Bug reporting

I'm glad to see that the Postgresql team accepts bug reports by email.
I'm one who doesn't have a full-time Internet connexion and web
interfaces are the epitome of inconvenience.

However, I was a little disappointed to find that bug reports go into a
queue awaiting approval. I expect the reason's to eliminate spam.

I think that there are better ways to handle this:

1) As at present, but use (maybe procmail) filters to automatically
approve mail that's almost certainly not spam. Mail containing the name
of one or more programs or files (except, I guess those that are common
words), or other key words such as postgres, postgresql, pgsql would
pass straight through.

2) A bug reporting tool. A shell script could detect the running
environment, and in the case of Linux, which distribution (at least
amongst the major ones). Perhaps pg_config could be enhanced to produce
more information. The bug reporting tool would still use email to
communicate; information in the headerrs (X-mailer: or some other
arbitrary X- header) would allow the mail to pass the automoderator.

3) Registration. A simple email script one can run to register the fact
that PG is installed and basic information about the environment.
Registrants would have the option of getting new release information as
it's available, and be able to report bugs without going through the
moderation process.

Note: I don't go for the idea of confirmation of enrolment on lists; it
almost inevitable results in a 24-hour delay.
--
Cheers
John Summerfield

Microsoft's most solid OS: http://www.geocities.com/rcwoolley/

Note: mail delivered to me is deemed to be intended for me, for my
disposition.