ReportBugs1
Ubuntu Open Week - Reporting Bugs - Brian Murray - Mon, Apr 28, 2008
[18:01] <bdmurray> I'm here to talk to you today about how to report bugs about Ubuntu as there are various different ways you can do it. BR [18:01] <bdmurray> Additionally, I'll cover how to make your bug report more likely to get fixed! BR [18:01] <bdmurray> Perhaps you are wondering what exactly is a bug? BR [18:02] <bdmurray> In computer software it is an error or a flaw that makes it behave in ways for which it wasn't designed. BR [18:02] <bdmurray> Some of these can result in crashes, others may have a subtle effect on functionality, others can be as simple as spelling errors. BR [18:02] <bdmurray> By reporting these issues you can help to make Ubuntu even better than it already is. BR [18:03] <bdmurray> Reported bugs are kept in Launchpad, the bug tracking system used by Ubuntu. BR [18:03] <bdmurray> Let's look at a sample bug report - http://launchpad.net/bugs/222278 BR [18:03] <bdmurray> There are four things here that I want to point out. BR [18:04] <bdmurray> 1) The bug's title or summary is 'upgrade hangs in checkViewDepends()' BR [18:04] <bdmurray> 2) In the Affects table you'll see that this bug report affects 'update-manager (Ubuntu)' this is the package / application which with the bug is about. BR [18:04] <bdmurray> 3) Bug's have an "Bug description" which is filled out when you are reporting a bug. BR [18:05] <bdmurray> 4) And you'll notice there are four bug comments each containing an attachment with supporting information about the bug. BR [18:05] <bdmurray> Are there any questions about what a bug is or what a bug report looks like? BR [18:07] <Amaranth> I guess not. BR [18:07] <bdmurray> Okay, moving on then! BR [18:07] <bdmurray> So, how can bugs be reported to Launchpad? BR [18:07] <bdmurray> They can be reported via the web interface at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug BR [18:08] <bdmurray> Here you start by filling out the summary which becomes the bug's tile. BR [18:08] <bdmurray> After which you are asked for the package affected and for 'Futher information' which becomes the bug's description. BR [18:08] <bdmurray> The description should contain at a minimum the following information: BR [18:08] <bdmurray> 1) The release of Ubuntu that you found the bug in. BR [18:09] <bdmurray> This is important as there are multiple different versions of Ubuntu that are currently supported. BR [18:09] <bdmurray> 2) The version of the package you found the bug in. BR [18:09] <bdmurray> 3) What you expected to happen BR [18:09] <bdmurray> and ... BR [18:09] <bdmurray> 4) What happened instead BR [18:10] <bdmurray> Additionally, you also have the opportunity to add an attachment to your bug when you are reporting it via the web interface. BR [18:10] <bdmurray> Another way to report a bug is using apport an automated problem report application included with Ubuntu. BR [18:11] <bdmurray> The advantage to using apport is that it automatically collects information about the release of Ubuntu you are using and the version of the package / application that you are reporting the bug about. BR [18:11] <bdmurray> Let's say that you have encountered a bug with Firefox. BR [18:11] <bdmurray> You can use apport to report the bug by going to Firefox's "Help" menu and choosing "Report a Problem". BR [18:12] <bdmurray> Apport will start collecing information about your bug and then open a new browser window where you enter the bug's summary / title and then enter the bug's description. BR [18:12] <bdmurray> An example of a bug reported using the "Report a Problem" menu item is http://launchpad.net/bugs/223455 BR [18:12] <Amaranth> Not just firefox, that's how you report bugs against firefox BR [18:13] <bdmurray> Right, lots of applications have the "Report a Problem" functionality integrated into them. BR [18:14] <bdmurray> Looking at the bug 223455 you'll notice that a lot of information has been gathered automatically including the release of Ubuntu, "DistroRelease", the package and version, and the kernel version among other things. BR [18:14] <bdmurray> All of these help to make your bug report more complete and potentially easier to fix! BR [18:15] <bdmurray> Apport also has a command line interface, called apport-cli, where you can report a bug about a specific package via 'apport-cli -f -p PACKAGE'. BR [18:16] <bdmurray> This is useful for applications without a GUI interface like irssi, mutt, and apache. BR [18:16] <bdmurray> Additionally, with apport-cli you can specify a process id number via 'apport-cli -f -P PID'. BR [18:17] <bdmurray> Using apport is the prefereed way to report bugs about Ubuntu as they contain detailed information about the application and your system. BR [18:18] <bdmurray> Further infromation about reporting bugs can be found at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs . BR [18:18] <bdmurray> Are there any questions about how to report bugs to Launchpad or using apport? BR [18:19] <Amaranth> <bullgard4> QUESTION: Launchpad Bugs requires me to name a project where the bug belongs to. This repels me often from reporting a bug as there is no list where I can select from the 'project' that you want to know. Where can I find such a list? BR [18:21] <bdmurray> A 'project' is a software project that uses Launchpad and Ubuntu is one of the 'projects' that use Launchpad. Other examples of projects are jokosher, inkscape and bughelper. BR [18:21] <bdmurray> I think your question is actually about finding the name of the package to report the bug about. Is that correct bullgard4? BR [18:22] <Amaranth> bdmurray: Yes BR [18:23] <bdmurray> Okay, not to dodge your question but I'm planning on covering that next actually. Are there any other questions about the material covered so far? BR [18:23] <Amaranth> <mbt> QUESTION: Is there a non-Web interface way to report bugs to LP? BR [18:24] <bdmurray> Yes, it is possible to send e-mail to 'new@bugs.launchpad.net' to report a new bug. However, your e-mail must be GPG signed. BR [18:25] <bdmurray> You can find additional information about using the e-mail interface at https://help.launchpad.net/BugTrackerEmailInterface . BR [18:28] <bdmurray> Earlier there was a question about identifying the right package to report your bug about. BR [18:29] <bdmurray> This is a critical part of making your bug report more likely to get fixed. BR [18:30] <bdmurray> If your bug does not have a package assigned it is much less likely to get looked at by anyone, let alone by the developer of the application you are having an issue with. BR [18:30] <bdmurray> Some helpful hints for fidnign the proper package are at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage BR [18:31] <bdmurray> That wiki page contains the names of packages that may be hard to discover. BR [18:31] <bdmurray> For example, bugs about the kernel in Hardy Heron should be reported about the 'linux' package. BR [18:33] <bdmurray> Additionally there are instructions on how to find out the name of a running application. Which you might need to do if the application doesn't have apport "Report a Problem" functionality. BR [18:36] <bdmurray> Are there any questions about identifying the package to file a bug about? BR [18:38] <bdmurray> < _stink_> QUESTION: Let's say I find a bug in a project that's small, and I notify the dev directly. Should I still file the bug on LP? BR [18:39] <bdmurray> If that package is one that is included with Ubuntu it should be reported to Launchpad. BR [18:39] <bdmurray> This will allow us to keep track of status of the bug "upstream" and incorporate the fix into Ubuntu. BR [18:41] <bdmurray> An important part of a bug's life cycle is it entering the Confirmed or Triaged status. BR [18:41] <bdmurray> When a bug is Confirmed it means that someone has been able to recreate the bug or believes sufficient information has been included in the bug report for a developer to start working on it. BR [18:42] <bdmurray> Any Launchpad user can confirm a bug report, but please don't confirm your own! This defeats the purpose of the Confirmed status. BR [18:42] <bdmurray> What this means though is that you should include extremely detailed steps to recreate the bug in it's description. BR [18:43] <bdmurray> If they are detailed enough anyone using the same software should be able to confirm the bug report, not just a developer. BR [18:43] <bdmurray> It is far better to have too much detail than not enough. BR [18:44] <bdmurray> Some fairly simple things you can do to make your bug report easier for someone to confirm or triage are including a screenshot via Print Screen. BR [18:44] <bdmurray> Taking a digital picture of the bug if it is one that won't show up in a screenshot. BR [18:45] <bdmurray> It is even possible to take a "screencast", capture video of your desktop, using an application like istanbul. BR [18:46] <bdmurray> An example of a bug with a screencast is https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libwnck/+bug/212425 . BR [18:47] <bdmurray> Having a screencast makes the steps to recreate the bug easy to see and can help overcome language barriers. BR [18:48] <bdmurray> One of the best ways to make your bug report more likely to be fixed is to follow the debugging procedures for the package or subsystem the bug is about! BR [18:48] <bdmurray> These have been written by bug triagers or the developer of the software and following them will help you create a more detailed bug report. BR [18:48] <bdmurray> You can find the list of debugging procedures at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProcedures BR [18:49] <bdmurray> Are there any questions about how to report a bug about Ubuntu and making a detailed and complete bug report? BR [18:52] <bdmurray> <toobuntu> QUESTION: If the wrong package was initially assigned to the bug, and later the reporter realizes that it should be changed or the dev marks it as invalid, does a new bug need to be filed or can the O.P. change the package name? BR [18:52] <bdmurray> That's a good question. BR [18:53] <bdmurray> Yes, it is possible for the original reporter to change the package name for a bug report. BR [18:53] <bdmurray> Let's look at bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/223772 BR [18:54] <bdmurray> You can see right now that it affects "Ubuntu" this is the distribution in general. BR [18:54] <bdmurray> The package can be changed by clicking on one of the downward arrow type things. BR [18:55] <bdmurray> A new part of the page will be revealed where you can see the package name is blank. Here you can add the right package name. BR [18:55] <bdmurray> <Leviath> QUESTION: When to report a bug to the developers of the software and when Launchpad? BR [18:56] <bdmurray> Ubuntu contains a lot of software that isn't developed by the distribution so this is a very relevant question. BR [18:57] <bdmurray> Let's consider inkscape for example. The package we ship can be slightly different from the upstream version. BR [18:58] <bdmurray> So, if you have the bug with Ubuntu's version of inkscape the bug should be reported to Launchpad about the inkscape package in Ubuntu. BR [18:58] <bdmurray> Then you could "forward" the bug to the inkscape upstream project. BR [18:59] <bdmurray> Ideally, this should be done after confirming that the bug exists in the upstream version of inkscape. BR [18:59] <bdmurray> Otherwise we are causing unnecessary work for the upstream developers. BR [19:00] <bdmurray> I'm afraid that's all I have time for. However, if you have any questions about this class or reporting bugs about Ubuntu you can find myself and the rest of the bugsquad in #ubuntu-bugs. Thanks for coming! BR
see also [:MeetingLogs/openweekhardy/ReportBugs2:Saturday session]. It would be good to fix https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/reportbug-ng/+bug/175508 before presenting the tools!