Apport should be disabled by default

[Luis Alvarado]

I work with large communities (US, India, Latin America) and almost the number one issue they have with Ubuntu or simply scares them off is the fact that errors keep popping up every time. Some times multiples times per minutes, per hour, per day.

The reason is how apport works by default. The "solution" is going to /etc/default/apport and setting the option to 0 (Disable). I do understand the full benefit or submitting automatically all bug reports, but this has gotten (And most Ubuntu users will be able to confirm) out of hand with some many popup questions about some bug or another that are simply fixed the moment the report is going to be send (eg: Compiz issue that was fixed a couple of milliseconds later, unity issue, dash issue, firefox issue, etc..). All of them have mechanism to handle failures and basically heal themselves.

The question regarding this is:

Leaving apport enable by default on an Ubuntu installation simply scares or annoys end users (a lot may I add). Leaving it disabled, it will not send a bug report, but there is no issue in simply creating an ubuntu-bug report through the terminal. So the sending of the report is still valid, but is not forced onto the user (And not forced so many times).

This report is back by about 3 years going back and forth with the same apport issue and seeing probably around 500 users I have helped myself with the same issue, since this makes Ubuntu less productive to the actual user, even from start.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: apport 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-36.55-generic 4.4.16
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-36-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportLog:

ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Sep 14 08:16:03 2016
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-04-22 (144 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: apport
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
modified.conffile..etc.default.apport:
 # set this to 0 to disable apport, or to 1 to enable it
 # you can temporarily override this with
 # sudo service apport start force_start=1
 enabled=0
mtime.conffile..etc.default.apport: 2016-08-12T16:38:06.249273

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[TenLeftFingers (tenleftfingers)]

I'm working with small numbers, but experience the same issue. But I would argue that if Apport is a part of a healthy Q.A. strategy then leave it in place, but don't involve the user with those pesky popups at login and run-time.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Yes, any option that helps it not involving the user would help the new users introduced to Ubuntu (Avoid getting the idea that Ubuntu is constantly having issues because of the popups) and still send the information. This can be something opt-in for the user when installing the system.

[Federico Vera (fedevera)]

I agree that Apport popups are annoying and very user-unfriendly, but IMHO disabling it altogether is not the right approach, it might be better to show popups only when real user interaction is needed and available (for instance, in our case we have a lot of Apport popups on guest/public accounts that do not have enough privileges to actually send any data).

That being said, as far as the wiki states Apport is disabled by default in "stable" releases (I have a freshly installed Xenial LTS and still get around a dozen Apport popups everytime I start my computer, so maybe things changed since 2012...) [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Apport#How_to_enable_apport].

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

The crash reports which apport is notifying users about are going to errors.ubuntu.com for stable (non-development) releases of Ubuntu. This information is then aggregated for developers so that we know which crashes are affecting the most users and can then prioritize crashes. Without the crashes being reported we only have crash reports in Launchpad as an input and those are a subsample of the real crashes because it is more work for people to report them and with everyone reporting crashes we can see issues about packages not everyone installs.

Instead of just disabling apport, I'd suggest installing the apport-noui package so that users do not receive a pop-up regarding the crash reports and they are just automatically sent to errors.ubuntu.com. That being said keep in mind it is possible for crash reports to contain sensitive information, and that's why we don't install apport-noui automatically.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Brian, well that would not be a solution, a viable one at least. There needs to be an option that does not tell all Ubuntu users they need to install something to avoid something that should not be happening in the first place because of how it is perceived. One proposed solution is, during the installation process, ask with a simple yes/no answer if they would like to send error to Ubuntu (Or a similar idea). By default marked as no. Why marked as no, because from UX, we know users will click away at installing Ubuntu because of how easy it is. Leaving it on no will simply set the user (Who most probably is not interested or unable to send bug reports.

- So disabling would create issues for Developer, but resolve the whole point for end users.

- Leaving it enabled by default will make Developers happy, but make end users angry.

- Setting an option for End users (On by default) will make developers happy, but there would still be a lot of users asking why Ubuntu "has" so many bugs, because they would still get so many bug reports coming up.

- Setting an option for End users (Off by default) will make developers happy because only Ubuntu users that are actually interested in helping the development of it will set it to Yes, this, added to the fact that most users will stop asking about why Ubuntu "has" so many bugs.

Note that, even if the wiki states that Apport is disabled by default, that is not true in reality. It still shows on 16.04 and throws bugs like crazy.

[Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e)]

I agree with comment #6.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Just if anybody is wondering, apport came enabled by default on Ubuntu 16.10 and in I would say 15 minutes of installing it from scratch I had already 5 error reports, again, of things that were fixed automatically when the app reloaded itself. It just pushes the entry point of Ubuntu for new users away from being easy.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Just updating that in 17.04 and 17.10 it still shows, some times multiple times for the same issue. The opt-in option is better suited for end users and if a developer wants it enabled they can simply edit the apport file. But again, a year later and 2 versions later, a simple opt-in approach (that would actually help so many users I have talk to) would be the way to go. Anything else like telling the user to install something or thinking for the developer first (and forgetting the whole idea is to make a user friendly desktop system) is so wrong.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Guys, this has created more issues to newcomers than anything else I teach them. It should not be alerting the user EVERY TIME an app crashes (which simply comes back up after a second). It apport needs to be enabled to send or gather information it should ask ONCE during the installation process if the user wants to sent the information without being prompted every time an app crashes (and an option if they do want to be prompted). This basically promotes a new comer to leave ubuntu because they think the whole thing is broken. From a usability stand point, it is still the worse idea ever when trying to promote the system, The suggestions mentioned 12+ months ago have not being applied nor a feedback (which would be welcomed) received. It is very frustrating to explain to every new ubuntu user I teach or bring to use ubuntu (which already tops 5000+ users) that they need to disable apport to avoid the bug report popups.

[Fernando Contreras (monzagt3000)]

I agree with Luis I'm new in Ubuntu and this message is really painful to my eyes, you should run that on the background.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Bug 1778497 is about having a remember feature in apport which gives the user a way to say never report crashes or always report crashes. This feature is available in 18.04 and on. Could you please test it and see if it helps address your concerns? Thanks!

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Hi Brian, yes it works but in the installer it should have that option, so that when installing ubuntu for the first time for example, the user can stop reports from the beginning.

[Lug Skeiwoker (skeiwoker)]

Hi, what is the current status? Apport seems to be default-enabled on all the live images I tried. Also let me ask, the informational link where one can query one’s own uploads, it does not seem to display whether or not a coredump was uploaded. Could you provide the same? It was said that if retracers fail, the coredump with all your data stays for good in the system. it was nice if the tools would display such problems and maybe offer a way to request deletion in case of accidental submission.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Hi team, wasn't this already done since on the new 23.04 and maybe before, there is a specific question that asks if you would like to report or not to ubuntu? I think that is related to this directly no?