docs: decision record about issue quality (#757)

docs/development/decision-records/2023-09-08_issue_quality_stalebot/README.md

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+# Improving the issue quality and using a stale-bot
+
+## Decision
+
+We will improve GitHub issue quality leveraging the following approaches:
+
+- provide a better issue template
+- introduce a stalebot workflow, that automatically closes zombie issues and PRs
+- reject (or let get stale) issues that aren't actionable
+- create a "backlog" milestone where we can put placeholder issues
+
+## Rationale
+
+We have seen quite a number of issues that are not actionable, because they lack detailed requirements, a definition of
+done, a motivation why the issue is needed or simply a proper description.
+
+Some of it may have been caused by the auto-migration from Confluence to GitHub, some of it may have been caused by a
+lack of planning discipline.
+Un-actionable issues are useless, they clutter our boards and needlessly increase workload, because people periodically
+need to look at them. If an issue cannot be described in sufficient detail, it should be labelled appropriately, e.g.
+with `question` or `triage`.
+
+We understand that it is not always possible to provide all required information at the time of submitting an issue. For
+those cases we will create a `backlog` milestone, that doesn't have a due date and on which those incomplete/placeholder
+issues should be planned. The backlog must be sanitized manually.
+
+So in order to foster proper OSS hygiene we should aim for properly formulated, actionable issues, and periodically
+clear out ones that are inactive or have become irrelevant.
+
+## Approach
+
+### Issue Template
+
+We propose the following issue templates:
+
+```markdown
+---
+name: Feature Request
+about: Request a new feature
+title: ''
+labels: triage
+assignees: ''
+
+---
+
+## WHAT
+
+// describes the desired functionality, how the feature should behave. This should include clear requirements, and a
+// "definition-of-done", i.e. what the result of the issue should be. This is important for concept, documentation or
+// ideation issues
+
+## WHY
+
+// outlines the motivation, why the feature is desired, and maybe what the impact is if the feature is _not_
+implemented.
+// "Because we need it" is not a sufficient reason!
+
+## HOW
+
+// if possible, outlines a solution proposal
+
+## FURTHER NOTES
+
+// anything else you want to outline
+```
+
+The existing bug report template is quite usable already, it contains the needed information. Bug reports should also
+receive the `triage` label upon creation.
+
+### Stale-bot
+
+- issues, that have the `triage` label get staled after 4 weeks and closed after 2 more weeks
+- issues, that have an assignee get staled after 4 weeks and closed after 1 more week
+- issues, that neither have an `assignee` nor a `triage` label get staled after 2 weeks, and closed after 1 more week
+- bug reports are ignored by the stale bot
+- issues in the `backlog` are ignored by the stale bot
+- pull-requests get staled after 1 week, and closed after 1 more week