The difference between bugs, tasks and features
As big as the TYPO3 community is, their priorities can be just as different when it comes to the work and further development of TYPO3. One concentrates on bug fixing, but for the other the further development of features is more important.
But how can all this be combined with the main task of TYPO3 as a CMS?
Against this background, we would like to explain with this blog post what lies behind the terms bugs, tasks and features and why the whole thing can very well be compared to household chores.
Let's go on a journey
We at TYPO3 keep getting asked why there always is a difference between the numbers of new BUGS, TASKS and FEATURES.
This is of course a quite simplified statement, but it sometimes leads to irritation among TYPO3 users.
To make it more tangible, we will show you the differences between bugs, tasks, and features using a simple analogy, which makes the topic, its implications, and possible imbalances much easier to understand.
For this we take you on the journey to your vacuum cleaner.
Yes, you got it right. Your vacuum cleaner aka hoover.
Imagine TYPO3 as a brand and manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, and yourself as the owner of a super fluffy pet. You’re dealing with a whole lot of pet hair and we offer a vacuum, the – let’s call it – HOOVO-3000.
So, you as a pet owner need to use your HOOVO-3000 very often to get all the pet hair off the carpet, which is quite the chore if you want your carpet pet hair free, and most of the time you are not up to the task. What you need is a vacuum that makes cleaning pet hair much easier.
We, as a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners, invent a special rotating brush add-on for the HOOVO-3000 to add a new FEATURE to the existing cleaner. This new FEATURE offers better hair removal and it's awesome; it solves your problem!
Our TASK is to continuously improve the HOOVO model series of TYPO3 brand vacuum cleaners and to make handling your chores even easier bit by bit. So we will improve upon the rotating brush add-on in each iteration leading to a new model, the HOOVO-3001.
High-pile carpets are becoming fashionable again and thus make their way into many households. TYPO3 of course needs to react to this changing trend and adjust accordingly, as high-pile carpets are the biggest challenge for any vacuum. To continue to offer its customers a unique cleaning experience (UCX), the new brush is supported by a special rotating roller that can not only clean up pet hair but also keeps the brush from becoming stuck in the carpet. It automatically adjusts its power and thus the speed of both roller and brush to ensure the best possible cleaning result.
Fixing the bugs
Of course the 300* series of the HOOVO line is not perfect. There is a BUG when changes in floor length occur when going from high-pile carpet to low-pile, or off the carpet altogether; due to the sudden change in surface material, the rotation speed of the roller and brush suddenly increase and trigger a safety shutdown of the motor. This BUG is known but not yet fixed. TYPO3 will work on a solution for upcoming models of the 300* series.
If you own an affected model, have a fluffy pet and a high-pile carpet, you are affected by this BUG. In many if not all cases you can fix the BUG yourself by restarting the vacuum.
With every new model in the series, TYPO3 improves upon proven concepts to add FEATURES and aims to fix BUGS of older models to fulfil its TASK of being a proficient vacuum manufacturer.
It all sounds logical, doesn't it?
Fortunately, we're developing a great CMS and don't have to deal with the world of hairballs.
