this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024
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53
Should I file bug reports for open source projects even if I am bad at writing bug reports? (feddit.org)
submitted 2 months ago by 101@feddit.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] placatedmayhem@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yes. I'm not sure what you think makes you bad at writing bug reports, but here are tips I give to everyone (my day job involves working with bug reports).

Nominally, a decent bug report should have:

  • the steps that got you the bug
  • whether you can reproduce the bug
  • what you expected to happen instead of the bug

Doing any of these things makes bug reports so much more actionable. You can do it. I believe in you!

Edit: Including a contact method so the software developer can have a conversation with you can also be helpful but not strictly required. Some bug reporting methods do this implicitly, like email bug reports and GitHub issues.

[–] DScratch@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 months ago

You’re not going to get better unless you practice!

(Maybe note in the report that you are unsure how to write a good report and are available to help clarify)

[–] sanpo@sopuli.xyz 22 points 2 months ago

Much better than not reporting and wondering why the issues never get fixed.

[–] jadedwench@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Yes. Even if you get bitched at. Decent people will just ask more questions until they get what they need from you. Better to give more information than none. Try your best.

Actually, sometimes going through every single step on how you ended up with the issue solves it... Done that a few times.

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 3 points 2 months ago

Yes. Describe it as best as you can and let the developer reach out to you if you want. A good maintainer will ask follow up questions for more specific stuff that you may not have provided at the start.

[–] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yes and you will get better at it from the experience and its a goof thing for your CV. Maybe you even start trying to fix some issues down the line.

[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

If you're unsure, write a draft that gets all the basic ideas while still fresh on your mind. Then look at a past example to give you some ideas of what the maintainers would expect.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

In what ways are you bad at writing but reports?

[–] 101@feddit.org 0 points 2 months ago

I can't describe the problems and retest patches reliably.