<!-- ACE-bug-process.html,v 4.24 2002/05/10 01:30:14 schmidt Exp --> <HTML> <TITLE>ACE+TAO Bug Fixing Policies</TITLE> <BODY text = "#000000" link="#000fff" vlink="#ff0f0f" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <HR> <H3>ACE+TAO Bug Fixing Policies</H3> As <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE.html">ACE</A> and <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/TAO.html">TAO</A> have grown in popularity the volume of mail on the <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE-mail.html">ACE+TAO users mailing list</A> and USENET newsgroup <A HREF="news:comp.soft-sys.ace">comp.soft-sys.ace</A> has grown considerably. While this increase is healthy, and a natural consequence of the larger number of ACE and TAO users, it is straining the resources of the DOC <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE-members.html">research group</A> at <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/doc-center.html">Washington University</A> and <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/doc-lab.html">UC Irvine</A> to respond to all the traffic immediately. Moreover, our prompt bug fixes may actually be discouraging the creation of a larger community of users who have deep knowledge of how ACE and TAO work and can help provide bug fixes and new features. <P> Therefore, in order for us to continue supporting ACE and TAO effectively and to allow the ACE and TAO user community to evolve, we abide by the following policies: <UL> <LI> All bug reports to the ACE+TAO <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE-mail.html">mailing lists</A> should be submitted using the appropriate bug report form in <A HREF="../PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM">$ACE_ROOT/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM</A> (for ACE) or <A HREF="../TAO/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM">$TAO_ROOT/PROBLEM-REPORT-FORM</A> (for TAO). Please use these forms since bug reports that are not submitted in this form are likely to fall through the cracks. Here is our policy for addressing these bug reports: <P> <OL> <LI> If a report or question is from someone <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE-sponsors.html">sponsoring</A> our work we will respond to it in a timely manner. Please contact <A HREF="mailto:schmidt@cs.wustl.edu">me</A> if you'd like to become a sponsor. <P> <LI> If it's a bug report along with a fix we will also apply this in a timely manner. <P> <LI> If it's a bug report that will prevent ACE or TAO from working on a major platform used by our sponsors we'll try to fix it as time permits. <P> </OL> <LI> You should also consider entering your bug report into our <A HREF="http://deuce.doc.wustl.edu/bugzilla">bug tracking database</A> so that it's archived for future processing. We try to address these bugs as time permits, but may not get to them for a while unless it affects our work or the work of our sponsors. If you'd like an immediate response, please contact <A HREF="mailto:schmidt@cs.wustl.edu">me</A> about becoming a sponsor or contact <A HREF="http://www.riverace.com">Riverace</a> or <A HREF="http://www.theaceorb.com">OCI</A> for commercial support of ACE or TAO, respectively. <P> We encourage bug reports for those without support to be posted initially to the <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE-mail.html">ACE users</A> (<A HREF="mailto:ace-users@cs.wustl.edu">ace-users@cs.wustl.edu</A>) or <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/TAO-mail.html">TAO users</A> (<A HREF="mailto:tao-users@cs.wustl.edu">tao-users@cs.wustl.edu</A>) mailing lists, where the ACE+TAO user community may already have developed, or have an interest in developing, a solution. While the core ACE+TAO development team will continue to participate in this mailing list we can not guarantee immediate response to all postings. <P> <LI> If you find a problem with a version of TAO that was released by <A HREF="http://www.theaceorb.com/">OCI</A> then please report it to <A HREF="mailto:taosupport@ociweb.com">taosupport@ociweb.com</A> since their version of TAO is somewhat different from the DOC group's version of TAO and thus they provide their own support. <P> <LI> If it's a general question about how to use ACE or TAO feature we'll try to respond as time permits, though we will also rely on the experience of the ACE and TAO user community to field these types of questions, as well. If you have a question about TAO, you should first check out the TAO <A HREf="http://www.theaceorb.com/faq/">online FAQ</A> to see if your question has already been answered. If you require consulting support for ACE and/or TAO, please contact <A HREF="http://www.riverace.com">Riverace</a> or <A HREF="http://www.theaceorb.com">OCI</A>, as well. <P> </UL> Naturally, we encourage other ACE+TAO users to continue to help provide fixes and advice in response to postings on the ACE and TAO mailing list. <P> <HR><P> Back to the <A HREF="http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE.html">ACE</A> page.<BR> Back to <A HREF="index.html">ACE Documentation Home</A>. <!--#include virtual="/~schmidt/cgi-sig.html" --> </BODY> </HTML>