So instead 50 people report the same bug to an email address (care@jolla.com, developer-care@jolla.com) or send feature requests to info@jolla.com, that someone is supposed to monitor (though most likely isn't)? That's three email addresses, take your pick. Send the same email to all of them, maximise your chance of a response.

There is no visibility of what bugs are already known - or if a solution/workaround is available for a bug - when you use email so the same bugs will be reported over and over and over until they are fixed (if they are ever fixed). Do you really think an email blackhole such as this is a better use of Jolla resources than a public Bugzilla, or a better way of engaging with end users about the problems they are facing with the platform? If so, why doesn't every project use email to report bugs rather than waste time maintaining a bug tracker?

The thing is, the more excuses I hear about Jolla NOT implementing a public Bugzilla, the more I am reminded of the Nokia of old and how they claimed they could only ever manage an internal bug tracker for Harmattan (although they still - no doubt grudgingly - put up a public tracker, but rarely gave it much attention). It might be too early to say this, but some old habits do seem to die hard and sadly this is one of them.

A public bug tracker is a hugely positive way in which to engage with users (customers) and address their problems, concerns and ideas. For a company that claims to be open, it should be a high priority but if it's not even on their to-do list then nothing has really changed, the closed mentality is the same as it ever was, only the name above the door is now different.

I'm here to support Jolla, but it seems they're farking it up already and in a very Nokian-way. The software - as it stands - simply isn't that great (but it's beta, so lets cut it some slack), the hardware is over priced budget specification (but we paid the high price to support the "dream", not to buy top-notch hardware, right?), and their attempts at engaging with their users amounts to nothing more than Twitter and a developers mailing list. It's really pretty sub-standard all around.

It's early days, and maybe Jolla can improve their communication in 2014, but if not I don't fancy their chances. I've sent several bugs through to developer-care@jolla.com and not had a single reply, so if nothing else an unmonitored Bugzilla would at least mean other users can quickly see that a bug is being experienced by others, and learn if there is a solution/workaround, or add their experiences. Sending emails to a blackhole helps nobody.