In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of an open source
project that distinguishes it from closed-source software is the way
that the project handles bug reports. I try to be diligent about
reporting bugs, and my hope is that the project will try to improve
based on the bugs that I report.
However, I have noticed a disturbing trend in Ubuntu toward completely
ignoring user bug reports. I am by no means a developer, but I am also
not a beginner, and I have been using Ubuntu ever since its inception at
Warty 4.10. In the beginning, Ubuntu was extremely respectful of its
users' bug reports, with a prompt, human-generated reply to each and
every bug, graciously thanking the user for taking the time to report it
and asking for any additional information needed to triage the bug. Fast
forward to recent years, and I'm now seeing a complete change in
Ubuntu's attitude toward bug reports, which now borders on disinterested
and apathetic. For example, since the beta and subsequent release of
15.04, I reported 8 bugs. Of those 8 bugs, only 1 received a human
response. And now during the 15.10 development cycle I have reported 5
bugs, several serious, and I have received 0 responses. A quick review
of the recent activity in the Ubuntu bug tracker seems to indicate that
I'm not the only one who is being ignored.
So, what exactly is "open" about Ubuntu, if all their development
happens behind closed doors and they don't care about their users' bug
reports? Is the current traditional release of Ubuntu essentially being
put out to pasture, with development only happening on Ubuntu Phone and
Ubuntu Snappy? Or is Ubuntu getting a bit too big for its britches?
Other distros are significantly better at handling bug reports. My
experience with openSUSE was considerably better in terms of bugs being
promptly handled. And Arch also seems to take each and every bug report
very seriously.
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