Re: Bug reporting proceedure, was Re: Bug#24066: libc6: rsh segfaults as , a result of new libc 2.0.7r2
Hi,
>>"Dale" == Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net> writes:
Dale> On 29 Jun 1998, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>> Umm, no. It would be nice if they did it, but a novce user is
>> perfectly free to just file a bug report. I know I often do. I find
>> an error, usually that by itself is a frustrating experience, also,
>> it is likely to be in the middle of a largish upgrade (I upgrade ever
>> so often). I am not into going over and looking up stuff in the
>> archive for a dozen pacxkages; I just send a report.
Dale> When you do so, without adequate investigation, you imply that
Dale> the understanding and repair of the bug is the sole
Dale> responsibility of the maintianer. I submit, in the free
Dale> software community, that this is a bogus position. Because of
Dale> the freedom we provide, the user bears some responsibility in
Dale> the maintainance of the products they use. I suggest that any
Dale> bug report that says no more than "xxx is broken" is a useless
Dale> report submitted by a lazy user, and, until more information is
Dale> forthcoming, is not likely to produce results.
I agree. However; Debiasn is also for novices and newcomers to
Linux, and to Debian. They may well not have the skill, or the time,
to understand and repair bugs (heck -- most of the time even seasoned
veterans don't).
I would rather have bugs reports, than none. People are
lazy. Mandate more work for a bug report, people won't report bugs.
You are thinking from a "We are all contributors" mind set;
which is nice, but we have to address people who are casual users
too, I think.
>> Make bug reporting any more onerous than it is, and peole
>> merely stop filing reports.
Dale> What is so "onerous" about checking to see if the bug has
Dale> already been reported? As Rob said, it could provide the "work
Dale> around" information that is needed to resolve the problem.
In the middle of an upgrade when one gets 10 bugs, One does
not have time to research them. You just report this, this, and that
went wrong, this is all the data I have, thought you would like to
know.
And I say I like to get reports like that. I may ask for more
information, but I do not demand the reporter do anything more.
Dale> Suggesting, even strongly, that it is proper proceedure when
Dale> submitting a bug, to research the bug reporting system first,
Dale> and provide useful information second, doesn't seem onerous to
Dale> me, and has several practical uses for the bug submitter, as
Dale> well as the maintainer.
Oh, suggestions are fine.
>> Yes. It is a good idea. It just should not be mandatory.
Dale> Mandatory is a non-functional term in this group. Nothing is
Dale> mandatory (even though some would wish it were) in a voluntary
Dale> organization.
Also, the users may not be quite as vested in Debian as the
developers are, it is even harder to tell them to do stuff. It has
vbeen suggested we should be grateful they take time out their busy
lives to even report the bug.
Dale> I am only suggesting that we make clear that the socially
Dale> correct way to report a bug involves adequate research on the
Dale> part of the bug reporter. This "requirement" provides
Dale> additional service to the user at the same time that it
Dale> provides the maintainer with more chance to fix the problem.
Sure. Umm, well, maybe not as strongly as that. More on the
lines of " we suggest that you look into the BTS to see if the
problem has been reported before, and see if a workaround has been
suggested there ....". Socially correct may sound like talking down
to and berating the users
Having written that, I don't think I made much of an
improvement in the wording. Maybe better hands than I can write the
gentle exhortation to check the BTS.
However, no developer should take that statement and berate
the reporter for shirking their duty (unless, of course, it is a
fellow developer) ;-)
manoj
--
"We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can't agree on
when it's necessary to compromise." --Larry Wall in
<1991Nov13.194420.28091@netlabs.com>
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@acm.org> <http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>
Key C7261095 fingerprint = CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
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