Emacs Bug Trends

I had cold recently (well, I still have), so I amused myself by going through the Emacs bugs database and fixing documentation related bug reports.  Should be safe enough to do even with a fever.

Anyway, I started wondering: Are things getting better or are things getting worse?  The Emacs bug statistics charts aren’t really all that helpful:

Emacs bugs over the past year

Uhm…  there’s a pixel more in January…  and then one less in February…  and then…  er…

So I wrote a little thing to download the debbugs database and used a JS library to plot the data. (You can examine a “live” version here with zooming and stuff.)

emacs-all

OK, things are getting worse.  Apart from the discontinuities in the chart (all four of them from when Glenn Morris and I have been doing bug triages and closing outdated bug reports), Emacs is gaining about two unclosed bug reports per day.

(And don’t look too closely at the data from the last couple of months.  It turns out that the debbugs database doesn’t have a data field for closure dates, but only a “last modified” thing, and closed bugs are archived after one month.  So I transposed that date a month into the past for older bugs, but that left March without any closed bugs, so I randomly distributed closures from April to March, and in April there was more bug triaging going on, and aaaargh.)

But what about if we exclude all the wishlist items?  After all, those aren’t bugs…

emacs-not-wishlist

Not really much of a difference.  But does the unclosed rate depend on people reporting more bugs or the maintainers not fixing the bugs?

emacs-opened

Nope, the reporting rate is amazingly linear.  It’s the rate of closures that veers…

Looking more closely at the data, the top ten bug closers (and I’m not including the “technical closers”) are responsible for 70% of bug closures.  They’re doing an awesome job, day in day out.  It’s something I certainly couldn’t do on such a consistent basis.  But still, more people are needed…

I wondered about why that almost-two-year-stretch of flat bug reports ended in the start of 2013, and I think that’s explained by Chong Yidong stepping down as co-maintainer.  He totally slew at fixing bugs, the data seems to suggest.

In conclusion: Emacs needs more people to help out with bugs.

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/272/461/2a0.jpg

WFC Mexico: Japón

I like the grainy film. 8mm? 16mm? Lots of ISOs? But even though I really like it visually, I’m afraid the film kinda lost me. Perhaps I’m just not in the mood for the languidity? (That’s a word!)

And I guess you could see the film as a series of deliberate provocations? There’s somebody killing a bird inexpertly (censored on this DVD version because British people don’t much enjoy cruelty to animals), there’s a guy masturbating (for real), there are horses fucking, there’s the sex scene with the older woman, there are dogs kicked and dead cats thrown around…

But, like.

Japon. Carlos Reygadas. 2002. Mexico.

Grapefruit margaritas

3 parts grapefruit juice 2 parts tequila 1 part Contrieu

Shake with ice. Strain into a sugar rimmed glass.

I prefer it with no rimming.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

WFC Mali: Bamako

This is a very unusual film. It starts off with a trial of sorts that turns out to be more of a hearing into African debt, globalism and migration. And it takes place in the backyard of a private house, so there are children and animals running around amongst the judges and witnesses.

Very interesting.

And just when you think it’s all going to be serious and stuff, suddenly there’s a Western movie inside the film starring Danny Glover! (Who was one of the producers.)

Quirky! And some of the actors are great, especially Aïssa Maïga and William Bourdon.

But some of the witnesses kinda go on. And on.

Bamako. Abderrahmane Sissako. 2006. Mali.

Mali Cooler

  • 4 parts gin
  • 4 parts orange juice
  • 2 parts Dubonnet
  • 1 part grenadine
  • 1 part sour mix

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of kiwi.

This doesn’t really sound like a very genuinly Malinese (is that a word?) cocktail, but it’s the only one I found on dar intertubes.

Man. Monin’s Grenadine is good! The one I tried last year, from Rose’s, was horrible!

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

WFC Taiwan: 最好的時光

This is yet another very languid film. I mean, very little happens. But the actors here are very good, so it’s enjoyable to watch.

And it’s cute and playful.

The second part (which is a “silent film” from 1910-ish) is a bit of a drag, though.

Three Times. Hsiao-Hsien Hou. 2005. Taiwan.

Zegroni

  • 10 parts Zacapa 23 rum
  • 4 parts Dubonnet
  • 3 parts Campari

Stir with ice and strain into a glass. Squeeze an orange peel over the surface. Garnish with a vanilla bean.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.