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Posts: 334 | Thanked: 616 times | Joined on Sep 2010
#1921
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
So instead 50 people report the same bug to an email address (developer-care@jolla.com) or send feature requests to info@jolla.com, that someone is supposed to monitor (though most likely isn't)?

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.
You are so right but you are also wrong (but you do give them slack in your post I admit).

Most of us are beta testers for the release code, and forums such as TMO give out enough information about major flukes if they slip into release. I don't think that many people at Jolla are running with the release version, they can't invest time for that.
Not that I'm not wishing for a public bugtracker too, of course.

It is about timing, and the time for public bugtracker would be later when the basis is considered ready. Currently it is not.

My understanding of the issue is that the majority of the bugs that would be reported at this point are such that Jolla devs are already fully aware of. Developer teams of this size are not ordinary coders, they are testers too.

It is pointless to put precious resources into handling bug reports that are obvious and already fixed or on the todo list. I'm guessing that the length of the such internal list is already thousands of lines just for the bugs, not to mention missing features, that bring more bugs and were left out in the release.
Whether they should release such list to the public, or keep it internal, is another matter of course. Whatever they do, it _always_ looks bad for the majority.
 

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