Canonical introduce new "Opinion" bug status to Launchpad

Canonical's Launchpad developers have announced they are trialling a new bug status "Opinion" which joins the "Won't Fix" and "Invalid" indicators that developers can use to signal they have moved on to other issues and effectively closed a bug. The difference with "Opinion" is that it can be used to indicate the developers would like to see further discussion about a bug and/or its resolution. Launchpad is the free open source project hosting, or project collaboration, site that is also used by Canonical for its internal development.

Previously, use of "Won't Fix" and "Invalid" was seen as an attempt by developers to shut down discussions on Launchpad, which often created its own controversy in a bugs discussion. An example of this is when the window control buttons moved to the left hand side in Lucid Lynx. While not a bug as such this generated a large number of responses on Launchpad.

The new status indicator attempts to address such situations by saying that the developers aren't fixing the issue because there is a difference of opinion, but users are free to continue discussing the issue. The addition of the "Opinion" status is considered an experiment and will be reviewed in three months time to see if it is effective at closing bugs while keeping discussions constructive and open.

(djwm)