Subject: README: About Reporting Bugs

From: Russell King - ARM Linux Admin <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 22:30:55 +0100 (BST)

Hi,

I have always been aware that there are bugs/problems with the Linux
distribution.  However, I am getting a little concerned that there
are some bugs that are not being reported, and hence not getting
fixed.

Since the ARM Linux port and the machine architectures are quite
diverse, it is highly likely that you do not have the exact same
setup as I do.  This can cause certain bugs to lie dormant on my
hardware which could be preventing use of ARM Linux with some
peoples systems.

Due to this fact, I feel that I need to encourage people to report
bugs.  This email is intended for guidance purposes on how to
report a bug in Linux.

1. When you find a bug, please note the symptoms.  This includes
   any kernel messages or error messages issued by the program
   concerned.

2. Please check the web site FAQ to see if the bug is already
   known about.  At some later date, I may maintain a bug list as
   well to make this easier.  If you find your problem and there
   is a solution described there, please try it.

3. If your problem is not mentioned or the solution does not work,
   please mail the mailing list with *all* relevant information.
   If the kernel dumps out a register list and/or a backtrace
   list, please include this along with your email - it may look
   pretty useless to you, but it'll make a world of difference
   (both to peoples response times and the speed of the bug fix).
 
4. Please include the version numbers of the software that you're
   using, and the exact details of the machine that you're running
   it on.  Also information about whether you compiled the program
   yourself is very useful.  In this case you may be asked some
   more questions.

These four steps will help the process of tracking down problems far
easier and faster for all concerned.

Thanks.
   _____
  |_____| ------------------------------------------------- ---+---+-
  |   |        Russell King       [email-masked]      --- ---
  | | | |  http://www.arm.uk.linux.org/~rmk/armlinux.html    /  /  |
  | +-+-+                                                     --- -+-
  /   |               THE developer of ARM Linux              |+| /|\
 /  | | |                                                     ---  |
    +-+-+ -------------------------------------------------  /\\\  |

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