Callisto Simultaneous Release Bug Finding Contest

Prizes

  • Both the reporter of, and the triager of, each and every great bug report receives an "I Helped Callisto" T-Shirt. (That's an eclipse of the Sun by Jupiter as seen from the surface of the moon Callisto.)
  • At every milestone and release candidate, a random drawing amongst all the reporters of great bugs submitted in that milestone/release candidate will receive an iPod.
  • Upon the final Callisto Simultaneous Release, two random drawings (one for reporters and one for triagers) from all the great bugs submitted will receive an Eclipse mountain bike.

How to install Callisto

iPod Winners

  • The RC1a iPod winner is Olivier Nouguier for bug 121235.
  • The RC2 iPod winner is Joan Haggarty for bug 136388.
  • The RC3 iPod winner is Randy Smith for bug 138244.
  • The RC4 iPod winner is Anton Leherbauer for bug 142170.
  • The RC5 iPod winner is Raj Mandayam for bug 136400.

Eclipse Mountain Bike Winners

  • The winner of the custom mountain bike from among the great bug reporters is Channing Walton, for bug 136097.
  • The winner of the custom mountain bike from among the great bug triagers is John Arthorne, for bug 140843.

The Callisto Guide to Great Bug Reports

We are having a contest for great Callisto bug reports. That means that we need to say a few words about what we are looking for. We will keep this simple so that it is easy to apply. We'll also point to a few other resources about filing good reports because we know it is not a simple subject.

Here are the two things to think about when filing a great Callisto bug report:

  • Action.
  • Value.

Action

Of course we want action when we find a bug. Much about reporting has to do with getting the right thing done without a lot of wasted work on your part or anyone else. This division of work is a deal. If you want action, take action. Do what you think others should do and see if your report will guide them there.

The ultimate is to find the bug, write the test, fix the bug and pass the test. That's action, but not the only valued action. Since so much about Callisto is about integration. Try reproducing the bug in various configurations. This can take time, of course. But you have one failing configuration already and that is one more than anyone else.

Value

We also want our actions to be valuable. A fixed bug is always valuable, but is it the best value for everyone's time, even yours? The trick to finding valuable bugs is to look efficiently. Now I'm going to assume that we're actually looking, not just stumbling across a bug and reporting it, not that there is anything wrong with that.

But when looking for bugs you have to choose to use Callisto like someone other than yourself. You must observe what that person sees and you have to judge what problems are important to them. A label alignment problem might indicate careless design to this user, but having that fixed is not a valuable as correcting wrong answers to possibly foolish operations that most of us have already learned not to do. Keep a notepad handy and keep track of paths or operations that you haven't tried, or areas that look suspicious but maybe not high value and therefore lower priority in your search.

A Big Win

So that's the formula: action + value. We're looking for great bugs that move smothly through triage and lead developers to action that proves valuable. We're asking developers to think about each bug in terms of action and value and to bring the best of them to the attention of the Foundation (see "How It Works" below). We'll do something nice for these bug authors and include them in a drawing for something even nicer. But the big win for all of us is a really nice system in the end.

How It Works

  1. Any developer who sees a great Callisto bug marks that bug with the greatbug keyword.
  2. If a project lead / PMC lead finds a bug report that is great - i.e., a bug report that provides both action and value - then he or she sends the bug to emo@eclipse.org.
  3. The EMO regularly queries for, and acts upon, greatbug marked bugs. This is in addition to any bugs the PMC/PLs find.
  4. The EMO handles the operational side of mailing T-shirts, iPods, and (at the end) the bicycles.