Posting debug logs to trac

[James Lockie]

Graham Cole wrote:
> Long time lurker, infrequent poster...
>
> I have a query regarding current policy for collecting debugging  
> information from users. Personally, I feel uncomfortable posting the  
> full output from the debugging window in Pidgin as a Trac attachment,  
> as it often contains information I'd rather not place on a reasonably  
> high-profile public website. Call me paranoid if you like, but I  
> don't like to put e-mail addresses for half the people I know on the  
> web in places where the likes of googlebot quickly snap them up.
>
> My solution to this problem thus far has been to edit the logs by  
> hand to remove identifying information. Doing this throughout the  
> whole file is time consuming, thus I've been posting partial logs  
> displaying only (what *I* think are) the relevant bits. This is  
> certainly not ideal, as developers will rightly wonder if they're  
> seeing the whole picture or not.
>
> I'm just wondering if anyone else feels this is a problem worth  
> solving. I'd be happier if Trac attachments required people to be  
> logged in to view them. Even better would be if Pidgin anonymised  
> exported debug data... though perhaps not such a practical suggestion.
>
> You might suggest that I use throwaway IM accounts for capturing  
> debug logs, but this is not always possible for particularly obscure  
> issues. Also I can't see most people motivated enough to keep extra  
> accounts around for this, though I'd guess some may share my privacy  
> concerns.
>
> Anyone have any thoughts on this?
>
> - Graham Cole
I totally agree.
What are the potential problems with pidgin anonymising the log file?