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Domecq dlist at ubuntuforums.org
Sat Apr 2 14:23:10 CST 2005


Sebastien Bacher Wrote: 
> Le mardi 29 mars 2005 à 23:12 +0100, Mike Hearn a écrit :
> > On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:31:35 +0200, Sebastien Bacher wrote:
> > > I'm just curious but what happen in these cases ?
> > > 
> > > * an user installs gaim 1.2.0 with autopackage which breaks the
> login on
> > > ICQ account in some cases .. where is he supposed to do then ? How
> does
> > > he knows what upstream to contact and how (sf bug tracker ?
> > > bugzilla.gnome ? mail ?) ? 
> > 
> > The Gaim SF bugtracker of course, if an upgrade causes regressions
> then
> > this must be a bug in the software.
> 
> And you expect users to know that ? Most of them don't even know where
> to send bugs when you have one place for the distribution.
> 
> 
> > No, they do what all software vendors do for bugfixes: make a
> judgement
> > call about when the fix should be released. If it's urgent, like a
> > regression in ICQ support, a new point release can be done. In fact
> Gaim
> > have done this in the past for things like AIM.
> 
> They have not for 1.2.0/ICQ though. What is better for user, an 1.1.4
> package which works or 1.2.0 ?
> 
> 
> > How would such a bug occur? Often a "distro-specific" bug is really a
> > bug caused by a very new or strangely configured version of stock
> > software, eg the kernel. So you would have to fix it upstream
> eventually
> > anyway.
> 
> There is a lot of reason for bugs. A patch in another component, a lib
> version, a default configuration, the build options, ...
> 
> 
> 
> > I think you're overestimating how much distribution-specific
> integration
> > your average program requires. There are programs that require a lot
> but
> > they are the exception rather than the rule.
> 
> Not sure about that. I know that a majority of the desktop packages are
> patched in Ubuntu for different reasons (hal/pmount changes, sudo
> integration, UI changes, default configuration, translations, etc ...).
> 
> 
> A quick find in the "desktop" (which is only a part of the GNOME
> desktop) directory of the pkg-gnome SVN for Debian:
> 
> $ find ./ -name "*.patch" -o -name "*.diff" | grep -v svn | wc -l
> 129
> 
> The same in the "package" directory (some other GNOME packages):
> 
> $ find ./ -name "*.patch" -o -name "*.diff" | grep -v svn | wc -l
> 78
> 
> I would not say than patched packages are an exception. 
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Sebastien Bacher
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ubuntu-devel mailing list
> ubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel
Mike Hearn wrote:
-----------------
The Gaim SF bugtracker of course, if an upgrade causes regressions
then
this must be a bug in the software.

And Sebastien Bacher replied:
-----------------------------
And you expect users to know that ? Most of them don't even know where
to send bugs when you have one place for the distribution.

I reply to Sebastien, I say:
----------------------------
Please define user. For me, a user is supposed to use things as they
are, and do not change or upgrade them.

If a user does such things, then she/he is not a user, she/he is a
system administrator instead, and as a system administrator, she/he is
supposed to know systems a bit "deeper"...

Clear? If not, just start adopting the above terms to avoid confusion
and make more sense.

Supposing that a system administrator, who is just starting her/his
career and is not sure where to find information about bugs, what do
think of starting reading?
Two examples:
1 - Ubuntu: go to Ubuntu webpage, at www.ubuntulinux.org then click on
the link that says Community, then, in the Community page, look for
"Bug fixing".

2 - Gaim web page, at http://gaim.sourceforge.net/, and look for the
link of Bug reports.


-- 
Domecq



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