MarkingDuplicate

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Bugs are duplicates when they have the same root cause. Determining this is a skill that you'll pick up as you become more familiar with a particular program or package. Bugs are ''not'' necessarily duplicates if they have the same effects. For example, many things can cause X not to start determining which it is part of triaging. If in doubt, ask for another opinion. Bugs are duplicates when they have the same root cause. Determining this is a skill that you'll pick up as you become more familiar with a particular program or package. Bugs are ''not'' necessarily duplicates if they have the same effects. For example, many different bugs can cause X not to start. Determining which bug this particular report refers to is part of triaging. If in doubt, ask for another opinion.

Duplicates

Many of the reports filed about Ubuntu are actually duplicates of bugs already reported. This can happen after a high profile bug has been introduced into Ubuntu, causing a lot of users to report it. Other times, reporters don't know how to check if the same bug has already been filed, or it is hard for them to determine if their bug is the same as another. Finding these duplicate bugs and aggregating information in one bug report is a very valuable contribution.

Bugs are duplicates when they have the same root cause. Determining this is a skill that you'll pick up as you become more familiar with a particular program or package. Bugs are not necessarily duplicates if they have the same effects. For example, many different bugs can cause X not to start. Determining which bug this particular report refers to is part of triaging. If in doubt, ask for another opinion.

When you first look at a new bug, try to find an existing bug in the system that describes the new one. Here's how:

  • Click the "List open bugs" link at the bottom of the bug page or

  • Click the "Bugs" tab at the top of the page
    • Both ways will produce a list of bugs about the same package
  • Look for bugs with similar descriptions or related topics.
  • If they describe the same root cause, decide which report should be the primary one. This should be the one that's the most understandable and contains the most information.

  • For the other report, add a comment like this standard reply Include(Bugs/Responses, , from="^== A duplicate ==$", to="^==")

  • Then click the "Mark as Duplicate" link on the left hand side of the bug's web page in the "Actions" section and input the number of the primary bug.

The default searches in Malone and used above will only look at Open bugs. It may also be worthwhile to go through the list of Invalid and Won't Fix bugs which you can look for by using the Advanced search. There is also a standardized bug tag for ones likely to have lots of duplicates - [https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bugs?field.tag=metabug metabug].

Bugs/MarkingDuplicate (last edited 2010-07-28 21:55:30 by pool-71-252-251-234)