Re: Processed: Bug#543815: Establishing a "Severity" rating
On Tue, Sep 01, 2009 at 12:03:55PM +0200, Sandro Tosi wrote:
> Hello,
>
> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 00:06, Debian Bug Tracking
> System<owner@bugs.debian.org> wrote:
> > Processing commands for control@bugs.debian.org:
> >
> >> clone 543815 -1
> > Bug#543815: initramfs-tools: Having "/lib64" in /etc/ld.so.conf results in unusable initrd image
> > Bug 543815 cloned as bug 544485.
> >
> >> reassign -1 reportbug
> > Bug #544485 [initramfs-tools] initramfs-tools: Having "/lib64" in /etc/ld.so.conf results in unusable initrd image
> > Bug reassigned from package 'initramfs-tools' to 'reportbug'.
> > Bug No longer marked as found in versions initramfs-tools/0.85i.
> >> retitle -1 overinflated linux-2.6 bug reports
> > Bug #544485 [reportbug] initramfs-tools: Having "/lib64" in /etc/ld.so.conf results in unusable initrd image
> > Changed Bug title to 'overinflated linux-2.6 bug reports' from 'initramfs-tools: Having "/lib64" in /etc/ld.so.conf results in unusable initrd image'
> >> stop
> > Stopping processing here.
>
> We are using the same text for severities as from BTS website [1]
>
> [1] http://www.debian.org/Bugs/Developer#severities
>
> If there is a problem with that wording, it should be fixed there
> first (and then notify us of teh change, just to fast sync the info).
>
> Please either close this bug (it's invalid for reportbug) or reassing
> it to b.d.o , as you prefer.
The problem is that the standard severities cannot be mapped 1:1 on
the kernel package. Since the kernel is the core component of 99%
of all Debian systems, it's in the nature of the beast that any
problem which makes a system unbootable renders the package unusable
for the person filing the bug and the default descriptions lead bug
reporters to believe that grave or above is the correct severity.
As far as the kernel is concerned, the severies applied by current
practice are more or less:
critical:
- bugs leading to data loss on a wide range of systems
grave:
- security bugs leading to remote denial of service or local privilege
escalation
- bugs which make the package unusable on a wide range of systems
serious:
- a severe violation of Debian policy (as in the standard severities)
important:
- bugs which render some systems (e.g. a certain model or systems
with a specific adaptor/device) unusable
normal to wishlist are treated as in standard policies.
Since this is a common mistake, it might be a good idea to display
different descriptions when filing a bug against the linux-2.6
source package. This is what Maks's bug report is about.
Cheers,
Moritz
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