contacting all bug reporters for a package?
Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is there any script for maintainers to do this? If somebody has opened 2 ore more bugs maybe they may prefer to only receive a single email summarizing all their bugs for that package. For example, nfs-utils has over 100 active bug reports and although I spent some time updating it I'm not keen to go through all the bugs one by one. Given that a lot of things were fixed upstream between 1.2.8 and 1.3.4 it is quite possible some people can close their own bugs, or even better, tell us if the bug is still unfixed and potentially RC. Regards, Daniel
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:11:27 +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against > a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is > there any script for maintainers to do this? I'm not sure this is a good idea ... Anyway, I'd as a start try something like % bts select src:nfs-utils status:open | uniq | xargs printf "%s-submit...@bugs.debian.org\n" Cheers, gregor -- .''`. https://info.comodo.priv.at/ - Debian Developer https://www.debian.org : :' : OpenPGP fingerprint D1E1 316E 93A7 60A8 104D 85FA BB3A 6801 8649 AA06 `. `' Member of VIBE!AT & SPI, fellow of the Free Software Foundation Europe `- BOFH excuse #362: Plasma conduit breach
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, 15 Dec 2016, gregor herrmann wrote: > On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:11:27 +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > > Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report > > against a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes > > it? Or is there any script for maintainers to do this? > > I'm not sure this is a good idea ... Anyway, I'd as a start try > something like > > % bts select src:nfs-utils status:open | uniq | xargs printf > "%s-submit...@bugs.debian.org\n" bts select src:nfs-utils status:open|bts status file:- fields:originator|sort|uniq will give you the unique email addresses. [Well, realname + e-mail addresses.] -- Don Armstrong https://www.donarmstrong.com If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway. -- Lowery's Law
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:26:52AM +0100, gregor herrmann wrote: > On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:11:27 +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > > > Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against > > a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is > > there any script for maintainers to do this? > > I'm not sure this is a good idea ... Me neither, although I suppose it's no worse than being manually pinged, which happens quite often for me (often for 10+ year old bugs) In this case, the bug I'd filed against nfs-utils had indeed been fixed at some point, so it worked out worthwhile I suppose! In related news, I was surprised to receive 7 copies of a 1M control@b.d.o email recently. -- Jonathan Dowland Please do not CC me, I am subscribed to the list. signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, 15 Dec 2016, Jonathan Dowland wrote: > In related news, I was surprised to receive 7 copies of a 1M > control@b.d.o email recently. That was me; sorry about that. Presumably you got all of the copies because they were to different aliases which eventually ended up hitting you. [I had to unarchive a slew of bugs which were archived because of a versioning screwup.] -- Don Armstrong https://www.donarmstrong.com PowerPoint is symptomatic of a certain type of bureaucratic environment: one typified by interminable presentations with lots of fussy little bullet-points and flashy dissolves and soundtracks masked into the background, to try to convince the audience that the goon behind the computer has something significant to say. -- Charles Stross _The Jennifer Morgue_ p33
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On 15/12/16 17:43, Jonathan Dowland wrote: > On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:26:52AM +0100, gregor herrmann wrote: >> On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:11:27 +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: >> >>> Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug >>> report against a package and ask them to check if the latest >>> upload fixes it? Or is there any script for maintainers to do >>> this? >> >> I'm not sure this is a good idea ... > > Me neither, although I suppose it's no worse than being manually > pinged, which happens quite often for me (often for 10+ year old > bugs) > Yes, I don't think this would be effective if every package maintainer was doing it regularly. Given the significant number of fixes upstream, the significant number of bugs open for the package, the imminent freeze and the lack of stability for NFS on jessie (due to at least one kernel bug), I figured it was a reasonable approach in this case, giving a range of interested people an opportunity to make the package better. Based on feedback from one bug reporter, I could have included an explicit disclaimer/apology that I hadn't read the individual bug reports, although that was kind of implied by the message text[1] If doing this again, maybe I would also refine it to try and exclude the email going to people who contributed patches. If only a few of the bugs have patches then it is probably not too hard to thank them personally while sending the bulk email to the rest. > In this case, the bug I'd filed against nfs-utils had indeed been > fixed at some point, so it worked out worthwhile I suppose! > Great, I'm glad my upload may have helped Regards, Daniel 1. https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=793661#10
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 10:51:49AM -0600, Don Armstrong wrote: > On Thu, 15 Dec 2016, Jonathan Dowland wrote: > > In related news, I was surprised to receive 7 copies of a 1M > > control@b.d.o email recently. > > That was me; sorry about that. Presumably you got all of the copies > because they were to different aliases which eventually ended up hitting > you. No need to apologise :) I seem to have got some copies via list subscriptions from lists which are set as Maintainers. I guess it's a trade-off between how many BTS commands you batch into each control mail and how many control mails you send, with both ends of the spectrum having their own advantages and drawbacks. > [I had to unarchive a slew of bugs which were archived because of a > versioning screwup.] Thanks for keeping the BTS working! signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 10:51:49AM -0600, Don Armstrong wrote: > That was me; sorry about that. Presumably you got all of the copies > because they were to different aliases which eventually ended up hitting > you. That reminds me of #784131. Is it possible to implement something along those lines? -- < ron> I mean, the main *practical* problem with C++, is there's like a dozen people in the world who think they really understand all of its rules, and pretty much all of them are just lying to themselves too. -- #debian-devel, OFTC, 2016-02-12
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Sat, 17 Dec 2016, Wouter Verhelst wrote: > On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 10:51:49AM -0600, Don Armstrong wrote: > > That was me; sorry about that. Presumably you got all of the copies > > because they were to different aliases which eventually ended up hitting > > you. > > That reminds me of #784131. Is it possible to implement something along > those lines? It would be possible; it's not exactly trivial, just because the routine which figures out who to send a message to doesn't pass that information back up... but there's no intrinsic reason why it couldn't be done. It's not a super high priority for me right this second, though, so if someone else wants it fast, patches accepted. -- Don Armstrong https://www.donarmstrong.com Le temps est un grand maître, dit-on; le malheur est qu'il soit un maître inhumain qui tue ses élèves. Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. -- Hector Berlioz
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:11:27AM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > > Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against > a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is > there any script for maintainers to do this? I would expect the majority of your users observed the bug on an (often production) system running jessie or older stable. It is not possible for such users to try random packages from unstable. > If somebody has opened 2 ore more bugs maybe they may prefer to only > receive a single email summarizing all their bugs for that package. > > For example, nfs-utils has over 100 active bug reports and although I > spent some time updating it I'm not keen to go through all the bugs one > by one. >... Are you fully committed to spend time debugging every problem where a user confirmed that it is still present? It might take a user hours (or even days) to verify whether a problem is still present. It would be a very evil if a user would spend effort after such an email, but the next he hears from the maintainer would be another such request to try the then-latest version a year later. > Regards, > > Daniel cu Adrian -- "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days. "Only a promise," Lao Er said. Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On 19/12/16 21:57, Adrian Bunk wrote: > On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:11:27AM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: >> >> Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against >> a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is >> there any script for maintainers to do this? > > I would expect the majority of your users observed the bug on an > (often production) system running jessie or older stable. > > It is not possible for such users to try random packages from unstable. > Well, if it really deserves to graduate from unstable to the next stable release, somebody is going to have to test it sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. In my own environment I observed that NFS on jessie was less reliable than on wheezy. >> If somebody has opened 2 ore more bugs maybe they may prefer to only >> receive a single email summarizing all their bugs for that package. >> >> For example, nfs-utils has over 100 active bug reports and although I >> spent some time updating it I'm not keen to go through all the bugs one >> by one. >> ... > > Are you fully committed to spend time debugging every problem where > a user confirmed that it is still present? > I don't think I ever promised that. However, if users confirm problems that should really be release critical, then that gives the release team greater visibility about which packages are really ready going into the freeze. > It might take a user hours (or even days) to verify whether a problem is > still present. > > It would be a very evil if a user would spend effort after such an > email, but the next he hears from the maintainer would be another > such request to try the then-latest version a year later. > I hope the people who try things will engage with the community as a whole (including upstream) and not only rely on a single maintainer. Regards, Daniel
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 10:15:33PM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > > > On 19/12/16 21:57, Adrian Bunk wrote: > > On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:11:27AM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: > >> > >> Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against > >> a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is > >> there any script for maintainers to do this? > > > > I would expect the majority of your users observed the bug on an > > (often production) system running jessie or older stable. > > > > It is not possible for such users to try random packages from unstable. > > Well, if it really deserves to graduate from unstable to the next stable > release, somebody is going to have to test it sooner or later. > Hopefully sooner. In my own environment I observed that NFS on jessie > was less reliable than on wheezy. People running production systems with hundreds of thousands of users are definitely not the ones who should test packages from unstable in these environments. > >> If somebody has opened 2 ore more bugs maybe they may prefer to only > >> receive a single email summarizing all their bugs for that package. > >> > >> For example, nfs-utils has over 100 active bug reports and although I > >> spent some time updating it I'm not keen to go through all the bugs one > >> by one. > >> ... > > > > Are you fully committed to spend time debugging every problem where > > a user confirmed that it is still present? > > I don't think I ever promised that. If you are not willing to promise that, what is the point in asking people to spend their time on reproducing? > However, if users confirm problems > that should really be release critical, then that gives the release team > greater visibility about which packages are really ready going into the > freeze. Talking about release critical bugs only distracts from the majority of bugs that might be pretty fatal in some environments but are not release critical. > > It might take a user hours (or even days) to verify whether a problem is > > still present. > > > > It would be a very evil if a user would spend effort after such an > > email, but the next he hears from the maintainer would be another > > such request to try the then-latest version a year later. > > I hope the people who try things will engage with the community as a > whole (including upstream) and not only rely on a single maintainer. Asking submitters to reproduce only makes sense if *you* intend to further debug all problems confirmed to still be present in the latest version. When *you* ask someone to spend effort to reproduce a problem, then that person can expect that *you* will also spend some effort on that problem afterwards. Never forget that due to your request to reproduce people might be spending days on setting up an environment for testing whether the bug you asked them to re-test is still present in the version you asked them to test. > Regards, > > Daniel cu Adrian -- "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days. "Only a promise," Lao Er said. Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed
Re: contacting all bug reporters for a package?
On 19/12/16 22:47, Adrian Bunk wrote: > On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 10:15:33PM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: >> >> >> On 19/12/16 21:57, Adrian Bunk wrote: >>> On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:11:27AM +0100, Daniel Pocock wrote: Is there any easy way to contact everybody who made a bug report against a package and ask them to check if the latest upload fixes it? Or is there any script for maintainers to do this? >>> >>> I would expect the majority of your users observed the bug on an >>> (often production) system running jessie or older stable. >>> >>> It is not possible for such users to try random packages from unstable. >> >> Well, if it really deserves to graduate from unstable to the next stable >> release, somebody is going to have to test it sooner or later. >> Hopefully sooner. In my own environment I observed that NFS on jessie >> was less reliable than on wheezy. > > People running production systems with hundreds of thousands of users > are definitely not the ones who should test packages from unstable in > these environments. > So who should test and how should they do it? Should Debian stop distributing packages like this if they don't get tested sufficiently? If somebody has opened 2 ore more bugs maybe they may prefer to only receive a single email summarizing all their bugs for that package. For example, nfs-utils has over 100 active bug reports and although I spent some time updating it I'm not keen to go through all the bugs one by one. ... >>> >>> Are you fully committed to spend time debugging every problem where >>> a user confirmed that it is still present? >> >> I don't think I ever promised that. > > If you are not willing to promise that, what is the point in asking > people to spend their time on reproducing? > Here is the message I sent: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=793661#10 I didn't ask people to reproduce, I asked them to help review their bugs against the upstream changelog and "if you have time to test the new package, your help would be very welcome". If I asked "please confirm you can still reproduce the bug on the newest nfs-utils" then that would be a much stronger statement, but that is not what I asked. >> However, if users confirm problems >> that should really be release critical, then that gives the release team >> greater visibility about which packages are really ready going into the >> freeze. > > Talking about release critical bugs only distracts from the majority of > bugs that might be pretty fatal in some environments but are not release > critical. > If they are fatal for all NFS server environments (like the crashes with the jessie kernel) or they are fatal for a specific type of NFS configuration then they are release critical for this package. As already suggested, Debian would have to consider dropping any package in that situation if we knew about stability problems and nobody was volunteering to fix and volunteering to test it. >>> It might take a user hours (or even days) to verify whether a problem is >>> still present. >>> >>> It would be a very evil if a user would spend effort after such an >>> email, but the next he hears from the maintainer would be another >>> such request to try the then-latest version a year later. >> >> I hope the people who try things will engage with the community as a >> whole (including upstream) and not only rely on a single maintainer. > > Asking submitters to reproduce only makes sense if *you* intend to > further debug all problems confirmed to still be present in the latest > version. > > When *you* ask someone to spend effort to reproduce a problem, then that > person can expect that *you* will also spend some effort on that problem > afterwards. > > Never forget that due to your request to reproduce people might be > spending days on setting up an environment for testing whether the bug > you asked them to re-test is still present in the version you asked them > to test. > After the first round of feedback, I did another upload on the weekend. I believe each upload has provided an incremental improvement over the previous version in sid and in each case it has been shaped by the feedback through the BTS. Regards, Daniel
