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emacs/admin/notes/bug-triage
2024-07-18 11:46:50 +02:00

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HOW TO TRIAGE EMACS BUGS -*- outline -*-
This document describes the procedure of triaging bugs. For information on how
to work with the bug tracker, see the file "bugtracker" in the same directory as
this file for the basics. You can also install the GNU ELPA package 'debbugs'
for access to 'M-x debbugs-gnu', an Emacs interface to the debbugs bug tracker,
and 'M-x debbugs-org', an Emacs interface via org-mode.
* Bug backlog triage procedure
The goal of this triage is to prune down the list of old bugs, closing
the ones that are not reproducible on the current release.
0. To start, check the most relevant bugs blocking a release by
calling debbugs-gnu-emacs-release-blocking-reports. If you want
to check this for another Emacs version but the next-to-be-released-one,
use the "C-u" prefix.
1. After that, enter debbugs mode (either using 'M-x debbugs-gnu',
'M-x debbugs-org', or via the web browser), and accept the
default list option of bugs that have severity "serious",
"important", or "normal".
2. For each bug, we want to primarily make sure it is still
reproducible. A bug can and should stay open as long as it is
still a bug and no one has fixed it. The following is a
suggested checklist to follow for handling these bugs, along with
example replies. Closing, tagging, etc., are done
with debbugs control messages, which in debbugs-gnu is initiated
with a "C" or "E".
[ ] Read the mail thread for the bug. Find out if anyone has
been able to reproduce this on the current release. If
someone has been able to, then your work is finished for this
bug.
[ ] Make sure there's enough information to reproduce the bug.
It should be very clear how to reproduce. If not, please ask
for specific steps to reproduce. If you don't get them, and
you can't reproduce without them, you can tag the bug report
as "unreproducible" and close the bug report. Sometimes this
involves specific hardware such as particular models of
keyboards, or it may simply involve a platform you don't have
access to. It's fine to ignore those, and let a future
triager that is better equipped to reproduce it handle it.
An example reply asking for clear reproduction steps would be
something like: "Hi! In the interest of seeing whether this
is reproducible, and to aid anyone who will look at this bug
in the future, can you please give instructions on how to
reproduce this bug starting from an emacs without
configuration ("emacs -Q")?
[ ] If there is enough detail to reproduce, but no one has
mentioned being able to reproduce on the current release,
read the bug description and attempt to reproduce on an emacs
started with "emacs -Q" (the goal is to not let our personal
configs interfere with bug testing).
If you can reproduce, then reply on the thread (either on the
original message, or anywhere you find appropriate) that you
can reproduce this on the current release. If your
reproduction gives additional info (such as a backtrace),
then add that as well, since it will help whoever attempts to
fix it.
Example reply: "I'd just like to add that I can reproduce
this on the latest version of Emacs, Emacs 25."
If you can't reproduce, state that you can't reproduce it on
the current release, ask if they can try again against the
current release. Tag the bug as "unreproducible". Wait a
few weeks for their reply - if they can reproduce it, then
that's great, otherwise close the bug report.
Example reply: "I've attempted to reproduce this on the
latest version of emacs, Emacs 25, but haven't been able to.
Can you try to reproduce this on this version, and let us
know if you are able to? If I don't hear back in a few
weeks, I'll just close this bug as unreproducible."
[ ] Check that the priority is reasonable. Most bugs should be
marked as normal, but crashes and security issues can be
marked as serious.
3. Your changes will take some time to take effect. After a period of minutes
to hours, you will get a mail telling you the control message has been
processed. At this point, if there were no errors detected, you and
everyone else can see your changes. If there are errors, read the error
text - if you need help, consulting the bugtracker documentation in this
same directory.
* New bug triage process
The goal of the new bug triage process is similar to the backlog triage process,
except that the focus is on prioritizing the bug, and making sure it has
necessary information for others to act on.
For each new bug, ask the following questions:
1. Is the bug report written in a way to be easy to reproduce
(starts from "emacs -Q", etc.)? If not, ask the reporter to try
and reproduce it on an emacs without customization.
2. Is the bug report written against the latest emacs? If not, try
to reproduce on the latest version, and if it can't be
reproduced, ask the reporter to try again with the latest
version.
3. Is the bug the same as another bug? If so, merge the bugs.
4. What is the priority of the bug? Add a priority: "serious",
"important", "normal", "minor, or "wishlist".
5. Who should be the owner? This depends on what component the bug
is part of. You can look at the "Maintainer" comment header in
the relevant Lisp files. If you can't find the name there, look
at admin/MAINTAINERS file (then you can just search emacs-devel
to match the name with an email address).
In the debbugs-gnu buffer, bugs are marked in the "State" column
according to the communication flow. Red bugs mean that nobody has
answered; these bugs need primary attention. Green bugs flag that
there is a recent communication about, and orange bugs flag that the
bug hasn't been touched for at least two weeks.
* Bugs in GNU ELPA and NonGNU ELPA packages
The goal here is to ping the relevant maintainers, as Emacs core
developers aren't always up-to-date with recent developments in all
GNU ELPA packages, and can't do anything with reports about bugs in
NonGNU ELPA packages.
This is how we deal with them:
1. Bugs in GNU ELPA packages can always be reported to our bug
tracker, even if they are usually tracked by other means. Search
for the maintainer of that package, e.g. on
https://elpa.gnu.org/packages and take note of their email
address. Send a reply with an email body like "<name> is the
maintainer of <package>, so I'm copying them in here.", and
include their email address in Cc.
2. Bugs in NonGNU ELPA packages should be sent to their maintainers,
because we can't do anything to fix them. If you suspect that
the bug is about a NonGNU ELPA package, it's usually polite to
ask the reporter if this is indeed the case (in case you
misunderstood something), and then to point them in the right
direction. Such bugs can be closed once the confusion has been
resolved.
3. Bugs in third-party packages that are not in any of the above
repositories are handled in the same way as packages in NonGNU
ELPA.