Comments on: Introduction to Debian’s Bug Tracking System (BTS)

By: RainCT

RainCT — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:49:34 +0000

Well, of course everything has it’s good and it’s bad sides… And Launchpad is still under active development, so I hope it’ll get a *lot* better.

- you don’t get prompted for a version number of the package
Well, you’re expected to indicate it on the description.

- there is no consistent way to mark what package version the bug affects
True… However, bugs should only be about problems that are present in the development release; and for those few that need to be fixed in “stable” releases, there is to possibility to mark them for a specific Ubuntu release.

- having to be registered and logged in
There’s also a mail interface, if you prefer that. And having to be registered also has it’s good things.

- absolutely no way for user to indicate their opinion on severity
You’re right on this. Personal tags is another feature I miss…

And I fully agree with you that there aren’t enough triagers. If you want to help have a look at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpingWithBugs and join us in #ubuntu-bugs (server: irc.freenode.net); you don’t need to be MOTU for that, just join the open Launchpad team https://launchpad.net/~bugsquad and start contributing. Once you feel somewhat familiar with it you can apply to https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-bugcontrol in order to be allowed to set the importance and see private bugs.

Thanks for your comments!

By: Lynoure Braakman

Lynoure Braakman — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:35:08 +0000

I agree about all the minus parts Mr. Nightwalker mentioned, however when one compares the reporting bugs, Malone unfortunately has it’s own downsides:
- you don’t get prompted for a version number of the package
- there is no consistent way to mark what package version the bug affects
- having to be registered and logged in
- absolutely no way for user to indicate their opinion on severity, meaning even stuff that the user themself thinks is wishlist needs to sorted through with the same urgency as everything else.

I think it would be just glorious if the best sides of both were combined.

However, the thing I most miss in Ubuntu’s bug tracking is the human response. It feels a bit frustrating to report bugs when confirmed bug reports sit there untriaged for months. I’d gladly help, but alas, one seems to need to be MOTU or something for that.

By: RainCT

RainCT — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:11:07 +0000

I agree with you, but well, if the Debian guys like it…

By: Azrael Nightwalker

Azrael Nightwalker — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:34:58 +0000

Debian’s BTS sucks:
- it can’t search for bugreport’s text
- it can’t be used thru the webinterface (only poor search and viewing)
- you have to type all commands manually (ie. for merging a bug)
That’s why Launchpad’s Malone pwnz DebBugs.

By: Lynoure Braakman

Lynoure Braakman — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 11:09:28 +0000

If one uses reportbug for reporting a bug, it even handholds you through the process and adds the version number on your behalf. I so prefer using reportbug over Launchpad for reporting.