On Wed, 24 Jul 2002 19:53:15 Craig wrote:
I don't mind submitting bugs reports, just that the last one really puts me off. Got told 'If you don't want to help, don't use Debian'. But the guy couldn't understand how the bug happened (some others reported the same problem and the guy dismissed them).
So it was down to myself and a quick simple hack just did it. Never bothered to email the guy anyway about the quick fix.
Craig,
I'm sorry to hear you've had that experience with submitting bug reports.
As far as helping with Debian goes, remember that by submitting a bug report you are already helping - by reporting it you are helping the package maintainer do his bit for Debian by investigating and fixing the bug.
If the maintainer treats your bug report as a nusiance rather than a help then he is being ungrateful. It is not your fault the program has a bug in it you're just the bearer of the bad news. If your bug report is not sufficiently detailed to enable him to investigate the bug then he may be back asking for more information, though you should try to be fairly detailed the first time.
If you find a solution to the bug yourself, whether this is a change to the code of the package or just a way of working around the bug then please submit this as extra information to go with the bug report. In this way you help other Debian users who subsequently find the same bug by providing a ready made fix. This way of helping will work whether the maintainer co-operates with you or not.
Steve.