ANNOUNCE: GHC 6.8.1 Second Release Candidate

[Claus Reinke]

> The 6.8.1 release is very close now. We only intend to look at the bugs
> listed here:
>
> 
> http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/query?status=new&status=assigned&status=reopened&milestone=6.8.1&order=priority
>
> so if you think there is something important that is not listed there
> then this is the time to shout!

comparing that list against the full by-milestone list:
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/query?status=new&status=assigned&status=reopened&group=milestone&order=priority

reveals several oddities:

- the list of outstanding issues for 6.8 branch is suspiciously long. has
    this been reviewed in detail? several of the tickets look more or less
    fixed, and there seems to be nothing standing in the way for fixing
    some more, such as this one:
    http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/1226

- several tickets seem to be stuck in nirvana, and should be reviewed:

    - since there'll be a 6.8.1 instead of a 6.6.2, all the tickets in that
        milestone need review. some may be fixed in 6.8.1, some have
        never been touched, such as this one
        http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/1216

    - there is a whole bunch of tickets without milestone! shouldn't
        they be reviewed and milestoned at least, before making any
        releases?

    no tickets should be left in those two groups by the time of
    release, i think?

since so many tickets have no owner, it would be useful to
have an extra field, giving the date/milestone of last revision
(even if there is no owner, all tickets get reviewed when they
come in, i guess, and again every time a release comes up,
to decide whether to handle them now or to move their
milestone). that way, one could check easily which tickets
have skipped the radar completely, or which tickets have
been reviewed (not necessarily fixed) for a particular release.

perhaps that could be another value for the status field
(new: no one has looked into it; assigned: someone has
actually taken it; reviewed date: someone has acknowledged
the ticket; etc.)?

claus