From: Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@leemhuis.info>
To: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Cc: workflows@vger.kernel.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
regressions@lists.linux.dev, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH v1 00/30] docs: reporting-issues: rework
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2025 13:41:51 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <cover.1761481839.git.linux@leemhuis.info> (raw)
Hi! This patch reworks various parts of our text on bug reporting. I
started working on it for six reasons:
* I noticed that even experienced Linux users had trouble with the TLDR
text, despite it being already quite long.
* I noticed a few areas where people were struggling when reporting
issues and saw potential for improving the situation somewhat by
rearranging and fine-tuning the order and the description of the
step-by-step guide a little.
* I wanted to add a simple to follow "is this regression maybe known
already?" option to avoid unnecessary trouble for reporters.
* I wanted to improve the interaction with
Documentation/admin-guide/verify-bugs-and-bisect-regressions.rst,
which has a few bits with roots in reporting-issues.rst, but covers
verifying bugs and bisecting a lot better.
* I wanted to make it easier to jump to the reference section and back
by adding internal links, similar to how we did it in
Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst and
Documentation/admin-guide/verify-bugs-and-bisect-regressions.rst.
* I found the tone of the old text somewhat off-putting; I think I made
it better in a lot of places, but I suspect I missed a few areas that
needed treatment – and maybe did not go far enough in some others. So
please let me know if you spot cases that are too dim, some external
feedback really would help.
I worked on-and-off on this for maybe two years and the problem is:
what started as fine tuning in various places piled up. That together
with the newly added links & anchors and some text movements makes the
patchset huge. When you ignore those two aspects and look at individual
patches using a word diff algorithm it looks a lot less scary, but it
remains big – and thus sadly puts some load on reviewers and
translators. Sorry. I think it's worth it and tried to split things up
to facilitate handling.
If you want to see how the resulting text looks like, check out:
https://www.leemhuis.info/files/misc/Reporting%20issues%20%e2%80%94%20The%20Linux%20Kernel%20documentation.html
Feel also free to fix any typos you spot
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1To4xVY8M6BDMBXEhEbaXuacZESdMzNFGECHk1a6nVPI/edit?usp=sharing,
I'll pick those up for the next version. You can also add notes with
suggestions there. But please do not add anything that might be covered
by copyright.
Ciao, Thorsten
To: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
CC: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
Thorsten Leemhuis (30):
docs: reporting-issues: mention text is best viewed rendered
docs: reporting-issues: tweak the reference section intro
docs: reporting-issues: add conclusion to the step-by-step guide
docs: reporting-issues: add proper appendix
docs: reporting-issues: outline why reporting is complicated
docs: reporting-issues: replace TLDR guide with more of an into
docs: reporting-issues: explain need for fresh vanilla kernel
docs: reporting-issues: add step about processing issues separately
docs: reporting-issues: tell users to check the kernel log
docs: reporting-issues: move 'check tainted flag' upwards
docs: reporting-issues: improve first tainted check
docs: reporting-issues: move 'check environment' upwards
docs: reporting-issues: improve environment check
docs: reporting-issues: improve text about checking for existing
issues
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on classifying the bug
docs: reporting-issues: add fast-track for regressions
docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'check MAINTAINERS file' upwards
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on looking up place to report
docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'check other places' upwards
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on check other places
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on backup et. al
docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'initial write-up' upwards
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on initial write-up
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on bug verification
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on non-regressions in stable
docs: reporting-issues: improve text on second search
docs: reporting-issues: make collecting files a separate step
docs: reporting-issues: separate steps for optimizing and submitting
reports
docs: reporting-issues: separate steps for follow-up tasks
docs: reporting-issues: fix a few line breaks
.../admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst | 2958 ++++++++---------
1 file changed, 1426 insertions(+), 1532 deletions(-)
base-commit: b14a05303f06d951c6ef7e23e5c8f3e3be21e17e
--
2.51.0
next reply other threads:[~2025-10-26 12:42 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 43+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-10-26 12:41 Thorsten Leemhuis [this message]
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 01/30] docs: reporting-issues: mention text is best viewed rendered Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:18 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-27 21:19 ` Randy Dunlap
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 02/30] docs: reporting-issues: tweak the reference section intro Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:27 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 03/30] docs: reporting-issues: add conclusion to the step-by-step guide Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:29 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 04/30] docs: reporting-issues: add proper appendix Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:38 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 05/30] docs: reporting-issues: outline why reporting is complicated Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:44 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 06/30] docs: reporting-issues: replace TLDR guide with more of an into Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-28 21:32 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 07/30] docs: reporting-issues: explain need for fresh vanilla kernel Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-28 21:40 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:41 ` [PATCH v1 08/30] docs: reporting-issues: add step about processing issues separately Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-28 21:42 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 09/30] docs: reporting-issues: tell users to check the kernel log Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-28 21:43 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 10/30] docs: reporting-issues: move 'check tainted flag' upwards Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-28 21:47 ` Jonathan Corbet
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 11/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve first tainted check Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 12/30] docs: reporting-issues: move 'check environment' upwards Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 13/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve environment check Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 14/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text about checking for existing issues Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 15/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on classifying the bug Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 16/30] docs: reporting-issues: add fast-track for regressions Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 17/30] docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'check MAINTAINERS file' upwards Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 18/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on looking up place to report Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 19/30] docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'check other places' upwards Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 20/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on check other places Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 21/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on backup et. al Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 22/30] docs: reporting-issues: move text on 'initial write-up' upwards Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 23/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on initial write-up Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 24/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on bug verification Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 25/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on non-regressions in stable Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 26/30] docs: reporting-issues: improve text on second search Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 27/30] docs: reporting-issues: make collecting files a separate step Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 28/30] docs: reporting-issues: separate steps for optimizing and submitting reports Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 29/30] docs: reporting-issues: separate steps for follow-up tasks Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-26 12:42 ` [PATCH v1 30/30] docs: reporting-issues: fix a few line breaks Thorsten Leemhuis
2025-10-27 17:16 ` [PATCH v1 00/30] docs: reporting-issues: rework Jonathan Corbet
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