---
url: 'https://dri.es/fast-tracking-drupal-7-bug-fixes'
title: 'Fast-tracking Drupal 7 bug fixes'
author:
  name: 'Dries Buytaert'
  url: 'https://dri.es/about'
date: '2011-05-26T06:49:44-04:00'
license: 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
type: blog
tags:
  - Drupal
published: true
id: 2361
---

# Fast-tracking Drupal 7 bug fixes

The Drupal project has a policy of fixing bugs in the development release (currently, Drupal 8) and then backporting to stable releases (currently, Drupal 7 and Drupal 6). This policy is important, because it helps to prevent regressions from being introduced in future versions of Drupal.

However, the size of our project and our community has reached the point where a single maintainer of the development release (currently, me) doesn't scale at times. I've been very focused on setting the vision for Drupal and launching the Drupal 8 initiative. As a result, we have a growing backlog of bug reports that needs to be looked at and that is holding back the stabilization process of Drupal 7.

To fix this, I am going to be granting Angela "webchick" Byron, my Drupal 7 co-maintainer, commit rights for bug fixes in Drupal 8, in order to help ease maintenance of Drupal 7 and speed along the stabilization process.

This is something that [a number of prominent core developers](https://www.drupal.org/node/1050616) have been asking for, and will allow me to keep my focus on setting the strategic direction for Drupal 8, appointing and working with Drupal 8 core initiative owners, and prioritizing incorporation of new features. The goal is to help Drupal to scale, and to increase the momentum of core development for both Drupal 7 and Drupal 8.
