Ethereal-dev: Re: [Ethereal-dev] Buildbot crash output

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From: Ulf Lamping <ulf.lamping@xxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 00:52:09 +0200
Gerald Combs wrote:

I've spent most of this week fixing bugs discovered by Buildbot.  Most
of my Ethereal development time is spent this way, so much so that it's
gotten out of hand.
... and I know from the work I've done, this is just annoying, if you don't know the dissector code very well. You sometimes can get angry if you see a lot of code that obviously never was working correct :-(

We need more people fixing bugs and/or fewer bugs
checked in.
Full Ack, both is a very desirable thing. Currently only a very limited "number of hands" fixing bugs (or warnings).

How can we make sure that changes are properly tested _before_ they're
checked in?  I've been thinking of adding the following requirements for
any non-trivial change that modifies dissector behavior:

 The code MUST be accompanied by a statement from the author,
 submitter, or committer stating that the change has been fuzz tested.

 The Buildbot environment MUST be able to test the code; i.e. captures
 that exercise the code should be added to the capture menagerie if
 they aren't already there.
I don't know how to do this in a generally way which will work in a "generally accepted" way. Forcing the developers to add files to the capture menagerie *before* adding code seems to be a very good idea.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.  As it stands, the next release
will have to be postponed.  I haven't been able to prep for it and my
calendar is booked solid for the next two weeks.
Unfortunate, but I understand and agree that an "unstable" new release isn't a good idea.

Regards, ULFL