I read glyphobet's blog, itemizing frustrations he's had reporting bugs to Ubuntu. While I've not had frustrating experiences reporting bugs to Ubuntu, I've reported bugs to a lot of different open source projects, and had more than a few closed in a way I wasn't happy with, so I can definitely sympathize. I hope in Ubuntu these sorts of experiences are the exception, but certainly there's always room to improve.

In my own experience at having bugs closed in ways I thought were inappropriate or incorrect, while I was initially angry about it, after reflecting I realized in each case it was really a consequence that I didn't understand that particular project's bug philosophy and had filed the bug in a way that didn't adhere to their guidelines.

Following on from my recommendation for apt-buglist where you can see the reported bugs on a package before installing it I thought it might be useful to look at the other side of the coin, reporting bugs in Debian. The best way to do this is with the dedicated tool: reportbug.

One of the reasons free operating systems are so great is because of their bug reporting features. Ubuntu is no exception. Like most other GNU/Linux operating systems, Ubuntu allows users to file bug reports using its bug reporting site, Launchpad. In the free software world, each user becomes a potential beta tester and gets the chance to contribute to the community without ever coding or writing documentation. Unfortunately, Launchpad’s bug reporting tool often scares away users who have no idea what a ticket, project, or distribution is.

One of the things I’ve always liked about using Linux is the feeling that my input is actually important. Either by way of giving input to the developers directly or (more importantly) reporting bugs that inevitably appear on a system. It’s the latter of the two that help Linux. But to the new user, these bugs are nothing more than a nuisance, getting in the way of things “just working”.

Unlike proprietary platforms, Ubuntu allows end users to interact directly with developers through Launchpad’s bug-reporting system.  In some cases, this approach allows bugs to be discovered and resolved quickly.  In most situations, however, open bug tracking is a fiasco that Ubuntu would be better off without.  Here’s why.

"...Welcome to Hardy Heron Alpha-2, which will in time become Ubuntu 8.04. Pre-releases of Hardy are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs..."

As a (relatively) long time Ubuntu user, occasional bug reporter and support analyst, I often deal with bug reporting and I feel your pain about bug reporting, Matt. This happens in many other free software projects, but I think Ubuntu’s popularity gives its problems more exposure, an opportunity to refine the process and maybe inspire others to learn from its mistakes and success.

Fellow Ubuntu Triagers!

This week’s HugDay target is Firefox 3!

* 658 New bugs need a hug
* 131 Confirmed bugs just need a review

Nothing needs to be said about how important Firefox is, it just needs to work. With over 1300 bugs currently open, we can use a lot of help getting the information needed to shake out the bugs.

The last two releases of Ubuntu, 9.04 and 9.10 seem to generate a lot of complaints of bugs. The good news is that this is all very natural, and even to be expected given the deep changes that are being made to the stack. Bugs cannot be fixed until they are found, and they cannot be found until users are running the code.