<h1>How to report a $gBug in $gProject</h1>
-<p>Send mail to
-<a href="mailto:submit\@$gEmailDomain"><code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code></a>,
-as described below.
+<h2>Important things to note <strong>before</strong> sending</h2>
<p>Please don't report several unrelated $gBugs - especially ones in
-different packages - in one message. Also, please don't mail your $gBug
-report to any mailing lists or recipients other than
-<code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code> (for details of how to do this right, see
-<a href="#xcc">below</a>).
+different packages - in a single $gBug report.
+
+<p>You should check if your $gBug report has already been filed by someone
+else before submitting it. Lists of currently outstanding $gBugs are
+available <a href="./">on the World Wide Web</a> and
+<a href="Access.html">elsewhere</a> - see other documents for details.
+You can submit your comments to an existing $gBug report
+#<var><number></var> by sending e-mail to
+<var><number></var>\@$gEmailDomain</p>
+
+<p>If you can't seem to determine which package contains the problem,
+please send e-mail to the <a href="mailto:$gMaintainerEmail">
+$gMaintainerEmail</a> asking for advice.
+$gHTMLPseudoDesc
+</p>
-<p>Lists of currently-outstanding $gBugs are available <a href="./">on
-the World Wide Web</a> and <a href="Access.html">elsewhere</a> - see
-other documents for details.
+<p>If you'd like to send a copy of your $gBug report to additional
+recipients (such as mailing lists), you shouldn't use the usual e-mail
+headers, but <a href="#xcc">a different method, described below</a>.</p>
-<p>You need to put a pseudo-header at the start of the body of the
-message, with the <code>Package:</code> and <code>Version:</code>
-lines giving the name and version of the package which has the $gBug.
-(The pseudo-header fields should start at the very start of their lines.)
-$gHTMLFindPackage
+<h2>Sending the bug report using an automatic bug report tool</h2>
-<p><em>See below for <a href="#details">further requirements</a></em>.
+<p>There is a program that was developed in Debian to help reporting
+$gBug reports, it's called
+<code><a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/reportbug.html">reportbug</a></code>.
+It will guide you through the bug reporting process step by step,
+and probably ease filing bugs that way.</p>
-$gHTMLPseudoDesc
+<p>Emacs users can also use the debian-bug command provided by the
+<code><a href="http://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/debbugs-el.html">
+debbugs-el</a></code> package. When called with <kbd>M-x
+debian-bug</kbd>, it will ask for all necessary information in a
+similar way to <code>reportbug</code>.</p>
-<h2><A name="example">Example</a></h2>
-<p>A $gBug report, with mail header, looks something like this:
-<pre>
- To: submit\@$gEmailDomain
- From: diligent\@testing.linux.org
- Subject: Hello says `goodbye'
- <A name="pseudoheader">Package: hello</a>
- Version: 1.3-16
+<h2>Sending the bug report via e-mail</h2>
- When I invoke `hello' without arguments from an ordinary shell
- prompt it prints `goodbye', rather than the expected `hello, world'.
- Here is a transcript:
+<p>Send mail to
+<a href="mailto:submit\@$gEmailDomain"><code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code></a>,
+as described below.</p>
- $ hello
- goodbye
- $ /usr/bin/hello
- goodbye
- $
+<p>Of course, like with any email, you should include a clear, descriptive
+<code>Subject</code> line in your main mail header. The subject you
+give will be used as the initial $gBug title in the tracking system, so
+please try to make it informative!</p>
- I suggest that the output string, in hello.c, be corrected.
+<p>You need to put a <a name="pseudoheader">pseudo-header</a> at the start
+of the body of the message. That means that the first line of the message
+body should say:</p>
- I am using Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, kernel 2.2.17-pre-patch-13
- and libc6 2.1.3-10.
+<pre>
+Package: <something>
</pre>
-<h2><A name="details">Please include in your report:</a></h2>
+<p>Replace <code><something></code> with the name of the package which
+has the $gBug.</p>
+
+<p>The second line of the message should say:</p>
+
+<pre>
+Version: <something>
+</pre>
+
+<p>Replace <code><something></code> with the version of the package.</p>
+
+<p>You need to supply a correct <code>Package</code> line in the
+pseudo-header in order for the $gBug tracking system to deliver the message
+to the package's maintainer.</p>
+
+$gHTMLFindPackage
+
+<p>The pseudo-header fields should start at the very start of their lines.</p>
+
+$gHTMLPseudoDesc
+
+<p>Please include in your report:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <em>exact</em> and <em>complete</em> text of any error
of making your report too long by including too much information. If
they are small please include in your report any files you were using
to reproduce the problem (uuencoding them if they may contain odd
-characters etc.).
+characters etc.).</p>
+
+
+<h2><A name="example">Example</a></h2>
+
+<p>A $gBug report, with mail header, looks something like this:
+
+<pre>
+ To: submit\@$gEmailDomain
+ From: diligent\@testing.linux.org
+ Subject: Hello says `goodbye'
+
+ Package: hello
+ Version: 1.3-16
+
+ When I invoke `hello' without arguments from an ordinary shell
+ prompt it prints `goodbye', rather than the expected `hello, world'.
+ Here is a transcript:
+
+ $ hello
+ goodbye
+ $ /usr/bin/hello
+ goodbye
+ $
+
+ I suggest that the output string, in hello.c, be corrected.
+
+ I am using Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, kernel 2.2.17-pre-patch-13
+ and libc6 2.1.3-10.
+</pre>
-<p>Of course, like any email, you should include a clear, descriptive
-<code>Subject</code> line in your main mail header. The subject you
-give will be used as the initial $gBug title in the tracking system, so
-please try to make it informative!
<h2><A name="xcc">Sending copies of $gBug reports to other addresses</a></h2>
to the address(es) in the <code>X-Debbugs-CC</code> line as well as to
any mailing list.
+<p>Avoid sending such copies to the addresses of other $gBug reports, as
+they will be caught by the checks that prevent mail loops. There is
+relatively little point in using <code>X-Debbugs-CC</code> for this
+anyway, as the $gBug number added by that mechanism will just be
+replaced by a new one; use an ordinary <code>CC</code> header instead.
+
<p>This feature can often be combined usefully with mailing
<code>quiet</code> - see below.
it. This is not required, however, and the developers will assign an
appropriate severity level to your report if you do not.
-<p>To assign a severity level put a
-<code>Severity: <var>severity</var></code> line in the pseudo-header,
-together with <code>Package</code> and <code>Version</code>. The
-severity levels available are described in the
-<a href="Developer.html#severities">developers' documentation</a>.
+<p>To assign a severity level, put a line like this one in the
+<a href="#pseudoheader">pseudo-header</a>:</p>
+
+<pre>
+Severity: <<var>severity</var>>
+</pre>
+
+<p>Replace <<var>severity</var>> with one of the available severity
+levels, as described in the
+<a href="Developer.html#severities">developers' documentation</a>.</p>
<h2><a name="tags">Assigning tags</a></h2>
the <code>patch</code> tag. This is not required, and the developers
will set tags on your report as and when it is appropriate.
-<p>To set tags, put a <code>Tags: <var>tags</var></code> line in the
-<a name="#pseudoheader">pseudo-header</a> together with the usual
-<code>Package</code> and <code>Version</code>. The tags available are
-described in the
+<p>To set tags, put a line like this one in the
+<a href="#pseudoheader">pseudo-header</a>:</p>
+
+<pre>
+Tags: <<var>tags</var>>
+</pre>
+
+<p>Replace <<var>tags</var>> with one or more of the available tags,
+as described in the
<a href="Developer.html#tags">developers' documentation</a>.
+Separate multiple tags with commas, spaces, or both.
<h2>Not forwarding to the mailing list - minor $gBug reports</h2>
any forwarded message so that replies will by default be processed in
the same way as the original report.
+
+<h2>Acknowledgements</h2>
+
+<p>Normally, the $gBug system will return an acknowledgement to you by
+e-mail when you report a new bug or submit additional information to an
+existing bug. If you want to suppress this acknowledgement, include an
+<code>X-Debbugs-No-Ack</code> header in your e-mail (the contents of this
+header do not matter; however, it must be in the mail header and
+<em>not</em> in the pseudo-header with the <code>Package</code> field). If
+you report a new $gBug with this header, you will need to check the web
+interface yourself to find the $gBug number.</p>
+
+<p>Note that this header will not suppress acknowledgements from the
+<code>control\@$gEmailDomain</code> mailserver, since those acknowledgements
+may contain error messages which should be read and acted upon.</p>
+
+
<h3>$gBug reports against unknown packages</h3>
<p>If the $gBug tracking system doesn't know who the maintainer of the
projects / debbugs.git / blobdiff