Launchpad users are not associated with Linux Kernel Bug Tracker comments

[David Ward]

When using remote bug watches, Launchpad will associate a comment that was made directly on a Mozilla bug with the existing Launchpad user who made that comment. However, it does not do the same thing for Linux kernel bugs.

For example, see the following comment imported from bugzilla.mozilla.org into a Launchpad bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/thunderbird/+bug/567480/comments/134
Clicking my name above the comment text will display my Launchpad user page. I did not have to do anything to make this work.

Now, see the following comment imported from bugzilla.kernel.org into a Launchpad bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1290418/comments/45
Clicking my name will take you to the Launchpad user page for "david.ward-linux-kernel-bugs" (which does not exist). If I try to claim this user name, Launchpad returns an error because it is not a valid e-mail address. Comments made by other bugzilla.kernel.org users have the same issue.

For both Mozilla and the Linux kernel, my Bugzilla account is registered with the same e-mail address; this e-mail address is invisible when someone views the bug anonymously; and this e-mail address becomes visible when someone logs into the Bugzilla server.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

The kernel Bugzilla instance doesn't expose the email address:

  $ python
  >>> import xmlrpclib
  >>> mozilla = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/xmlrpc.cgi')
  >>> mozilla.Bug.comments({'comment_ids': [5440259]})['comments']['5440259']['creator']
  'david.ward@<domain redacted>'
  >>> kernel = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('https://bugzilla.kernel.org/xmlrpc.cgi')
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'comment_ids': [1052651]})['comments']['1052651']['creator']
  'david.ward'

There may be some other API to let us get hold of the email address; this will require investigation.

[Reposted comment to redact email address, since it's marked private on your Launchpad account.]

[David Ward (dpward)]

Two observations here — perhaps the second is more important.

First, bugzilla.kernel.org seems to truncate the response only if the XML-RPC request is unauthenticated:

  $ python
  >>> import xmlrpclib
  >>> kernel = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('https://bugzilla.kernel.org/xmlrpc.cgi')
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'comment_ids': [1052651]})['comments']['1052651']['creator']
  'david.ward'
  >>>
  >>> # API method added in Bugzilla 3.6
  ...
  >>> kernel_login = '<redacted>'
  >>> kernel_password = '<redacted>'
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'Bugzilla_login': kernel_login, 'Bugzilla_password': kernel_password, 'comment_ids': [1052651]})['comments']['1052651']['creator']
  'david.ward@<domain redacted>'
  >>>
  >>> # API method added in Bugzilla 5.0 (and backported to Bugzilla 4.4.3)
  ...
  >>> kernel_token = kernel.User.login({'login': kernel_login, 'password': kernel_password})['token']
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'Bugzilla_token': kernel_token, 'comment_ids': [1052651]})['comments']['1052651']['creator']
  'david.ward@<domain redacted>'

Second, the truncated login name returned by bugzilla.kernel.org is *not* unique to a single user:

  >>> # Comment from Dave Chinner: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=109291#c1
  ...
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'comment_ids': [954481]})['comments']['954481']['creator']
  'david'
  >>>
  >>> # Comment from David Hildenbrand: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=198621#c1
  ...
  >>> kernel.Bug.comments({'comment_ids': [1279013]})['comments']['1279013']['creator']
  'david'

As a result, if both of these bugs were watched by Launchpad, they would both appear here as if they involved the same person: https://bugs.launchpad.net/~david-linux-kernel-bugs
(Currently, neither of these bugs are being watched.)