[Tracker] [Pidgin] #46: remove debug dialog

[Pidgin]

#46: remove debug dialog
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  Reporter:  hbons         |       Owner:                             
      Type:  defect        |      Status:  closed                     
  Priority:  minor         |   Milestone:  Go public with Pidgin 2.0.0
 Component:  pidgin (gtk)  |     Version:  2.0                        
Resolution:  wontfix       |    Keywords:                             
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Comment (by lschiere):

 Your comparison to firefox is entirely invalid.  Gaim differs
 significantly.  If there is a bug in firefox, it is with a webpage, and
 the user can send in details about the system firefox is installed on
 (debian unstable, amd64, single proc), and firefox version (such and such
 version via debian packge), *and the full steps to reproduce*.  This last
 is possible because 9 times out of 10, a firefox bug will be a combination
 of a firefox version and a given URL, possibly dependent on extentions
 installed or on preferences set.  All of these are obtainable after the
 fact.

 This is a critical difference.  Applications such as gaim, or tiger
 envelopes (www.tigerprivacy.com, an encryption program I do not use
 currently, but submitted bug reports about at one point), cannot work with
 this model.  Tiger envelopes solves this by creating HUGE log files,
 logging that the user cannot disable (but which are rotated), so that the
 user can submit the exact state of the program after the fact to report
 the bug.

 Gaim doesn't do this. But Gaim also does not fit the firefox model, the
 bug will depend on not just gaim version and system, but often on the
 exact traffic we receive from the server.  Again, users cannot be expected
 to install a new version of gaim just to be able to submit a bug report.
 I would argue that teaching them to use a bash output redirect also raises
 the bar too high.

 To be able to get the information we need from the user, a debugging
 window *must* exist.  It *must* be something the user can turn on and off.
 It must *not* require special command line flags (or we'd lose bug reports
 from users who have gaim started by their session and do not know how to
 change this).  This eliminates *every* other UI except a toggle in the
 preferences dialog or a toggle in a menu.

 You may not consider this a "good" reason, but I do, and apparently other
 developers agree with me.

 Pidgin *is* unstable, and denial on our part won't change that.  We work
 to make it more stable, and have succeeded for a significant number of our
 users.  But there remain a large number of non-trivial bugs.  There is no
 reason to be less than honest about this.  We are not a company whose
 bottom line depends on deception.

 I honestly don't care about the text of the menu item, but I consider the
 text of a *different* menu item to be a *different* issue, and in the SF
 trackers I refuse to acknowledge more than one issue in a given ticket.  I
 intend to maintain that practice here, it is impossible to ever
 effectively close a ticket when multiple issues are attempting to be
 addressed.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/46#comment:7>
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