Re: when does bug originator get mail?

[Bob Proulx]

Karl Berry wrote:
> I originated a bug recently:
>   https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=57604
>
> But when someone responds and does not include my address as an explicit
> recipient, like in the message #29 followup,
>   https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=57604#29
> I don't get it.
>
> Is this intentional? It is unexpected. As the bug originator, I would
> have thought I'd get copied on all replies. --thanks, karl.

This is my biggest gripe about the BTS as it stands.  Unless you
monitor the bug then you don't get a reply.  I myself subscribe to the
associated mailing list and that way get all of the responses there.

The upstream Debian BTS has a "subscribe to bug" feature.  One can
subscribe to individual bugs.  I have a procmail ruleset that I use to
automatically subscribe me to any bug with which I interact.  This
mostly works, except for one time when something went amiss and it
failed to subscribe me to the bug.

But that is a Debian BTS feature only.  It does not exist for the GNU
debbugs instance.  Sigh.

When I reply to a bug I will manually CC any particular party that I
want to include in the message.  That's definitely something I really
don't like.  But that's the way it works.

I don't have too much problem emailing anyone from my server.  However
there are some users that I get rejections from because they are not
allowing email from my server to them but they have apparently allowed
the GNU servers to mail them.  In that case there is a BTS feature
that works and I actually use that feature quite a bit.

You can have the BTS email the bug submitter.  Use the bug number like
the recipient address for the bug but then add -submitter to the end.
So if the bug number is 123 that is 123-submitter.  So a full To list
might be 123@debbugs.gnu.org, 123-submitter@debbugs.gnu.org to reach
both the bug log, the associated mailing list to the bug, and the
submitter of the bug.  And then the mail to the submitter comes from
the BTS and not my server.  Hopefully deliverable then.  I won't know
because the control address gets the bounces.  (Shrug.)

Another advantage of this is that the bug submitter can control and
change their submitting address afterward to allow them to change
email addresses.  Though I don't know any bug submitters who are savvy
enough to actually do this.  It is technically possible though.

Bob