bug tracker categories: compatibility vs. feature request

[John W. Eaton]

I would like to standardize how and when we categorize bug reports as 
compatibility issues vs. feature requests.

Many bug reports now have the item group set to "Matlab Compatibility" 
even if the feature is new in Matlab or not yet present in Octave.  It 
is true that such additions would make Octave more compatible with 
Matlab, but these are also new features, so I would like to tag them as 
feature requests.

The "Matlab Compatibility" item group should be reserved for features or 
functions that already exist in Octave but that behave differently from 
Matlab.

Additionally, we should always set the priority and severity for feature 
requests to be lower than for other bugs.

The guidelines would be:

  * Features present in Matlab but not in Octave:  Set the item group 
to "Feature Request", the priority to "Low", and the severity to "Wish".

  * Features present in both Matlab and Octave:  If the behavior is 
clearly wrong, then categorize by type of failure, not as a 
compatibility issue.  For example, it is better to categorize an 
incorrect numerical result or segfault as such rather than as a 
compatibility issue.  Otherwise, if the behavior is different but not 
necessarily wrong, categorize as a compatibility issue.

Comments?

jwe