Re: verbosity of test failure feedback

[Stefano Lattarini]

On Wednesday 08 September 2010, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> * Stefano Lattarini wrote on Wed, Sep 08, 2010 at 12:36:05AM CEST:
> > What about creating a separeted tarball for any failed/skipped
> > test (maybe in a proper common subdirectory
> > `tests/test-suite.dir'), then displaiyng a message which tells
> > the user "detailed information about tests' failures are
> > available in files saved in `tests/test-suite.dir'; please copy
> > this directory to a safe known place, and write to the mailing
> > list <address@hidden> for more information regarding how
> > to send these information over to package maintainers"?
> 
> Well, as a general rule I think users should keep around their
> build directories (unchanged) while issues are being hashed out. 
> This is nothing that is specific to Automake though.  :-)
> 
> If you have to ask one more time for more details anyway, you might
> as well make that as specific as possible and ask only for that
> which is missing.  The only viable alternative I see for avoiding
> the extra round trip is getting users to upload such tarballs to a
> binary post site, of which I don't know any specifically free
> ones, so I'm not sure promoting such is a good idea for a GNU
> package.
OK, agreed (well, at least as long as we lack a GNU-maintained binary 
post site ;-)

Now I just have to train myself to ask the users to send all relevant
details (if needed) in my *first* answer to their reports ;-)

Regards,
   Stefano