* I’d recommend that people do a search for similar bugs in the source package they’re about to file a bug in [2], before starting the bug filing procedure, which will present them a limited selection of similar, often-reported bugs as possible duplicates.

* One thing many people who are new to bug reporting (and FOSS in general) aren’t aware of is that bug traffic creates mail traffic. Most developers and triagers interact with the bug tracker via email. That’s right: like most good bug trackers, Launchpad’s bugs module has an email interface [3]; rather than visiting the page of a bug on Launchpad, people send mail to Launchpad. It’s possible to file bugs, post comments, set status and importance, etc. with email. Whenever you post a comment that’s not quite useful in helping resolve the bug, you’re generating unnecessary mail traffic, and making it harder for people to get to the comments that actually matter.

If your comment adds unique information that you think can make it easier to pinpoint the source of the bug, by all means, post it. If what you said has been said before, do not. “Me too” comments only generate superfluous bug mail. They do not help resolve the bug at all. Especially once a bug is in “Triaged” status, no more information is needed on it. If you’d like to express your desire for seeing the bug fixed, and don’t have any new information to add, simply subscribe to the bug instead of posting a “me too” comment. For triagers and developers, the number of subscribers to a bug is a pretty good indication of its impact. You’ll be kept up to date on its status when you subscribe, without creating any noise.

* On a related note, the bug tracker should be used to track and fix bugs, and for nothing else. It’s not a mechanism for getting help on and discussing the issues you’re encountering (there’s the support tracker, forums and IRC channels for that). It’s not a venue for extended discussion (we have mailing lists and forums for that). Anything that does not help triage or resolve a bug is off the scope of the bug tracker by definition, and reduces its efficiency for everyone.

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBugControl

[2] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source//+bug –> replace with the name of the package you’re looking at. To make this more practical, in Firefox, you can create a bookmark keyword so that you can just type, for example, “ubug evolution” to the bugs page of Evolution in Ubuntu. Take a look at http://tinyurl.com/gzoyx .

[3] https://help.launchpad.net/BugTrackerEmailInterface