http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11188
--- Comment #164 from Reece Dunn msclrhd@gmail.com 2010-06-19 11:56:13 --- (In reply to comment #163)
No, it is not offtopic. He is asking about why the developers refuse to fix the bug. That line of thought IS ABOUT THE BUG ITSELF, which, correct me if I am wrong here, is the whole reason for having a forum on a bugtracker.
The point of the comments is to discuss the problem, devise a solution, propose fixes and comment on them, etc.
Wine developers are working on this on their own free time, and there is a lot of work involved (most requiring domain specific knowledge). For a functional change that implements part of the Windows function calls (like in this case), test cases are required to validate that the behaviour is requested. They also help prevent regressions.
Also, not all Wine developers have access to the program that exhibit the bugs, and may not know enough of the details that trigger the bug, so having a test case can help them understand the issue. Especially since the test case should be repeatable and predictable.
So why is it so hard to ask the people interested in this (or the person who wrote the fix) to write a test case? Especially as they know the most about the issue being fixed.