Watch out for devs trying trick bug reporters into doing work

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨activistPnk@slrpnk.net⁩ to ⁨programming@programming.dev⁩

Sometimes I report a bug & the dev starts off asking for more details. But then there’s a kind of scope of effort creep where you start to realize you’re being tricked into finding where in the code the problem is so you can fix the bug.

It’s a bit of social engineering of sorts. When I post a bug, I do that from the back seat of the car. And it’s like the dev sits in the backseat as well while coercing me into the front seat. So sometimes there’s a bit of weasel words and nuances with sneaky wording that needs to be deployed in order to stay in the backseat while trying to get the dev into the front seat where they belong!

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

nous@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ok then.

Ticket marked as closed: won’t fix, cannot reproduce, not enough details

source
VonReposti@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

where they belong!

Sounds like you take the generosity of open-source devs for granted.

source
sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Yeah I don’t know man, as a dev this sounds like you are finding things that cannot be reproduced and the dev can only get more information from your machine. It’s like if you were calling up a mechanic on the phone. He can’t take the wheel. Would you be ok with giving them access to your PC remotely to try and find the bug?

Nah man, we’re not trying to weasle you into finding the bug yourself. We would very much prefer to interact with end users as little as possible.

source
fubo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If you’re not paying that engineer, you have no good reason to form opinions about “where they belong” in terms of work they do that might benefit you.

source
- activistPnk@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Someone tasking someone else without paying them is indeed being not where they belong. In the case of the OP, that’s the dev tasking the bug reporter.
  
  source
  - deegeese@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Are you a paying customer? If so, I understand completely.
    
    Is this free software? The dev is a bigger volunteer than you.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
GammaGames@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If this is satire, it’s good

source
- activistPnk@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Of course… The reaction shows how seriously wound tight people are. Obviously not much sense of humor in this community.
  
  There are a couple rare cases where devs have tried to coerce me into a fix. Sometimes they outright say they expect the bug reporter to fix it, strangely enough. It never happened in a language that I knew, and weird that bug reporters would be expected to know how to program at all. But it’s far from the norm.
  
  source
  - thingsiplay@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    While I understand this is humorous post, it's not crystal clear. That does not mean people lack humor, that only means we encounter a lot of trolls or idiots in the forums, that we no longer know if someone is joking or is being serious. So you should not call people being seriously wounded, if your joke didn't come as you wish it was.
    
    In short, if it's not 100% clear (and it's not), then marking it as "sarcasm" is not a bad idea if you just making a joke without trolling or flamewar. That's just my thumb of rule. It helps you not get misunderstood.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
flubba86@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
That last sentence makes me think this is a tonge-in-cheek post, sarcastic and looking for a reaction. Subtle trolling. Ignore it and move on.

source
railsdev@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I actually agree.

I’ve filed bugs before with all the relevant details then after a huge conversation I’m told to write the fix.

In the situation I’m thinking of, I was asked to write a fix in a huge Python codebase as well as specs, JavaScript for the frontend, etc.

Bro, I’m a Rails developer. I’m not doing all that; I’m a user, not part of your organization. 🙄

source
Sigmatics@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
God forbid you actually help out with the software you’re using at absolutely no cost to you.

source