bug#20697: 25.0.50; Mention `M-x report-emacs-bug' on splash screen

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan@marxist.se>
To: Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>
Cc: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>, 20697@debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#20697: 25.0.50; Mention `M-x report-emacs-bug' on splash screen
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 15:44:58 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CADwFkm=cB+KKH4-5F7-9t9ctgo5yXtbxSsTSYzM27Cmwqo-vOg@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <4496bd9e-58ee-45b5-967d-3402ce4999bd@default>

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Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> > > So I'd "waste" a few extra chars to spell out that
> > > invitation explicitly.  Something like this:
> > >
> > >  "How to report bugs and suggest or contribute possible improvements"
> >
> > I find that line a bit too packed with information to be easily
> > parsed.  I think that the concern Lars has pointed out is valid here:
> > the about screen is already very dense.
>
> Then get rid of some other parts of the link text or
> other parts of the too-dense screen.  Don't get rid
> of the part about suggesting improvements.
>
> This bug report is especially about explicitly
> inviting enhancement suggestions/wishes.  That needs
> to be on top, up-front, in link text - not relegated
> to some text at the link target.
[...]
> > I came up with the attached tentative patch that adds a paragraph to
> > "Contributing" manual page, attached here for discussion.
> >
> > But thinking about this a bit more, I can't decide if it's a good idea
> > to encourage this or not.  There is a risk that we get too many low
> > quality suggestions that we will waste a lot of time handling.
>
> I couldn't disagree more with such fear/hesitation.

I largely agree with what you're saying; thanks for spelling it out.

I see two options to move forward here:

1. Add a new item (or reformulate an old one) on the splash screen.
2. Add something to the "Contributing" page about feature suggestions.

I'm not too enthusiastic about option 1, but I've re-attached my patch
which tries to do 2.  (They are not mutually exclusive.)

Any other opinions, please?

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

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From 1a445133c47c2fa596fa5bdebe150991fde9ee6f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2019 13:27:10 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Document feature requests in the Emacs manual

* doc/emacs/trouble.texi (Contributing): Document feature
requests.  (Bug20697)
---
 doc/emacs/trouble.texi | 13 +++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/emacs/trouble.texi b/doc/emacs/trouble.texi
index 13d3e8475c..f0f9af20b8 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/trouble.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/trouble.texi
@@ -1299,6 +1299,19 @@ Contributing
 @end ifhtml
 You can ask for suggested projects or suggest your own ideas.
 
+If you have a feature request or a suggestion for how to improve
+Emacs, the best place to send it is to
+@ifnothtml
+@email{bug-gnu-emacs.org}
+@end ifnothtml
+@ifhtml
+@url{https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-gnu-emacs, bug-gnu-emacs}
+@end ifhtml
+.  Please explain in clear language exactly what change you would like
+to see, and why and how you think it would improve Emacs.  If your
+suggestion is accepted, this will increase its chances of attracting
+interest from one of many volunteer Emacs developers.
+
 If you have already written an improvement, please tell us about it.  If
 you have not yet started work, it is useful to contact
 @ifnothtml
-- 
2.20.1

