On 25/08/13 13:03, winterfairy@??? wrote:
> Right now, the desktop icon read as "Report a bug". Bug is a real and
> recognized word for software error, but it is also a real and recognized
> word for a kind of surveillance device secretly recording audio [1]. I
> therefore believe that the word "bug" may be confusing in the context of
> Tails.
>
> I don't know what applies for English, but in Swedish non-technical people
> tend to believe you talk about the listening device when you say "bugg". I
> think this mistake may exist in more languages, so I propose to change the
> desktop icon to read as "Report an error" instead.
>
> Likewise I want the text inside whisperback that now reads "Help us fix
> your bug!" to read "Help us fix your software error!" or even "Help us fix
> your software bug!". And similar for other instances of the word "bug".
>
> If you do not think English speaking people can misunderstand the word
> "bug" in this context, I will simply change it in the Swedish translation
> only.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> [1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bug
Hi, sorry for the delay. I had a draft lying in my inbox for the past 10
days...
I'm generally in favor of getting rid of jargon and ambiguous terms. On
the other hand, from the definition you are linking, the meaning
"software error" seems to be quite more common that the meaning
"listening device". Plus the two style guides I often take as reference
(GNOME & Microsoft) don't hesitate to use it to mean "software error".
Microsoft Style Guide says: « Bug. Use without definition or apology to
refer to a software or hardware error. »
To follow on intrigeri's proposal to say "problem" instead of "error",
we are already mixing the usage of "bug" and "problem" in Whisperback.
We say "Report a Bug" but "Exact steps to reproduce the problem".
What worries here is to see people send reports to ask for help saying
"I can do XXX? How do I do XXX?". Using "error" would make it more
strict. We want people to use Whisperback to report "errors" not
"problems", eventually.
So, my proposal is to use "error" sometimes, but keep "bug" once the
ambiguity has be cleared. And to do that:
1. Change the desktop shortcut and the title of the documentation page
to "Report an error".
2. Change "Exact steps to reproduce the problem" to "Exact steps to
reproduce the error".
3. Change "Actual result / the problem" to "Actual result, the error".
But I'm not 100% convinced either :)
