https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=340420
--- Comment #12 from Filipus Klutiero ---
(In reply to Christoph Feck from comment #1)
> Regarding new users, I do not see this as a problem. If someone picks the
> wrong product, we can reassign it.
You wouldn't be wrong to call me a perfectionist, but if I start filing a
report and find myself unable to answer a question which mandates an answer, I
will give up, not give an answer in which I'm not confident. I see 3 possible
consequences of the current status:
1. Reporters waste excessive time determining the product, and may decide not
to report further issues for that reason.
2. Reporters give up reporting the problem.
3. Reporters select the wrong product. If it takes time for developers to
correct this, that means a duplicate ticket may be opened, again wasting
reporter time. Or worst, it will take more time for product maintainers to be
notified of the issue, which may be fixed late.
> Additionally, many users simply use "kde"
> as the product, because they do not exactly know where the issue is. This
> has served us well in the last years.
Thanks for bringing up this point. But I reported my first issue on this site
in 2006, and I never knew that it was fine to select the kde product when the
precise product is unknown. If you are saying that is the case:
1. It is not clear that the kde product is intended to be used this way. The
product description is simply "General KDE Software problems". Does that mean
problems which affect several applications, such as Qt issues? Is this intended
for requests for new products? This is entirely unclear.
2. If it is fine to use the kde product this way, either:
1. Such usage should be split to a dedicated product, so triagers only have to
monitor tickets in that product.
2. Or, if that's its only usage, it should be renamed to something clearer,
like "unknown".
3. The duplicate finder should be taught that when filing an issue in that
"unknown" pseudo-product, all products should be searched. Conversely, when
filing an issue in a specific product, the "unknown" pseudo-product should be
searched.
4. The pseudo-product to select when a reporter has too much difficulty
identifying the precise product should be a lot more clear. It should be
mentioned at the top, or even better - there should be an "I am not sure"
button which allows to skip.
> Not requiring the user to pick any product would increase our workload.
That depends on who "we" are, and which work is being discussed. If "we" are
KDE users:
1. Requiring to indicate the product largely increases the reporting workload
for reporters. I have used KDE for over 15 years. I hit an issue after
switching to Kubuntu 19.04 and to report it to KDE, even though I am a veteran
user who spent several person-months developing KDE and helping KDE users, and
even though I am a senior software developer who somewhat knows C++, I just had
to spend over 1 person-day of work, just to figure out that the symptom
actually resulted from 3 root issues, and locating each of these issues. Even
with my level of knowledge way above the average reporter's, I am not convinced
it was optimal for me to be the one doing all this work.
2. If reporters decide not to report, users will spend more time finding
workarounds for the issues they hit.
3. If reporters decide not to report, resolution is delayed and users will
waste more time dealing with the issues they hit.
4. If reporters refrain from reporting to KDE:
1. they will report to redistributors, which means reporters waste time filing
duplicate issues.
2. potential users spend more time and/or have more difficulty evaluating the
quality of KDE or specific KDE products before they pick KDE or choose between
KDE products, as they do not have a complete database of issues to query.
5. If reporters decide to report on alternative channels, such as mailing
lists, these channels are needlessly "polluted", which increases the time
wasted by developers.
6. If reporters select the wrong product, as indicated above, other reporters
may waste time filing a duplicate, and users may waste time with issues fixed
later.
> Btw, I use "https://bugs.kde.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=productname"; to
> report bugs. This way, I do not have to pick it from a large list.
I am not sure what your point is. To use that, you need to know the
"productname" (in fact, its codename in this ITS).
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