Annotation of www/report.html, Revision 1.6
1.4 deraadt 1: <html>
2: <head>
3: <title>OpenBSD problem reports</title>
4: <link rev=made href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>
5: <meta name="resource-type" content="document">
6: <meta name="description" content="OpenBSD problem report page">
7: <meta name="keywords" content="openbsd,problemreports">
8: <meta name="distribution" content="global">
9: <meta name="copyright" content="This document copyright 1998 by OpenBSD.">
10: </head>
11:
12: <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#23238e">
1.5 deraadt 13: <img alt="[OpenBSD]" height=30 width=141 SRC="images/smalltitle.gif">
14: <p>
1.6 ! deraadt 15: <h2><font color=#e00000>How to report a Problem</font><hr></h2>
1.5 deraadt 16:
17: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Released versions problem reports.</font></h3>
1.4 deraadt 18:
1.5 deraadt 19: Before reporting bugs/problems with released versions,
1.1 deraadt 20: go through this checklist:
1.4 deraadt 21: <ol>
22: <li>First check for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/errata.html">patches
23: and notes regarding the release.</a>
24: <li>Next find out if there is a <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/orders.html">
25: newer release available.</a>
26: <li>The last thing to check is for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/plus.html">
27: changes made between OpenBSD versions.</a>
28: </ol>
29: <p>
30: If nothing looks like it addresses your problem, then it may be time to read
31: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sendbug&&sektion=1&format=html">
32: man sendbug</a>
33: before submitting a bug report.
34: <p>
35: Read further down for the <a href="#bugtypes">types of bug reports</a> desired.
36:
1.5 deraadt 37: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Current version problem reports.</font></h3>
38:
1.4 deraadt 39: <ol>
40: <li>Test the problem at least twice, with source updated a few days apart.
41: <li>Do not report source tree compilation problems, unless they persist.
1.1 deraadt 42: They are almost always your mistake or they are being worked on
43: as you encounter them. People working on the project are
1.4 deraadt 44: doing <u>make build</u> at least once per day, and usually several times
1.1 deraadt 45: per day with different architectures.
1.4 deraadt 46: <li>Remember that the <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/anoncvs.html">anoncvs</a>
1.1 deraadt 47: servers are updated significantly behind the actual working source tree.
1.4 deraadt 48: <li>Check for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/plus.html">changes
49: made between OpenBSD versions</a> to see if the problem has been
1.1 deraadt 50: addressed.
1.4 deraadt 51: <li>Much care is made in creating snapshots. Sometimes mistakes are made,
1.1 deraadt 52: and our apologies are extended. Reading/writing the e-mail lists
53: is more appropriate than sending in a bug report.
1.4 deraadt 54: </ol>
55: <br>
1.5 deraadt 56:
1.4 deraadt 57: <a name="bugtypes">
1.5 deraadt 58: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Sending in bug reports.</font></h3>
1.1 deraadt 59:
60: Try to pin-point the exact problem. Never give vague instructions,
61: or detail vague problems like "it crashes" or "I get strange interrupt
62: issues on this one box that I built." Talk to others on IRC or some
63: other forum to confirm that it is new, repeatable, etc. and make sure
64: it is not a local problem. And please don't start fixing problems that
65: require significant work until you are sure you understand them, especially
66: during our release periods when we must not change major sections of code.
67: If you are going to write significant amounts of code, check various
68: forums to make sure that someone else is not working on the problem
69: (saving duplication of effort).
70:
1.4 deraadt 71: <p>
1.1 deraadt 72: New features are accepted, especially with code that implements
73: your suggested new feature.
74: If someone else writes code for your new feature, the chances are that
75: it will be misunderstood and created so that you will not recognize it.
76:
1.4 deraadt 77: <p>
1.5 deraadt 78: For debugging some problems, we must have the hardware that has the
79: problem. Please remember that projects resources are limited.
80: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/want.html">You could donate some hardware.</a>
1.1 deraadt 81:
1.4 deraadt 82: <p>
1.1 deraadt 83: Types of bug reports in order of desirability:
1.4 deraadt 84: <ol>
85: <li>Repeatable problems with source fixes are the best.
86: <li>Repeatable problems that are not specific to your hardware/software
1.1 deraadt 87: layout.
1.4 deraadt 88: <li>Repeatable problems specific to your software layout.
89: <li>Repeatable problems specific to your hardware layout.
90: <li>Non-repeatable problems -- or problems you do not wish to repeat.
91: </ol>
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1.4 deraadt 99: </ol>
100: </body>
101: </html>