Re: Unclear problem reports

On Sun, Feb 6, 2022 at 12:02 AM Noah Misch <noah(at)leadboat(dot)com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Feb 04, 2022 at 01:36:46PM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > 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 <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
> > > 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/).
>
> https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/ does say to "ensure you have
> read" https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/bug-reporting.html, which says,
> "If you need help immediately, consider obtaining a commercial support
> contract." Hence, this expands on an existing message and makes it more
> prominent. I think that's reasonable, though I'm not sure it's a net win.
> One could also edit the page that appears after submitting a bug. Editing a
> web page is superior to using canned email responses, for two reasons:
>
> - Canned responses are noise to every list reader other than the OP.
> - Canned responses make the list feel like a sales funnel rather than a normal
> free software mailing list.

All bug reports posted through the bug form gets moderated before
they're passed through. Moderators also have access to a set of
pre-defined canned responses (such as the example of where they should
go to report pgadmin bugs). It will also catch posts made directly to
-bugs by people who are not subscribed, but people who are subscribed
will not have their posts moderated by default.

If we're talking about people submitting bug reports, åperhaps a lot
can be done with (1) a couple of more such responses and (2) more
clear instructions fo the moderators of when they are supposed to use
them.

Error on the side of letting them through is probably always the best
choice, but if it's clear that it can be better handled by a canned
response, we do have an actual system for that.

--
Magnus Hagander
Me: https://www.hagander.net/
Work: https://www.redpill-linpro.com/