Re: [debian-devel] [Deb] Re: Localized bug reporting?

[Steve Greenland <steveg@moregruel.net>]

On 30-Oct-03, 23:16 (CST), Anthony Towns <aj@azure.humbug.org.au> wrote: 
> Uh, I've missed the start of this thread, but I assume you're talking
> about having non-English bug reports. In that case you've missed a serious
> one: people can no longer look through the BTS and expect to be able to
> understand all the bugs they find.

I can't do that now, and they're in English. :-) (Referring to technical
content, not poor English skills.)

There are probably a lot of non-English speaking users who can't
usefully browse the BTS now. A few more messages that English readers
can't read won't hurt anything.

> [Extra BTS layer/system for translating non-English reports]
> That sort of thing is good even for English users: having someone
> look over your problem to make sure it's not user error is a Good Thing
> before you go bothering package maintainers.

Ermmm, while I certainly wouldn't object to someone else helping sort
out bug reports on my packages, I think this sort of thing is part of
being a DD. It's usually doesn't take time to point someone at the
documentation, and if I get several similar user errors, it means that
there's something missing or confusing about the docs/program.

If there were an extra layer to pre-filter all bug reports, I'd feel
obliged to monitor it as well, so it just means more work, not less.

As far as foreign languages go, if I ever get a non-English bug report,
I'll try to figure out what language it's in, and ask for help on the
appropriate debian translation list (if such exists), or debian-devel if
it doesn't. If such requests become a big deal, then we'll create a new
list.

I'd *guess* that people who don't speak English tend to inhabit a local
language specific user list, and get most of their help there.

All this proposed formality seems like overkill, at the moment.

Steve

-- 
Steve Greenland
    The irony is that Bill Gates claims to be making a stable operating
    system and Linus Torvalds claims to be trying to take over the
    world.       -- seen on the net