> bug and should be reported in the bug tracker, as you did.
>>
>> Bugs in the test cases are not considered bugs and will be closed as
>> “invalid” by the developers, only bugs in the interpreter are considered
>> bugs. Hence “Feature”. One can report them to this list if the developers
>> did not already spot them.
>>
>> Hälsningar/Regards/Grüsse,
>> ooRexx
>> oor...@jonases.se
>> <mailto:oor...@jonases.se>_______________________________________________
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