doc/en/gnome/docs/bugging.sgml
2004-08-25 03:31:12 +00:00

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<!ENTITY title "FreeBSD GNOME Project: Reporting a Bug">
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<h2>1. When should I make a bug report?</h2>
<ul>
<li><b><i>After</i></b> running any build failure
output through <a
href="/gnome/gnomelogalyzer.sh">gnomelogalyzer.sh</a>.
<li><b><i>After</i></b> running <tt>cvsup</tt> to obtain the most
recent ports tree.
<li><b><i>After</i></b> running <tt>portupgrade&nbsp;-a</tt> to ensure
that all applications are up-to-date.
<li><b><i>After</i></b> searching through the FreeBSD GNOME
<a href="http://lists.FreeBSD.org/pipermail/freebsd-gnome/">Mailing
list archives</a> to see if the problem has already been
reported.
<li><b><i>After</i></b> deciding whether the problem is FreeBSD-specific,
or is a bug in an application that would affect all users,
on all operating systems.
</ul>
<h2>2. What to report?</h2>
<p>Always report as much information as you can. Too much
information is always preferable to too little information.
Superfluous information can be filtered out; developers like
to play guessing games with code, not with bug reports.</p>
<p>A good bug report should at least include the following
information:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Exact version of the operating system (usually output of
<tt>uname -a</tt>).</p></li>
<li><p>List of all packages installed on your system (output of
<tt>pkg_info</tt>).</p></li>
<li><p>Your environment (output of <tt>/usr/bin/env</tt>).
<li><p>If you are building from ports, note approximately how
long it has been since you last updated your ports tree. If
it has been more than a day, or if you have not run
<tt>portupgrade&nbsp;-a</tt>, do not bother sending a bug report
until you have run <tt>cvsup</tt> and <tt>portupgrade</tt>.</p></li>
<li><p>Information specific for each type of breakage:</p>
<ul>
<li>If a port will not build, provide a full log of the
unsuccessful build.
<li>If a program produces a core dump, provide a stack trace.
<li>If an application produces unexpected behaviour, provide
a clear and detailed description.
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>If you have a solution or a workaround for the problem, then include
it into your report as well, even if you are not quite sure that
it is a proper fix. Even if the fix is not quite right, it could still
point others in the right direction.
</p>
<h2>3. Where to report?</h2>
<p>Once you are sure it is a new problem, there are several ways
to report a bug in GNOME running on FreeBSD: you could
send a report to the
<a href="mailto:&email;@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-gnome mailing
list</a>, file a problem report in the
<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html#gnats">FreeBSD bug
reporting system</a>, send your report to the particular GNOME
developers via their
<a href="http://bugzilla.gnome.org/">bug tracking system</a>, or
any combination of those.<p>
<ul>
<li><p>If the problem is FreeBSD-specific (usually, this means
a problem with building or upgrading), then report to the
<a href="mailto:&email;@FreeBSD.org">freebsd-gnome mailing
list</a>, or file a bug report through the
<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html#gnats">FreeBSD bug
reporting system</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>If the problem has to do with an application's
behaviour, report the problem directly to the application's
developers through the GNOME project's
<a href="http://bugzilla.gnome.org/">bug tracking system</a></p></li>
<li><p>If the problem is quite serious, not necessarily
FreeBSD-specific, <i>and</i> you have a fix available, report
it to both the FreeBSD GNOME team and the application's
developers. This way, the application's developers can apply
the patch to CVS, and the FreeBSD GNOME team can apply the
patch immediately to the ports tree without needing to wait
for the next release.</p></li>
</ul>
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