This applies to all Linux distributions, I am not trying in any way to pick on Ubuntu. They are just keeping statistics in a way I can put some numbers behind my rant.
Many were excited when Ubuntu announced they were going to fix at least one hundred little bugs called papercuts that will help improve the overall Linux experience. Here is a simple suggestion that will also lead to at least 100 extra bugs fixed over the next six months: Report your bugs upstream!
There are at least ~800 known bugs in Ubuntu where it is confirmed the bug is related to upstream but nobody has taken the time to notify upstream about it. People triaging the bug reports say “this bug also effects upstream project X” but it is never actually reported to upstream. I’m guessing that list would be over 1000 if all such bugs that have slipped through the cracks were accounted for.
Now, assuming each major Linux distribution has hundreds of bugs where the bug triager knows it is an issue with upstream but fails to report it, if all these bugs would get reported I am sure an extra 100 bugs will get fixed over the next six months because of simple things like this.
The developers behind the major Linux distributions are great, but more bugs will get fixed if upstream is involved. Now, “to put my money where my mouth is”, I spent several hours this weekend submitting some if these bugs upstream. I’m sure I didn’t do a perfect job, but at least upstream now knows about these bugs and some have already been confirmed by upstream and work has begun fixing them. It was that easy.
So there you go. There’s my formula to get an extra 100 bugs fixed over the next six months. It is as simple as: Report your bugs upstream!
California Quantum 