post FOSDEM

[Max Kanat-Alexander]

On 02/16/2010 04:38 PM, Dan Wierenga wrote:
> I think that's the wrong way to go about this, and IMO it's indicative
> of the entire thought process of the Bugzilla Project in regards to
> Windows.  It's fairly obvious that Windows is the red-headed stepchild
> platform.  Too little effort goes into making things work on Windows
> for it to be really, truly considered a "supported platform".

	Hey Dan. Here's the problem:

	Nobody pays me to work on Bugzilla. Nobody is paid to do Bugzilla
releases. (In fact, *nobody* is paid to work on Bugzilla full time, at
all.) The current release package process is very simple, whereas an MSI
that would install and configure Bugzilla, Apache, MySQL and Perl all at
once is an incredibly complex undertaking requiring an immense amount of
specialized skill that I don't currently have. It's not that I don't
understand the importance or the utility of such a project, it's simply
that I *cannot do it*. So I need somebody else to do it, and then I
would be *really glad* to have it.

> - A simple clarion call to the list(s) for some help in sprucing up
> the process of installing Bugzilla on Windows.  It's okay that none of
> the reviewers knows much about making things install gracefully on
> Windows; what's not okay is that you KNOW that, and you still haven't
> put out a call for help.

	Every time somebody has suggested this I've said that I would gladly
accept help. It would be one of the most valuable contributions that
anybody could make to Bugzilla. I think that the last time somebody
suggested it was before you were on the list, though, or it's possible
that the discussions happened on IRC.

	So yes, if you want to do this, it would be totally awesome, and I will
help review it and talk about how it should be done.

> - A commitment to a Windows installer, and the general treatment of a
> Windows installation as "just as important as another platform". 

	In fact, we'd be making a commitment to Windows, in this case, as being
*more* important than other platforms. We don't provide distro packages
for any other OS.

> You
> can't make a release and then say the release is waiting for one
> person to create an installer.  

	If you think that you could get me an MSI simultaneously with every
Bugzilla release, then I'd be happy to commit to it. Alternately, the
Windows installer could come a few days after the release, and I would
post it then.

> Basically, the Bugzilla Project needs to show it *wants* to be part of
> the Windows community before the Windows community can be expected to
> want to be part of the Bugzilla community.

	I'm extremely interested in contributions from Windows developers--I
think that Windows may be the most popular platform to install Bugzilla on.

	-Max
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