Debian Bug Reporting

The Debian Bug Reporting class should give a basic understanding of how to report bugs on debian systems.

prerequisites

 * basic familiarity with commandline and Command Line 2
 * basic understanding of apt and dpkg

tips for working environment

 * keep a web browser pointed to this page
 * open several terminal windows
 * don't forget to use the "man" command, or -h and --help
 * commandline reminders
 * remember to use tab completion.
 * hit tab twice, fast.
 * hit tab again!
 * remember to use the up arrow to re-do a previous command
 * keep hitting tab!

http://bugs.debian.org
http://bugs.debian.org/PACKAGENAME

http://bugs.debian.org/src:PACKAGENAME

http://bugs.debian.org/BUGNUMBER

reportbug
reportbug is a helper utility to faciliate good bug reporting. it will help you browse the currently reported bugs, and facilitate providing additional information, or report new bugs.

apt-get install reportbug


 * when you know what package is broken:

reportbug PACKAGE


 * when you know what program, but not what package:

reportbug -f FILENAME


 * without a working mail system (use FILE as a template for your email):

reportbug -o FILE


 * if it stalls indefinitely:

reportbug --no-check-available