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Article #53067

How to report problems effectively

#53067
From: Richard Stallman
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1992 08:17
35 lines
2075 bytes
* If you build GCC according to the instructions, and it gets
compilation errors, please assume that is a bug.

* When you find a bug, report it *by mail* to
bug-gcc@prep.ai.mit.edu.  Don't post as news and don't
use gnu.gcc.help.

* Always state the precise configuration that you built GCC for,
and the precise options you used in a compilation that failed.

* When the problem involves a compiler error message, *show the source
code around that line*.  The current sources are different, so the
line numbers in the messages will not reliably show where the error is.

So include the source code in your message (assuming you would like
the bug to be fixed).

Yes, maintainers could get an unmodified copy of the release
and look there, but this is extra work.  We can barely keep up
with fixing the bugs as it is.  So please help by making it easy
for us.

* Try to investigate the problem when you can.
For example, if you get a problem with a system symbol that is
undefined, figure out why!  You know C.  You can figure out why a
symbol isn't defined in a C program like GCC.  Look at the header
files and see what they do.

If you don't do this, we may be unable to do it for you.  We don't
know what is in the header files on your machine.  That's one of the
reasons we ask that you send test cases as cpp output--to resolve any
uncertainty over header files.

Besides, if the maintainers have to do the whole job for every bug
report, we can't keep up with them.
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From: rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman)
Subject: How to report problems effectively
Message-ID: <9203121817.AA29432@mole.gnu.ai.mit.edu>
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1992 08:17:03 GMT
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