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Un-scope category labels

Problem to solve

The label documentation mentions Subject labels: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/doc/development/contributing/issue_workflow.md#subject-labels but it currently mixes feature and category labels. We need to clarify this.

For the distinction between Category and Feature, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#hierarchy

There is no official naming/color convention for these labels but an ongoing normalization proposal with !169 (merged) suggest to leverage scoped labels.

I don't think scoped labels are useful here and they even prevent some existing workflow (e.g. having an epic related to multiple categories). Requiring to split into sub-epics/issues will generate unnecessary overhead.

NB: There is a dedicated proposal to normalize feature labels: #247 (closed), this issue focuses on feature labels.

Example

Issues/Epics are not only about product/category strategies, but there are also engineering initiatives and some of them cover multiples categories depending on how the code is structured. E.g. in devopssecure we have a lot of overlapping areas between the groups and categories as the code is generic. One unique change to the code can impact several categories.

This MR https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/merge_requests/14376 impacts 4 categories.

Without scoped labels:

  • we can have 1 epic, 1 issue, 1 MR, all labeled with the 4 category labels. Simple and straightforward.

With scoped labels:

  • we need 1 parent epic, 4 child epics, 4 issues, all labeled independently with 1 category label.
  • the MR can't have the category labels reflecting the change it's providing.
  • these are way too much useless items to maintain. Engineers need to update workflow::xxx labels and close issues after deployed and tested on prod. This also clutters the issue boards for no benefit.

Proposal:

  • Naming convention Category: Feature with Spaces And Capital Letters as Desired
  • No scoped labels (mutual exclusion).
  • Color #428BCA

Once we agree on the convention, tasks list:

Edited by Rémy Coutable