KubuntuKarmicApport

Summary

Continue to use the Apport crash handler for KDE applications. Change the Help -> Report Bug menu item to use Apport. Prior to release, consider keeping Apport crash handling for select applications.

Release Note

The new release comes with a new way to send improved bug reports to the Kubuntu developers.

Rationale

Complete crash reports with useful backtraces are needed to fix crashers. Apport provides these features and more complete reports than Dr Konqi, the KDE crash handler.

Apport sends bug reports to Launchpad and does some duplicate checking. Kubuntu bug reports should go through Launchpad so they can be processed before sending them upstream. The reporting is also more automated than with Dr. Konqi. This allows us to get more higher quality bug reports to the KDE developers.

Some applications are more mature than others, so crash handling may be useful after release.

While Dr Konqi and the KDE bug reporting tool have improved in 4.3, they are still not as feature complete as Apport and not as actively developed. Apport is constantly adding new features such as automated tests to improve the quality of bug reports and make triaging and fixing them easier.

User stories

Anthony has been running the brand new release for a week and is impressed not to have any crashes.

Celeste thinks the send button in her IRC client is in the wrong place. She goes to Help -> Report bug and submits her report in 3 easy steps. Jonathan sees the report in Launchpad and knows a Kubuntu patch moved that button there in that version of the package and does not send the report upstream.

Aaron receives a crash report in the KDE bugzilla that has enough information for him to fix the bug in 5 minutes. He clicks a link in the report to a Launchpad report and is glad he didn't have to go through the 15 duplicates listed there.

Assumptions

Dr. Konqi allows retracing, but requires the user to track down the debug packages. Dr. Konqi doesn't collect as much information as Apport does.

Design and Implemenatation

Continue to use the Apport crash handler for KDE applications. This requires patching kdelibs to use it when it is installed and turned on in /etc/defaults/apport.

We need to make sure Apport uses the KDE widget style. Some improvements could be made to make the interface fit in better.

Change the Help -> Report Bug menu item to use Apport. This requires patching kdelibs to change the functionality of that menu entry.

Prior to release, consider keeping Apport crash handling for select applications.

Update the Kubuntu bug reporting documentation.

Kubuntu developers who are active bug triagers need to keep an eye on private Apport reports.

Test/Demo Plan

  • File a test report using the menu item.
  • File a test report when an application crashes.
  • Check that apport retraces work on Launchpad reports.


CategorySpec

KubuntuKarmicApport (last edited 2009-06-05 12:40:20 by host-84-9-233-214)