lubuntu-qa team mailing list archive

[C de-Avillez <hggdh2@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 4 Sep 2012 18:35:58 +0100
Phill Whiteside <PhillW@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 
> recently a bug reported by a QA member was marked as a duplicate (no
> harm there), but the 'master' bug was set as 'private'. This meant
> that the person who registered it could not access it to view /
> update etc.
> 
> I had a chat with the bug squad about this. If this happens they ask
> that you go to #ubuntu-bugs and raise it with them. The bot does go
> trawling for duplicated bugs, but it is not aware if the bug it is
> using as master is private. I'll get the wiki area updated.

To expand a bit more on it: there are two major types of private bugs:

(this is centered on Ubuntu, but should be similar on other projects,
like Lubuntu)

 * born private (usually security and apport crashdump bugs)
 * made private later on.

The apport crashdumps are born private because they carry a coredump
file -- and it can carry a LOT of private data in it. Additionally,
apport processing runs a GDB 'bt full' for both the offending thread
(the one that got hit) and for all threads. The 'bt full' sports
variable assignment values. Depending on the program, and where it got
hit, these variables values could also hold private data. No matter
what, at the end of apport processing, the coredump is deleted.

So... apport will, usually, not make a crashdump bug public. But it
knows about it, and will match as needed, marking newer bugs as
duplicates.

A subset of Launchpad users have access to these bugs, and can manually
review and decide on an action -- the worst scenario is we see private
data, and will have to discuss with someone else (a
maintainer/developer of the package) if the private data is critical;
if it is not, we can edit/remove the offending pieces, and make the bug
public. If it is, on the other hand, there is not much we can do. But
these are very unusual cases, I do not remember seeing one myself.

So, to summarise: yes, your bug can be dupped to a private bug. In this
case, please pop in #ubuntu-bugs, or email Bug Control/Ubuntu-QA, and
ask for someone to perform the check. We will be happy to help.

It is just that there are more bugs than the time we have...

Cheers,

..C..

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