What is Involved in Bug Triaging?
Bug triagers make sure that:
- Bug reports have the information developers need to reproduce and fix them.
- Bugs are assigned to the right component and version.
- Duplicate bugs are found and labelled.
- Feature requests reported as bugs are properly reported.
- Bugs already fixed are closed.
Triagers mostly work alone on any particular bug, but you may work together with others to cover a large component. We have weekly meetings where we get together to discuss wider issues, and help each other out with tricky problems. There is also a mailing list where triagers can raise any questions or problems they are having for help from others. Experienced triagers are happy to act as mentors for new triagers to help them get started in the project.
Triaging bugs does not mean that you have to understand bugs and solve them yourself. It means you should be able to look at new bugs, and report if they are duplicates, if more information is needed, or if it is filed under the wrong component.
There is no requirement of programming knowledge. However, being familiar with Fedora and Linux in general will be extremely useful.
This is purely voluntary. We do not expect you to spend hours here every day. (Though if you want to, you're more than welcome!) You can triage bugs whenever you have free time. You can spend as little as 15 minutes a week - every little bit helps!
Why Triage Bugs?
- The less time package maintainers have to spend resolving duplicates, attempting to reproduce bugs, and requesting missing information, the more time they can spend fixing bugs.
- Helps to identify bugs that should be fixed before release (adding to tracker and blocker lists)
- Gives bug reporters the feeling that someone has acknowledged their problem
- Strives to provide a level of certainty that the total number of open bugs is accurate
- Closing bugs for EOL releases helps keep Bugzilla tidy and useful, and lets reporters know they need to upgrade
- Identifying workarounds can help users in the meantime until a bug is fixed
- Provides an idea of where problem areas are in the distribution
- Good way to learn more about Fedora
How to Sign Up
- Obtain a bugzilla account in Red Hat's Bugzilla
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/createaccount.cgi
- Fedora's bugs are tracked in Red Hat's Bugzilla
- Note that this is all you need to start reporting bugs, but if you also want to triage, then you will also need to...
- Obtain a Fedora Account
- It is necessary that the e-mail address used for your Bugzilla and Fedora accounts are the same
- Fedora encourages you to sign the Contributor License Agreement (giving the project permission to use and keep contributions you make in the course of triaging), but it is not required. Here's how!
- After successfully obtaining a Fedora account, view the triagers group and apply to the group by clicking the Apply! button.
- Then subscribe to the test mailing list, and send an email to the list with the subject New BugZapper Introduction.
- The email must at a minimum contain your name (or nickname if you do not wish to give your real name)
- Inform your irc nick for case we need contact him
- Ideally it should also give a rough indication of your experience with Fedora, and any particular area you would like to work in
- You can also include more personal information about yourself (such as your location and your day job) if you wish
- If you'd like some help getting started with triaging, mention it in your post, and an existing member will be happy to mentor you
- Here's an example introductory email
- Your membership will need to be approved, so this process is not instantaneous. It may take several days (unfortunately) for your membership to be approved, so please be patient. After your approval, you will have additional permissions in the system which will allow you to triage bugs.
- If you can commit to being a regular triager for the current release cycle, add your name to the Active Triagers page.
- This is a simple reference so that package maintainers know who the triagers are
- It also gives us a rough idea who is triaging bugs in which components
Communication
- Join the fedora-test-list
- All announcements and conversations about bug triage happen on this list
- https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-test-list
- Valuable communication and real time help happen in the chat channels on IRC. See IRCSetup and IRCHowTo for more information on using IRC
- The main IRC channels to join are: #fedora-bugzappers - where team members discuss things - and #fedorabot - where you will see automated messages when new bugs are filed (among other things)
- Once you are all setup and ready to go drop by and say hello on #fedora-bugzappers
- #fedora-bugzappers is also a good place to get help if you are having problems with the sign-up process
- Attend a Bug Triage Meeting. Details on the time and location of meetings are on that page.
How to Start Triaging
- See BugZappers/Tools to get tools recommended for all BugZappers, including Greasemonkey scripts which will make the process easier.
- See BugZappers/FindingBugs to get a list of bugs to work on.
- See BugZappers/How to Triage for instructions.