Re: How to make Debian more attractive for users, was: Re: The number of popcon.debian.org-submissions is falling
Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> writes:
> Having followed the Ubuntu bugs for many of my packages for several years
> now, I think Debian's bug system is considerably more user-friendly than
> Launchpad. It may not be as *pretty*, and it's not as easy to submit a
> bug, but when you submit a bug to Debian, the chances are fairly good that
> someone will look at it and reply with a detailed understanding of both
> your bug and the package (at least unless you're reporting a bug to one of
> the packages that notoriously gets more bugs than anyone could ever deal
> with, usually about other software, like the kernel or the desktop
> metapackages). Debian's BTS is more friendly in that old-fashioned sense
> that involves interacting with people. :)
Yes. Absolutely. When googling for some problem, I usually avoid any
link into Launchpad because my experience is that it consists of a vague
problem description, a number of "me 2"'s, some unrelated problems, and
maybe a suggested horrendous workaround. I don't think I've ever seen a
real solution there.
The Debian BTS is the opposite. There you can expect bug reports to be
followed up with an intelligent discussion, and often a patch or other
good solution to the problem. If not, you will at least find enough
information to know that you are not alone with your problem.
BTW, I must also add that the kernel is no exception in Debian, even
though it of course fits the description "gets more bugs than anyone
could ever deal with". The kernel team does an extremely good job
dealing with them.
IMHO, the Debian BTS and the users and developers making it what it is,
is one of the main advantages Debian has over other distributions.
Bjørn
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