"'How long will that bug take to fix?' is like asking 'How long is it going to take to answer 23 across in next Sunday's crossword puzzle?' It might be fifteen seconds, it might take all day; until I have a chance to look at the puzzle I'm just pulling numbers out of my ass." .

I find this attitude to be a little disingenuous. Obviously every bug cannot be estimated perfectly, but the majority of the time there is some initial data to make a reasonable estimate with a margin of error.

For instance to name a few:

- Past experience with the module associated.

- Whether or not it has been reproduced locally.

- Similarity to other bugs that have come up in the past.