[Bug 1623530] Re: Apport should be disabled by default

[Luis Alvarado]

Brian, well that would not be a solution, a viable one at least. There
needs to be an option that does not tell all Ubuntu users they need to
install something to avoid something that should not be happening in the
first place because of how it is perceived. One proposed solution is,
during the installation process, ask with a simple yes/no answer if they
would like to send error to Ubuntu (Or a similar idea). By default
marked as no. Why marked as no, because from UX, we know users will
click away at installing Ubuntu because of how easy it is. Leaving it on
no will simply set the user (Who most probably is not interested or
unable to send bug reports.

- So disabling would create issues for Developer, but resolve the whole
point for end users.

- Leaving it enabled by default will make Developers happy, but make end
users angry.

- Setting an option for End users (On by default) will make developers
happy, but there would still be a lot of users asking why Ubuntu "has"
so many bugs, because they would still get so many bug reports coming
up.

- Setting an option for End users (Off by default) will make developers
happy because only Ubuntu users that are actually interested in helping
the development of it will set it to Yes, this, added to the fact that
most users will stop asking about why Ubuntu "has" so many bugs.

Note that, even if the wiki states that Apport is disabled by default,
that is not true in reality. It still shows on 16.04 and throws bugs
like crazy.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1623530

Title:
  Apport should be disabled by default

Status in apport package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I work with large communities (US, India, Latin America) and almost
  the number one issue they have with Ubuntu or simply scares them off
  is the fact that errors keep popping up every time. Some times
  multiples times per minutes, per hour, per day.

  The reason is how apport works by default. The "solution" is going to
  /etc/default/apport and setting the option to 0 (Disable). I do
  understand the full benefit or submitting automatically all bug
  reports, but this has gotten (And most Ubuntu users will be able to
  confirm) out of hand with some many popup questions about some bug or
  another that are simply fixed the moment the report is going to be
  send (eg: Compiz issue that was fixed a couple of milliseconds later,
  unity issue, dash issue, firefox issue, etc..). All of them have
  mechanism to handle failures and basically heal themselves.

  The question regarding this is:

  Leaving apport enable by default on an Ubuntu installation simply
  scares or annoys end users (a lot may I add). Leaving it disabled, it
  will not send a bug report, but there is no issue in simply creating
  an ubuntu-bug report through the terminal. So the sending of the
  report is still valid, but is not forced onto the user (And not forced
  so many times).

  This report is back by about 3 years going back and forth with the
  same apport issue and seeing probably around 500 users I have helped
  myself with the same issue, since this makes Ubuntu less productive to
  the actual user, even from start.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
  Package: apport 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-36.55-generic 4.4.16
  Uname: Linux 4.4.0-36-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
  ApportLog:
   
  ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Wed Sep 14 08:16:03 2016
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-04-22 (144 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: apport
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  modified.conffile..etc.default.apport:
   # set this to 0 to disable apport, or to 1 to enable it
   # you can temporarily override this with
   # sudo service apport start force_start=1
   enabled=0
  mtime.conffile..etc.default.apport: 2016-08-12T16:38:06.249273

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