Bugs.md 4.1 KB
Sometimes you have either a bug, a broken feature you would like to fix or a suggestion, missing feature you would like to implement. With proprietary software you are stuck with what the developer or the proprietor decides. And even if they have a way to report a bug, you can only prey that they will infect fix your problem. But since VCStudio is Free Software, you can actually make a change.
I understand that not a lot of people understand programming well enough to implement their changes alone. So a way of communicating the issues could be nice.
Git
As you maybe noticed, we don't use Github to host the VCStudio source-code. It's because I just don't like Github very much. But the service we use, NotABug, is very similar. It uses the same underlying protocol, Git.
Git allows people to track changes in the files, make forks and other good stuff. Free Software could exists with or without Git. But Git makes Free Software easier to develop.
Issues
One of the features Git platforms such as Github, Gitlab or NoABug have, is an issue tracker. It's a kind of bug report tracker. But allows adding issues that are not bugs.
Any type of problem with the software. Either a bug, or a missing feature the user might like to have, or other annoyance, could be reported as an issue. Issues are like small articles with a comment section. So the developers and other users could discuss the issue and think of how to deal with it.
How to report an Issue?
First of all you have to Register at NotABug.org. I still didn't figure out how to make reporting of bugs without the NotABug account. If you have a suggestion. Please suggest it in the issues.
Then you go to the VCStudio Issues page. And click the huge green button New Issue.
It will present you with a simple UI to type your article and upload some files such as screenshots. NotABug, similar to most Git services supports Markdown formatting. If you want to add headings, embed images, do inline links or simply emphasize some text.
You can read on how to use Markdown here. Don't be afraid. The Markdown format is stupidly simple to use. And you are probably already familiar with it. It's used on Blender's devtalk, on LBRY for descriptions and comments and in many other places.
Then you just publish it and finally everybody would be able to see your issue. So we could start fixing it.
How does fixing works?
In Free Software everybody is free to fork a branch. Copy the source code and edit it on their own without effecting my copy. Everybody can see the issues. And fork the source code to try to fix it. Each copy is called a branch.
Note: Separate branches have separate issues pages.
Git provides a tool to merge branches together. A person with a changed branch can submit a pull request. Git system evaluates what files are different. And what changes were made.
If we like the other branch, we are going to except the changes in our branch. But we are free not to do so. If we don't except the changes, it doesn't cancel the other branch's existence. If the person who made that other branch is willing to publish his version, you are always free to install his version over ours.
But for the most part, currently, we will just read your issues and implement patches for them directly into our branch. Of course only if those issues are meaningful. And we know how fix them.
Help The Documentation
The documentation files are not perfect. And need maintenance.
If you are reading it from the VCStudio build in Documentation:
- Press
to edit locally. - Press
to commit in our NotABug repository.
(C) J.Y.Amihud 2021. Under GPL v3 or later.