If I find a problem with elementary OS or an app that ships by default with elementary OS, how can I report this issue to the developers? What about feature requests? What sort of information about the issue should I provide?
asked Jul 11, 2015 at 15:35
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1 Answer
elementary has provided a thorough bug reporting guide that explains how to file good issue reports in the right place. In short:
- Find the Issues page for the app in question on GitHub
- Be specific in your summary. Avoid subjective or ambiguous adjectives. Be concise and avoid chatter, but make sure to explain the whole issue.
- Be prepared to supply more information. If the issue can't be reproduced with the supplied information, a developer may ask for clarification. If you do not respond, your issue will be marked as incomplete and may be closed.
What if I'm not sure that it's a bug or not?
Sometimes it's not immediately clear if something is a bug or a feature. You can and should file it anyways. Part of reporting issues is confirming them. Even if something was done intentionally, you can start a discussion about changing that behavior.
What if it's a feature request?
elementary tracks feature request as bug reports. You should file your feature request following the same guidelines. A bug manager will mark it with the "wishlist" status.
I want to make sure it's not a duplicate before filing
You can search for the issue in GitHub. If your report happens to be a duplicate, select it from the search results and add the thumbs up reaction 👍. Please don't make "me too" comments as this can obscure useful information that would help resolve the issue.
I don't know which project to file against
That's okay! Try to do your best to choose the correct project. If you've filed against the wrong project, a bug manager may ask you for more information to help you file against the correct project. Just be prepared to respond.
This issue is very important to me and I want it fixed right away
Most of the developers working on elementary OS do so on a volunteer basis, so it may take some time for your issue to be confirmed, assigned, and addressed. However, if you want to draw more attention to your issue you can consider placing a Bounty on it.
answered Jul 11, 2015 at 15:35
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1Great info in this answer! One suggestion: users might be confused about which project to target, if they have to worry about milestones or not, the meaning of blueprint or wishlist, etc. Maybe some clarification could be given here? Commented Jul 11, 2015 at 23:57
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1Maybe it should be added that bug reporting is also possible from the About dialog and that people should try to keep an eye on their report so if there are questions they get answered and the bug not marked als invalid because of missing info...– quassyCommented Aug 2, 2015 at 21:38
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Could you include an easy way to copy useful basic system information? Like OS version, hardware info etc. Commented Dec 10, 2016 at 14:48
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basic system information is in the Settings->About ... where the link to bug reporting is. Oddly, sysinfo (which gives better info and many distros and nix geeks ask you to get info from) does not work with Loki currently. (only ubuntu I've seen this to be true...) Commented Aug 27, 2017 at 19:38
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These instructions don't work for the default browser - Epiphany. Searching github got me nowhere, asking here about the right repo led me to OS patches repo, until finally I accidentally found the elementary OS tag on GNOME/Epiphany gitlab page. Would it be possible to mirror that repo+tag on your github?– jenaCommented Dec 10, 2018 at 16:17