[Mono-dev] Unit Testing process: Community Contributions

[Miguel de Icaza]

>
> Unfortunately there were issues, most obviously with an exception trying
> to show a textbox.
>
> So I read up on how to file a bug report
> (http://www.mono-project.com/community/bugs/make-a-good-bug-report/) and
> did so, with a test case that shows the problem in a straightforward
> manner.
>

Glad you did this.   A good bug report with good information will give the
person that will look into the bug many more clues as to what is wrong.

The bug report was filed in May and is here:
> https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=20239
>
> So, I don't know, maybe I went about this wrongly, but I tried to follow
> the procedures laid down for raising this as I understood it.
>

Let me set some expectations here.

Windows.Forms is not actively developed or maintained.   If you want
support for Windows.Forms your best bet is to hire a contractor to fix
Windows.Forms for you.

The Mono team stopped full time development of that stack sometime around
2009 (give or take a year).   While I would like to remove it, there are
certain dependencies that require it, so we keep it around.

I also made it clear that I was happy to put some time on and work on
> this but could do with some support to get going, so I'm not trying to
> freload on others doing the work here.
>
> Yet there was absolutely no response at all. Not "redo the report for
> this reason", "you need to look here", "we're looking at this" or even
> "we have no intention of fixing this".
>

I can see that this can be frustrating, but filing a bug does not mean
someone is going to look at it.

You might have gotten a *little bit* more engagement if you post to the
mailing list, as opposed to waiting for the rare case of someone
accidentally strolling into the bug.   It is a long shot, but worth a try.

This is not different than any other open source project.   If you want to
keep a particular port of Linux alive, you have to do the work.   You want
to maintain some drivers?   You have to do the work.   People do not
respond to your issues?   You must reach out.   There is no community
around a particular feature you need?   Rally the troops.

It's really discouraging when you put in the time and try to follow the
> procedures laid down but there is absolutely no engagement. I mean - why
> bother again if there's no point?
>

I agree, do not bother with unmaintained code.   Instead use stacks that
are actively maintained, like Gtk#.

Miguel
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