[mb-users] Re: Policy regarding making automated edits (bots)

[Alexander Dupuy]

Matt Perry wrote:

>I wonder if we should establish some method of peer review before we let 
>people run bots.  I was also thinking that any bots should run under a 
>separate user account just for the bot in case any changes need to be 
>audited or removed.
>

There is some history for this; in 2005, Robert (Jamie) Munro was 
running an automated tool that took (feat. XXX) in track and release 
titles and used those to automatically create Performed AR links; there 
was some discussion about this on the mailing list: 
http://lists.musicbrainz.org/pipermail/musicbrainz-users/2005-April/008757.html

Some things that seemed sensible:

Initial testing of the automated conversion were done using the 
test.musicbrainz.org server and announced to the list so that people 
could review the results for accuracy and sanity.

When the automated conversion was actually run on the live DB, the first 
few times were performed as non-automod, so they were subject to normal 
voting process.  Jamie reviewed the results of  that, looking for failed 
votes, etcetera, before deciding that the increased voting backlog 
wasn't justified by accuracy concerns.

I would recommend both of these steps, but it's worth noting that it 
probably makes sense to run the final full-DB conversions as an automod 
to avoid creating an immense short-term voting backlog.

@alex

-- 
mailto:alex.dupuy at mac.com