Life Cycle of a Patch

States of Problem Reports

Each PR goes through a defined series of states between origination and closure. By default, the originator of a PR and all addresses listed in the Notify-List receive notification automatically of any state changes.

In our configuration, the following states are used:

open:

The initial state of a Problem Report. This means the PR has been filed and the responsible person(s) notified.

analyzed:

The responsible person has analyzed the problem. The analysis should contain a preliminary evaluation of the problem and an estimate of the amount of time and resources necessary to solve the problem. It should also suggest possible workarounds.

feedback:

This state is used in several cases:

• [In case of bug reports ]
  The problem has been solved, and the originator has been given a patch or other fix.
• [In case of patch submissions]
  A submitted patch is not clear, or does not apply cleanly, or results in discussions on the mailing list, or otherwise requires feedback from the originator.

closed:

A Problem Report is closed ("the bug stops here") only when any patches or changes have been integrated, documented, and tested, and the submitter has confirmed the solution.

suspended:

Work on the problem has been postponed. This happens if a timely solution is not possible or is not cost-effective at the present time. The PR continues to exist, though a solution is not being actively sought.
If the problem cannot be solved at all, it should be closed rather than suspended.