There's an idiot mass-closing old unfixed bugs

[Thomas Ward]

Teo,

On 04/16/2016 11:28 AM, Teo Tei wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'd like to bring your attention to the harmful conduct of a user
> handling bugs in Launchpad.
>
> There's this "dino99", who is closing several bug reports just
> "because they are old", regardless of whether they are fixed or not. I
> think he should be stopped before he keeps doing damage.
I think this needs to be evaluated from a bug triage procedure point of
view.

When a report is filed against an old release and not yet fixed, but the
report hasn't been updated with comments indicating the issue is either
fixed or still existent in the future releases, I would mark as
"Incomplete" with a canned comment similar to "The reported release for
this bug is now past End of Life, and is no longer supported for that
release.  It is unclear if this bug still exists or not, so I am marking
the bug as Incomplete.  If this issue is still confirmed in a
currently-supported release of Ubuntu, then please make a comment to
that effect, and set the bug status to New."

I am not going to look through all your bugs, but the typical triage
procedure *is* to Close or Invalid or Incomplete (or Won't Fix for
series-targeted task items) EOL-release bugs.  Back a couple years after
Karmic went End of Life, I went through and, with the API, mass closed
at least 70 bugs still targeted to the Karmic release.

They are not being abusive, nor are they being an 'idiot'.  They're
being annoying, perhaps, but they are not entirely wrong with
EOL-release bugs.
> I have seen half a dozen bugs which I had reported myself ages ago,
> closed in the last few days by this guy. So I have re-checked some of
> those issues, and every single one of them still exists unfixed.
>
> I believe closing bugs without verifying them, just because they are
> old and haven't been acted upon, is a demential and harmful conduct.
> Bugs shouldn't be closed unless it is verified that they are fixed or
> invalid.
That's not the task of everyone - ideally, yes, everyone would test, but
it's not a requirement in all cases, especially when going through and
just targeting EOL-release issues in mass.

As I stated before, I mass-close bugs at times when it's an EOL release
- and make a canned comment saying "Mark this as 'New' if it still
happens in a later release, and make a comment as such".  I also make a
note that it is an automated mass-close executed by the API, or such,
and therefore they know I'm doing it as a mass-task. 

While that may not apply here, it still is valid to make note that you
can always make a comment without being rude that the issue still
exists, and ask for the bug to be reopened.  Or, you can file a new bug
if the bug is *really* old, so we get updated apport information, etc.
> Even worse, after I have wasted my time re-checking the issues
> (something he should have done before closing them in the first place)
> and verifying that they still exist in the current version of Ubuntu,
> and hence have re-opened the issues, he insists in closing them.
> Apparently he thinks I (or whoever reported the issue originally)
> should file a new identical bug report, which seems to me a ridiculous
> waste of time.
See my comment earlier.
> Have a look at this:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/747197
> and other issues recently closed by dino99 and/or commented by teo1978
> (whcih is me).
>
> In the case of the abovementioned issue, dino99 in his last comment
> includes a link to some unrelated stuff which I don't know if he
> thinks has some relation with the issue itself (which he must not have
> read, because it doesn't) or with his threat to "act". It looks like
> he's mentally ill or something.
>
> P.S.: I suggest that you don't waste your time replying to this
> message because I am not going to look at the messages in this mailing
> list and hence am very unlikely to read any reply.
How fortunate "Reply All" exists, so it goes directly to you in addition
to the mailing list.

Because, while everything I said above still applies, you said something
on the bug you linked that I may consider against the Ubuntu Code of
Conduct - to quote from your comment on Bug 747197: "Is dino99 a bot or
a retarded person?"  The Code of Conduct [1] states in it two big issues
of which you didn't do here:  Be Considerate, Be Respectful.  You didn't
do that, and went on the offensive, and were VERY rude with using swear
words, etc.  Don't do that - it's not in line with the Code of Conduct,
and that is a very big no-no.

In the off chance you don't want to read everything, the points are as
follows:

 1. I don't see abuse here - they're not idiotic, they're just trying to
    clean up old ancient bugs that are against EOL releases, and haven't
    yet been marked as being affecting a later release.

 2. This doesn't mean the user is an 'idiot' or being abusive.  That's
    your opinion because they're your bugs - that isn't a valid opinion
    overall.

 3. You were fairly rude, in a way against the Code of Conduct.  Try and
    be courteous to people in the future.  Your email also echoes these
    violations of the Code of Conduct, by calling the user an "idiot"
    here in the subject line.


------
Thomas Ward
LP: ~teward
Ubuntu Server Team Member
Ubuntu Bug Squad and Bug Control Member