Process, Bugzilla 'spam' Re: hixie: Adding the <s> element to the language. (whatwg r5561)

On Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:52:10 +0200, Henri Sivonen <hsivonen@iki.fi> wrote:

>> That would imply be'ing cc'd on all bug changes, right?
>
> Isn't this the reason why bugzilla spams public-html: To make every  
> participant of the group aware of all filed bugs without CCing?

Maybe, but when there are a thousand messages in the last couple of months  
it is more likely to mean that anyone who doesn't have the luxury to  
follow the list full-time instead misses everything. The study of how many  
things people can keep track of is pretty old now ([1] is a pretty seminal  
example).

A massive flow of information is a known tactic to ensure a semblance of  
openness while making it very difficult for anyone to actually understand.  
So hypertextual information (linking things backwards and forwards to  
other things - something that has a couple of millenia of history but has  
really taken off with the development of electronic hypertextual systems  
such as the Web) is an important tool for ensuring that people actually  
understand what is happening.

> (It should have been clear from the bug summary without being CCed for  
> later bug comments that if FIXED, the bug would result in <s>, <strike>  
> or both becoming conforming.)

I don't think that follows. If I filed a bug whose summary is "longdesc is  
missing", then it isn't clear to me that FIXING the bug means longdesc  
arrives - there are other potential ways of fixing the underlying problem,  
and whatever I think of them in practice they are all theoretically ways  
to fix the bug.

[1]  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number_Seven,_Plus_or_Minus_Two

cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile  Opera Software, Standards Group
     je parle français -- hablo español -- jeg lærer norsk
http://my.opera.com/chaals       Try Opera: http://www.opera.com

Received on Thursday, 30 September 2010 12:10:42 UTC