[Ubuntu-bugcontrol] Application from Jeremy Bicha (jbicha)

[Micah Gersten]

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On 05/18/2010 11:30 AM, Jorrit Kronjee wrote:
> C.,
> 
> I recently joined this mailing list, but as I'm still trying to figure
> out if this is what I want to spend some of my spare time on, I have not
> officially joined the bug squad yet. I do have a strong opinion about
> one thing you said, and that's why I'm replying.
> 
> 
>> * how you interact with the original poster (OP): being courteous is as
>> important as being knowledgeable. Even more, courtesy is not an inbred
>> trait, but must be exercised continuously.
>> * explaining why some action is needed and how to get it done. We should
>> never assume (unless we know the OP) that the OP understands Ubuntu,
>> Linux, etc.
>>
> 
> snip.
> 
>>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/marble/+bug/574450 User
>>> looking for marble wallpaper
>>
>> Correct answer, but too terse. Lacks being nice, and an explanation of
>> how to install the wallpaper. Also lacks an explanation of why it was
>> set to Invalid.
> 
> I looked at the bug report and some of the comments you made and I don't
> agree with you when it comes to making assumptions. You will always make
> assumptions. And I think the assumption that the OP knows a thing or two
> about Ubuntu is a reasonable assumption to make. There are plenty of
> other information sources out there for the absolute newbies. A
> bugtracker is not the right place for them.
> 
> To put it in other words, if someone reports a bug including stack
> trace, explanation on how to reproduce and a patch, not assuming that
> that person knows his stuff, would be insulting.
> 
> Concerning the courtesy, and I might be alone in this, but I just want
> the person dealing with the bug to be knowledgeable. Explain to me what
> is happening, but don't beat around the bush. I saw on the wiki page
> HowToTriage that most of the answer templates start with the sentence
> "Thank you for taking the time to make Ubuntu better". Actually, all of
> them have some form of gratitude in them. And it just doesn't look very
> sincere to me as a user.
> 
> I won't feel insulted if someone just tells me that my bug was marked a
> duplicate. Or that they were unable to reproduce it. Especially with
> people whose native language isn't English (like me!), I understand very
> well that courtesy might not come naturally. And that is just fine with me.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> Jorrit Kronjee

While this is commonplace in most bugtrackers, Ubuntu is unique in that
we try to make it extremely easy for any level user to report bugs.  You
are correct in the example you gave if a user is already providing
content that implies a certain knowledge level, that one could infer
something about the user.  I think hggdh was referring to when that is
not evident.  Such is the case with the bug in question.  The user might
not know if they should install from KPackageKit or somewhere else.  I
think one of the goals is to be clear the first time so that back and
forth is not necessary for how to do things.

Micah
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