[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Use of BTS for end-users (Was: Changes on debian-edu-config)



On Wed, 1 Feb 2006 12:52:08 +1300
Chris Bannister <mockingbird@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 04:47:00PM +0100, Finn-Arne Johansen wrote:
> > I believe we need to use our own bugzilla, and we need to have a
> > manual forward of bugs from our bugzilla to the Debian BTS
> 
> I agree
> 
> > I believe most of our users will be scared back to wintendo if they
> > get the feedback from the Debian Maintainers. And they will be asked
> > questions they are in no way of capable of answering, and most bugs
> > will be written of as "problem exist between Keyboard and Computer
> > (?)"
> 
> Hehe, "problem exist between Keyboard and Chair" PEBKAC. Good point
> about the users though. I mean are the users experienced admins or a
> teacher "wearing an admin hat"?
> 
> The problem of "users will be scared back to wintendo" is a serious
> one, especially when the teacher "wearing an admin hat" can just call
> the local h/w gurus for wintendo problems, whereas for Linux
> problems, (s)he may need to deal with a BTS.
> 
> The local school used to run Linux but had printing + isp problems so
> reverted (back?) to wintendo :-(

I see two different things here:

 1) Debian/Skolelinux developers treating its users differently

 2) BTS too technical for some users

I agree that dealing with a BTS (wther the Debian one or Bugzilla) is
too complicated for some users - and that those users probably a
majority among those using Skolelinux.

I do not agree with the solution being to keep a separate BTS for
Skolelinux developers to use for interaction with their users, however.

Ideally Skolelinux developers are debian-edu developers are Debian
developers. And use same BTS.

The need of Skolelinux users is something *simpler* than a BTS, with
the Skolelinux/debian-edu developers acting as buffer extracting
bugreports from the dialogues with users and tracking those bugreports
in the mail Debian BTS.


So to clarify: I believe it is _bad_ for Skolelinux to maintain a
separate BTS for _developers_ of Skolelinux. I strongly recommend
moving towards using the Debian BTS as much as at all possible.

And I recommend collecting documentation of those cases where Debian
developers do not want to cooperate with Skolelinux and post them in
public, to avoid growing a myth about it and only keep to facts that
can be passed to the Debian technical committee if needed. It is not in
the general interest of Debian to harrash its forks.


Probably a more sane interaction with non-techy users is a web forum. I
personally do not like those, and share that with lots of fellow geeks.
But many users, especially those used to the Windows world, do, and
some Debian developers support that (and does it well, unlike the
stupidities sometimes experienced in direct interactions with each
package maintainer). A concrete suggestion is to ask the maintainers of
http://forums.debian.net/ about creating a forum specifically for
Skolelinux, and start advertising that as a place for Skolelinux users
to discuss their problems.

Of course you should only do that if enough of you are interested in
sticking around and nurse the visitors of such forum!


 - Jonas

-- 
* Jonas Smedegaard - idealist og Internet-arkitekt
* Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

 - Enden er nær: http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

Attachment: pgpYw_9zHMWwL.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Reply to: