[Reportbug-maint] Bug#653183: [reportbug] "Ignored bogus setting for --ui: gtk2" / Menu item fails quietly when python-gtk is not installed

[Filipus Klutiero]

Le 2011-12-25 05:22, Sandro Tosi a écrit :
> On Sat, Dec 24, 2011 at 21:15, Filipus Klutiero<chealer at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> Package: reportbug
>> Version: 6.3.1
>> Severity: normal
>>
>> When reportbug is invoked to get the GTK+ interface, it can fail incorrectly
>> if python-gtk is missing.
> /usr/share/doc/reportbug/README.Users.gz contains a section explaining
> exactly this situation.
>

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the section. It does contain:

> If you tried to set the new GTK+ UI (named in reportbug as gtk2 ui)
> and it fails to start (falling back to text mode, hopefully), chances
> are that you are missing some of the needed modules:
>
>  - python-gtk2
>  - python-vte

In my opinion, the way it's presented doesn't explain the main problem - 
that the menu item fails quietly. If I'm trying to launch reportbug 
using its menu item, I'm not trying "to set the new GTK+ UI", I'm just 
trying to start reportbug.

But I would argue that even if the section is adjusted, and although I 
agree that documentation may in some cases be considered like a fix, 
this is not sufficient in this case. Menu items should never fail 
quietly, in particular those in standard. If a user installs Debian, 
experiences a bug and wants to report it, the last thing we want is that 
he hits a problem of this importance when trying to report it.