On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 07:21:19PM -0700, David G. Johnston wrote: > On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 5:35 PM Bruce Momjian <br...@momjian.us> wrote: > > I consider these as problems that need digging to find the cause, and > users are usually unable to do sufficient digging, and we don't have > time to give them instructions, so they never get a reply. > > Is there something we can do to improve this situation? Should we just > tell them they need to hire a Postgres expert? I assume these are users > who do not already have access to such experts. > > > > Have pg_lister queue up a check for, say, two or three days after the bug > reporting form is filled out. If the report hasn't been responded to by > someone other than the OP send out a reply that basically says: > > We're sorry your message hasn't yet attracted a response. If your report > falls > into the category of "tech support for a malfunctioning server", and this > includes error messages that are difficult or impossible to replicate in a > development environment (maybe give some examples), you may wish to consider > eliciting paid professional help. Please see this page on our website for a > directory of companies that provide such services. The PostgreSQL Core > Project > itself refrains from making recommendations since many, if not all, of these > companies contribute back to the project in order to keep it both free and > open > source.
Yes, that is an idea. I have canned email responses for common issues like PGAdmin questions on the bugs list, but for these cases, I don't know if someone might actually know the answer, and I don't know how long to wait for an answer. Should we be going the other way and state on the bugs submission page, https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/: If you are having a serious problem with the software and do not receive a reply, consider additional support channels, including professional support (https://www.postgresql.org/support/). I have been hesitant to recommend professional support myself since I work for a professional support company, but in these cases it is clearly something the user should consider. > I would also consider adding a form that directs messages to pg_admin instead > of pg_bugs. On that form we could put the above message upfront - basically > saying that here is a place to ask for help but the core project (this > website) > doesn't directly provide such services: so if you don't receive a reply, or > your needs are immediate, consider enlisting a paid support from our > directory. Yes, like I stated above. Not sure how pg_admin fits in here because we gets lots of questions that aren't "server not starting". > The problem with the separate form is that we would need users to self-select > to report their problem to the support list instead of using a bug reporting > form. Neither of the mentioned emails are good examples of bug reports. Yes, given the experience of many of the bugs posters, I don't think self-selecting would help. > Either we make it easier and hope self-selection works, or just resign > ourselves to seeing these messages on -bugs and use the first option to at > least be a bit more responsive. The risks related to having a rote response, > namely it not really being applicable to the situation, seem minimal and > others > seeing that response (assuming we'd send it to the list and not just the OP) > would likely encourage someone to at least give better suggestions for next > steps should that be necessary. The problem is that I don't even know how long to wait for someone to reply, so doing it up front makes more sense. -- Bruce Momjian <br...@momjian.us> https://momjian.us EDB https://enterprisedb.com If only the physical world exists, free will is an illusion.
