Is it better to discuss issues in the tracker, or the mailing list?

Question

The book, Producing Open Source Software, suggests that it's better to have lengthy discussions in the mailing list, rather than in the issue tracker, for these reasons:

• More developers can see the discussion, so we're more likely to get valuable input.
• Mailing lists are designed specifically for conversations, issue trackers are less so.

However, I see these disadvantages:

• Once discussion has started in the issue tracker it's difficult to persuade people to start using the mailing list (even if you start the thread for them, and paste the link).
• People who are not interested in the issue will receive emails, but then again, this is just the nature of mailing lists.

So is it better to draw attention to the issue's tracker page via the mailing list (so that people may comment there), or, is it better to try and persuade people to use the mailing list instead?

Answer 1

Well, I'd say both :-).

Personally, I'd put the discussions on the mailing lists. Then summarize the discussion in the bug tracker, and link to the ML archive. That way, you get the best of both :-).

But that may be too much work, so for small stuff it's probably Ok to discuss it in the tracker.

Answer 2

I agree with sleske specifically from the standpoint that you'd be adding a lot of cruft to your bug tracking. Lean towards the mailing list but put an applicable summary in the tracker.

Answer 3

It just a matter of adequacy of the medium:

Understand the limitations of the communication medium you are using and know when to escalate to another, more appropriate one.

Know when to escalate from IM to email, from email to phone, and when to drop the ultimate communication A-bomb: a face-to-face meeting. Sometimes people are hesitant to escalate communications even when it's painfully obvious that they should. Resist the urge to reply in kind, however tempting it may be. You'll both have a more productive conversation when one of you finds the wherewithal to escalate to "let's take this to email", "let me call you", or even "let's meet for coffee".

Even if a bug tracker is not as simple for discussions, for short decisions, they are ok. When its going to be a lengthy, far reaching, hair pulling discussion, move on to the mailing list with the relevant people.

Anyway, there will (and should) be always cross pollination between the two.

Answer 4

We recently created a developer-specific mailing list, which has helped a lot.

The thing about general mailing lists is, developers don't like writing lengthy emails to a group that consists primarily of end users. This is because they realise that it will cause many end users to unsubscribe from the list, because they're getting emails full of technical "mumbo jumbo". And nobody want's to be responsible for chasing users off.