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749 lines
29 KiB
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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//DTD DocBook V4.1-Based Extension//EN" [
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<!ENTITY % man PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Manual Page Entities//EN">
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%man;
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<!ENTITY % mailing-lists PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Mailing List Entities//EN">
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%mailing-lists;
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<!ENTITY % trademarks PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Trademark Entities//EN">
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%trademarks;
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]>
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<article>
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<articleinfo>
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<title>Writing FreeBSD Problem Reports</title>
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<pubdate>$FreeBSD$</pubdate>
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<legalnotice id="trademarks" role="trademarks">
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&tm-attrib.freebsd;
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&tm-attrib.cvsup;
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&tm-attrib.ibm;
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&tm-attrib.intel;
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&tm-attrib.sparc;
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&tm-attrib.sun;
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&tm-attrib.general;
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</legalnotice>
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<abstract>
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<para>This article describes how to best formulate and submit a
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problem report to the FreeBSD Project.</para>
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</abstract>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<firstname>Dag-Erling</firstname>
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<surname>Smørgrav</surname>
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<contrib>Contributed by </contrib>
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</author>
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</authorgroup>
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</articleinfo>
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<indexterm><primary>problem reports</primary></indexterm>
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<section id="pr-intro">
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<para>One of the most frustrating experiences one can have as a
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software user is to submit a problem report only to have it
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summarily closed with a terse and unhelpful explanation like
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<quote>not a bug</quote> or <quote>bogus PR</quote>. Similarly,
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one of the most frustrating experiences as a software developer
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is to be flooded with problem reports that are not really
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problem reports but requests for support, or that contain little
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or no information about what the problem is and how to reproduce
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it.</para>
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<para>This document attempts to describe how to write good problem
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reports. What, you ask, is a good problem report? Well, to go
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straight to the bottom line, a good problem report is one that
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can be analyzed and dealt with swiftly, to the mutual
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satisfaction of both user and developer.</para>
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<para>Although the primary focus of this article is on FreeBSD
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problem reports, most of it should apply quite well to other
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software projects.</para>
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<para>Note that this article is organized thematically, not
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chronologically, so you should read through the entire document
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before submitting a problem report, rather than treat it as a
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step-by-step tutorial.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="pr-when">
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<title>When to submit a problem report</title>
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<para>There are many types of problems, and not all of them should
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engender a problem report. Of course, nobody is perfect, and
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there will be times when you are convinced you have found a bug
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in a program when in fact you have misunderstood the syntax for
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a command or made a typographical error in a configuration file (though that in
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itself may sometimes be indicative of poor documentation or poor
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error handling in the application). There are still many cases
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where submitting a problem report is clearly <emphasis>not</emphasis> the right
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course of action, and will only serve to frustrate you and the
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developers. Conversely, there are cases where it might be
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appropriate to submit a problem report about something else than
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a bug—an enhancement or a feature request, for
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instance.</para>
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<para>So how do you determine what is a bug and what is not? As a
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simple rule of thumb your problem is <emphasis>not</emphasis> a
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bug if it can be expressed as a question (usually of the form
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<quote>How do I do X?</quote> or <quote>Where can I find
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Y?</quote>). It is not always quite so black and white, but the
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question rule covers a large majority of cases. If you are looking
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for an answer, consider posing your question to the
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&a.questions;.</para>
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<para>Some cases where it may be appropriate to submit a problem
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report about something that is not a bug are:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Requests for feature enhancements. It is generally a
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good idea to air these on the mailing lists before
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submitting a problem report.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Notification of updates to externally maintained
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software (mainly ports, but also externally maintained base
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system components such as BIND or various GNU
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utilities).</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>Another thing is that if the system on which you experienced
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the bug is not fairly up-to-date, you should seriously consider
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upgrading and trying to reproduce the problem on an up-to-date
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system before submitting a problem report. There are few things
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that will annoy a developer more than receiving a problem report
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about a bug she has already fixed.</para>
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<para>Finally, a bug that can not be reproduced can rarely be
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fixed. If the bug only occurred once and you can not reproduce
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it, and it does not seem to happen to anybody else, chances are
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none of the developers will be able to reproduce it or figure
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out what is wrong. That does not mean it did not happen, but it
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does mean that the chances of your problem report ever leading
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to a bug fix are very slim, and you should consider letting the
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matter drop.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="pr-prep">
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<title>Preparations</title>
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<para>A good rule to follow is to always do a background search
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before submitting a problem report. Maybe your problem has
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already been reported; maybe it is being discussed on the
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mailing lists, or recently was; it may even already be fixed in
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a newer version than what you are running. You should therefore
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check all the obvious places before submitting your problem
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report. For FreeBSD, this means:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>The FreeBSD
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<ulink URL="../../books/faq/index.html">Frequently Asked
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Questions</ulink> (FAQ) list.
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The FAQ attempts to provide answers for a wide range of questions,
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such as those concerning
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<ulink URL="../../books/faq/hardware.html">hardware
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compatibility</ulink>,
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<ulink URL="../../books/faq/applications.html">user
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applications</ulink>,
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and <ulink URL="../../books/faq/kernelconfig.html">kernel
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configuration</ulink>.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>The
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<ulink
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URL="../../books/handbook/eresources.html#ERESOURCES-MAIL">mailing
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lists</ulink>—if you are not subscribed, use
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<ulink
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URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists">the
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searchable archives</ulink> on the FreeBSD web site. If your
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problem has not been discussed on the lists, you might try
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posting a message about it and waiting a few days to see if
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someone can spot something you have overlooked.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Optionally, the entire web—use your favorite
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search engine to locate any references to your problem. You
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may even get hits from archived mailing lists or newsgroups
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you did not know of or had not thought to search
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through.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Next, the searchable
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<ulink URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi?query">
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FreeBSD PR database</ulink> (GNATS). Unless your problem
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is recent or obscure, there is a fair chance it has already
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been reported.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Finally, if you are upgrading from one version to
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another—especially if you are upgrading to the
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<literal>-current</literal> branch—you should
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carefully study the contents of the
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<filename>/usr/src/UPDATING</filename> file on your system
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or its latest version at
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<ulink URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/UPDATING"></ulink>.
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This file contains many pieces of vital information.</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>Next, you need to make sure your problem report goes to the
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right people.</para>
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<para>The first catch here is that if the problem is a bug in
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third-party software (a port or a package you have installed), you
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should report the bug to the original author, not to the FreeBSD
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Project. There are two exceptions to this rule: the first is if
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the bug does not occur on other platforms, in which case the
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problem may lie in how the software was ported to FreeBSD; the
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second is if the original author has already fixed the bug and
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released a patch or a new version of his software, and the
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FreeBSD port has not been updated yet.</para>
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<para>The second catch is that FreeBSD's bug tracking system sorts
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problem reports according to the category the originator
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selected. Therefore, if you select the wrong category when you
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submit your problem report, there is a good chance that it will
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go unnoticed for a while, until someone re-categorizes
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it.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="pr-writing">
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<title>Writing the problem report</title>
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<para>Now that you have decided that your issue merits a problem
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report, and that it is a FreeBSD problem, it is time to write
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the actual problem report. Before we get into the mechanics
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of the program used to generate and submit PRs, here are some
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tips and tricks to help make sure that your PR will be most
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effective.</para>
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<section>
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<title>Tips and tricks for writing a good problem report</title>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Do not leave the <quote>Synopsis</quote>
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line empty.</emphasis> The PRs go both onto a mailing list
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that goes all over the world (where the <quote>Synopsis</quote> is used
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for the <literal>Subject:</literal> line), but also into a
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database. Anyone who comes along later and browses the
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database by synopsis, and finds a PR with a blank subject
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line, tends just to skip over it. Remember that PRs stay
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in this database until they are closed by someone; an
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anonymous one will usually just disappear in the
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noise.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Avoid using a weak <quote>Synopsis</quote>
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line.</emphasis> You should not assume that anyone reading
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your PR has any context for your submission, so the more
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you provide, the better. For instance, what part of the
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system does the problem apply to? Do you only see the
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problem while installing, or while running? To
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illustrate, instead of <literal>Synopsis: portupgrade is
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broken</literal>, see how much more informative this
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seems: <literal>Synopsis: port sysutils/portupgrade
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coredumps on -current</literal>. (In the case of ports,
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it is especially helpful to have both the category and
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portname in the <quote>Synopsis</quote> line.)</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>If you have a patch, say so.</emphasis>
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A PR with a patch included is much more likely to be
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looked at than one without. If you are including one,
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put the string <literal>[patch]</literal> at the
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beginning of the <quote>Synopsis</quote>. (Although it is
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not mandatory to use that exact string, by convention,
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that is the one that is used.)</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>If you are a maintainer, say so.</emphasis>
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If you are maintaining a part of the source code (for
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instance, a port), you might consider adding the string
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<literal>[maintainer update]</literal> at the beginning of
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your synopsis line and/or set the <quote>Class</quote> of
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your PR to <literal>maintainer-update</literal>. This way
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any committer that handles your PR will not have to check
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with the <filename>Makefile</filename> of the PR every
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time the PR is viewed to make sure this is an update sent
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by the maintainer of the port.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Be specific.</emphasis>
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The more information you supply about what problem you
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are having, the better your chance of getting a response.
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You should include such things as what version you are
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running (there is a place to put that, see below);
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which architecture you are running on;
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whether you are running from a release CDROM, or from
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a system maintained by &man.cvsup.1; (and, if so, how
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recently you updated); and, if a kernel problem,
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if you have read <literal>src/UPDATING</literal>
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(someone is guaranteed to ask). You do not necessarily
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|
have to provide your kernel configuration, which ports
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you have available, and a core dump (including these
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|
by default only tends to fill up the database), but you
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should be prepared to make them available, either
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privately or publicly, if so asked.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Avoid vague requests for features.</emphasis>
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PRs of the form <quote>someone should really implement something
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that does so-and-so</quote> are less likely to get results than
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very specific requests. Remember, the source is available
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to everyone, so if you want a feature, the best way to
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ensure it being included is to get to work! Also consider
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the fact that many things like this would make a better
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topic for discussion on <literal>freebsd-questions</literal>
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than an entry in the PR database, as discussed above.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Make sure no one else has already submitted
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a similar PR.</emphasis> Although this has already been
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mentioned above, it bears repeating here. It only take a
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minute or two to use the web-based search engine at
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<ulink URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/query-pr-summary.cgi?query"></ulink>.
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(Of course, everyone is guilty of forgetting to do this
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now and then.)</para> </listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Avoid controversial requests.</emphasis>
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If your PR addresses an area that has been controversial
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in the past, you should probably be prepared to not only
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offer patches, but also justification for why the patches
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are <quote>The Right Thing To Do</quote>. As noted above,
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a careful search of the mailing lists using the archives
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at <ulink URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists"></ulink>
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is always good preparation.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para><emphasis>Be polite.</emphasis>
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Almost anyone who would potentially work on your PR is a
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volunteer. No one likes to be told that they have to do
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something when they are already doing it for some
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motivation other than monetary gain. This is a good thing
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to keep in mind at all times on Open Source
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projects.</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Before you begin</title>
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<para>Before running the &man.send-pr.1; program, make sure your
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<envar>VISUAL</envar> (or <envar>EDITOR</envar> if
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<envar>VISUAL</envar> is not set) environment variable is set
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to something sensible.</para>
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<para>You should also make sure that mail delivery works fine.
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&man.send-pr.1; uses mail messages for the submission and
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tracking of problem reports. If you cannot post mail messages
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from the machine you're running &man.send-pr.1; on, your
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problem report will not reach the GNATS database. For details
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on the setup of mail on FreeBSD, see the <quote>Electronic
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Mail</quote> chapter of the FreeBSD Handbook at
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<ulink URL="http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mail.html"></ulink>.</para>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Attaching patches or files</title>
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<para>The &man.send-pr.1; program has provisions for attaching
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files to a problem report. You can attach as many files as
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you want provided that each has a unique base name (i.e. the
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name of the file proper, without the path). Just use the
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<option>-a</option> command-line option to specify the names
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of the files you wish to attach:</para>
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<screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>send-pr -a /var/run/dmesg -a /tmp/errors</userinput></screen>
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<para>Do not worry about binary files, they will be automatically
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encoded so as not to upset your mail agent.</para>
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<para>If you attach a patch, make sure you use the
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<option>-c</option> or <option>-u</option> option to
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&man.diff.1; to create a context or unified diff (unified is
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preferred), and make
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sure to specify the exact CVS revision numbers of the files
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you modified so the developers who read your report will be
|
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able to apply them easily. A patch against the CURRENT or HEAD
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CVS branch is preferred since all new code should be applied
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and tested there first. After appropriate or substantial testing
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has been done, the code will be merged/migrated to the STABLE
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branch.</para>
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<para>If you attach a patch inline, instead of as an attachment,
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|
note that the most common problem by far is the tendency of some
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email programs to render tabs as spaces, which will completely
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ruin anything intended to be part of a Makefile.</para>
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|
<para>Also note that while including small patches in a PR is
|
|
generally all right—particularly when they fix the problem
|
|
described in the PR—large patches and especially new code
|
|
which may require substantial review before committing should
|
|
be placed on a web or ftp server, and the URL should be
|
|
included in the PR instead of the patch. Patches in email
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|
tend to get mangled, especially when GNATS is involved, and
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|
the larger the patch, the harder it will be for interested
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|
parties to unmangle it. Also, posting a patch on the web
|
|
allows you to modify it without having to resubmit the entire
|
|
patch in a followup to the original PR.</para>
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<para>You should also take note that unless you explicitly
|
|
specify otherwise in your PR or in the patch itself, any
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patches you submit will be assumed to be licensed under the
|
|
same terms as the original file you modified.</para>
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</section>
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<section>
|
|
<title>Filling out the template</title>
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<para>When you run &man.send-pr.1;, you are presented with a
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|
template. The template consists of a list of fields, some of
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|
which are pre-filled, and some of which have comments explaining
|
|
their purpose or listing acceptable values. Do not worry
|
|
about the comments; they will be removed automatically if you
|
|
do not modify them or remove them yourself.</para>
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|
|
<para>At the top of the template, below the
|
|
<literal>SEND-PR:</literal> lines, are the email headers. You
|
|
do not normally need to modify these, unless you are sending
|
|
the problem report from a machine or account that can send but
|
|
not receive mail, in which case you will want to set the
|
|
<literal>From:</literal> and <literal>Reply-To:</literal> to
|
|
your real email address. You may also want to send yourself
|
|
(or someone else) a carbon copy of the problem report by
|
|
adding one or more email addresses to the
|
|
<literal>Cc:</literal> header.</para>
|
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|
|
<para>Next comes a series of single-line fields:</para>
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|
<itemizedlist>
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|
<listitem>
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|
<para><emphasis>Submitter-Id:</emphasis> Do not change this.
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|
The default value of <literal>current-users</literal> is
|
|
correct, even if you run FreeBSD-STABLE.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
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|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Originator:</emphasis> This is normally
|
|
prefilled with the <literal>gecos</literal> field of the
|
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currently logged-in
|
|
user. Please specify your real name, optionally followed
|
|
by your email address in angle brackets.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
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|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Organization:</emphasis> Whatever you feel
|
|
like. This field is not used for anything
|
|
significant.</para>
|
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</listitem>
|
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|
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<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Confidential:</emphasis> This is prefilled
|
|
to <literal>no</literal>. Changing it makes no sense as
|
|
there is no such thing as a confidential FreeBSD problem
|
|
report—the PR database is distributed worldwide by
|
|
<application>CVSup</application>.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Synopsis:</emphasis> Fill this out with a
|
|
short and accurate description of the problem. The
|
|
synopsis is used as the subject of the problem report
|
|
email, and is used in problem report listings and
|
|
summaries; problem reports with obscure synopses tend to
|
|
get ignored.</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>As noted above, if your problem report includes a patch,
|
|
please have the synopsis start with <literal>[patch]</literal>;
|
|
if you are a maintainer, you may consider adding
|
|
<literal>[maintainer update]</literal> and/or set the
|
|
<quote>Class</quote> of your PR to
|
|
<literal>maintainer-update</literal>.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Severity:</emphasis> One of
|
|
<literal>non-critical</literal>,
|
|
<literal>serious</literal> or
|
|
<literal>critical</literal>. Do not overreact; refrain
|
|
from labeling your problem <literal>critical</literal>
|
|
unless it really is (e.g. <username>root</username> exploit, easily
|
|
reproducible panic). Developers tend to ignore this and
|
|
the next field, precisely because problem report
|
|
submitters tend to overrate their problems.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Priority:</emphasis> One of
|
|
<literal>low</literal>, <literal>medium</literal> or
|
|
<literal>high</literal>. See above.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Category:</emphasis> Choose one of the
|
|
following:</para>
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>advocacy:</literal> problems relating to
|
|
FreeBSD's public image. Rarely used.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>alpha:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
Alpha platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>amd64:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
AMD64 platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>bin:</literal> problems with userland
|
|
programs in the base system.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>conf:</literal> problems with
|
|
configuration files, default values etc.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>docs:</literal> problems with manual pages
|
|
or on-line documentation.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>gnu:</literal> problems with GNU software
|
|
such as &man.gcc.1; or &man.grep.1;.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>i386:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
&i386; platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>ia64:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
ia64 platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>java:</literal> problems related to &java;.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>kern:</literal> problems with
|
|
kernel.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>misc:</literal> anything that does not fit
|
|
in any of the other categories. (Note that it is
|
|
easy for things to get lost in this category).</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>ports:</literal> problems relating to the
|
|
ports tree.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>powerpc:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
&powerpc; platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>sparc64:</literal> problems specific to the
|
|
&sparc64; platform.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>standards:</literal> Standards conformance
|
|
issues.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>www:</literal> Changes or enhancements to
|
|
the FreeBSD website.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Class:</emphasis> Choose one of the
|
|
following:</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>sw-bug:</literal> software bugs.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>doc-bug:</literal> errors in
|
|
documentation.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>change-request:</literal> requests for
|
|
additional features or changes in existing
|
|
features.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>update:</literal> updates to ports or
|
|
other contributed software.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><literal>maintainer-update:</literal> updates to
|
|
ports for which you are the maintainer.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Release:</emphasis> The version of FreeBSD
|
|
that you are running. This is filled out automatically by
|
|
&man.send-pr.1; and need only be changed if you are
|
|
sending a problem report from a different system than the
|
|
one that exhibits the problem.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>Finally, there is a series of multi-line fields:</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Environment:</emphasis> This should
|
|
describe, as accurately as possible, the environment in
|
|
which the problem has been observed. This includes the
|
|
operating system version, the version of the specific
|
|
program or file that contains the problem, and any other
|
|
relevant items such as system configuration, other
|
|
installed software that influences the problem,
|
|
etc.—quite simply everything a developer needs to
|
|
know to reconstruct the environment in which the problem
|
|
occurs.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Description:</emphasis> A complete and
|
|
accurate description of the problem you are experiencing.
|
|
Try to avoid speculating about the causes of the problem
|
|
unless you are certain that you are on the right track, as
|
|
it may mislead a developer into making incorrect
|
|
assumptions about the problem.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>How-To-Repeat:</emphasis> A summary of the
|
|
actions you need to take to reproduce the problem.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><emphasis>Fix:</emphasis> Preferably a patch, or at
|
|
least a workaround (which not only helps other people with
|
|
the same problem work around it, but may also help a
|
|
developer understand the cause for the problem), but if
|
|
you do not have any firm ideas for either, it is better to
|
|
leave this field blank than to speculate.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section>
|
|
<title>Sending off the problem report</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>Once you are done filling out the template, have saved it,
|
|
and exit your editor, &man.send-pr.1; will prompt you with
|
|
<prompt>s)end, e)dit or a)bort?</prompt>. You can then hit
|
|
<userinput>s</userinput> to go ahead and submit the problem report,
|
|
<userinput>e</userinput> to restart the editor and make
|
|
further modifications, or <userinput>a</userinput> to abort.
|
|
If you choose the latter, your problem report will remain on
|
|
disk (&man.send-pr.1; will tell you the filename before it
|
|
terminates), so you can edit it at your leisure, or maybe
|
|
transfer it to a system with better net connectivity, before
|
|
sending it with the <option>-f</option> to
|
|
&man.send-pr.1;:</para>
|
|
|
|
<screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>send-pr -f ~/my-problem-report</userinput></screen>
|
|
|
|
<para>This will read the specified file, validate the contents,
|
|
strip comments and send it off.</para>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section id="pr-followup">
|
|
<title>Follow-up</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>Once your problem report has been filed, you will receive a
|
|
confirmation by email which will include the tracking number
|
|
that was assigned to your problem report and a URL you can use
|
|
to check its status. With a little luck, someone will take an
|
|
interest in your problem and try to address it, or, as the case
|
|
may be, explain why it is not a problem. You will be
|
|
automatically notified of any change of status, and you will
|
|
receive copies of any comments or patches someone may attach to
|
|
your problem report's audit trail.</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>If someone requests additional information from you, or you
|
|
remember or discover something you did not mention in the
|
|
initial report, just mail it to
|
|
<email>bug-followup@FreeBSD.org</email>, making sure that the
|
|
tracking number is included in the subject so the bug tracking
|
|
system will know what problem report to attach it to.</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>If the problem report remains open after the problem has
|
|
gone away, just send a follow-up (in the manner prescribed
|
|
above) saying that the problem report can be closed, and, if
|
|
possible, explaining how or when the problem was fixed.</para>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section id="pr-further">
|
|
<title>Further Reading</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>This is a list of resources relevant to the proper writing
|
|
and processing of problem reports. It is by no means complete.</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><ulink
|
|
url="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html">
|
|
How to Report Bugs Effectively</ulink>—an excellent
|
|
essay by Simon G. Tatham on composing useful (non-FreeBSD-specific)
|
|
problem reports.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para><ulink
|
|
url="../../articles/pr-guidelines/article.html">Problem
|
|
Report Handling Guidelines</ulink>—valuable insight
|
|
into how problem reports are handled by the FreeBSD
|
|
developers.</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</section>
|
|
</article>
|