Apport to have launcher Icon and Start GUI for new users

Bug #1851257 reported by ianp5a
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
apport (Ubuntu)
New
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

REASON: To encourage bug reporting and reduce the amount of special knowledge required to file bugs, make the ubuntu-bug command discoverable, and more non-IT user friendly.
Knowledge of the right package, the URL to search packages, the URL to report bugs and the URL with documentation on how to report bugs is needed today and should be integrated.
Also to ensure Apport is used to gather system information automatically, rather than the user filing a manual report without this data.

Minimal Requirement:
1) Add a launcher ICON with a clear name like "Bug Report Tool"
2) The icon starts a small GUI that triggers the ubuntu-bug dialog as today.

On this single panel GUI are 5 items:
 a) Package selection button: The user interactively selects a window of the application, to find it's package name. Same as with "ubuntu-bug-w"
 b) Package Selection by type: A navigator to find the package where no application window is running. E.G. For desktop panels, menus, or apps that won't start. (users often fail here otherwise)
 c) Package search field: If the above items don't work, or the user knows the package name, a search field like on https://packages.ubuntu.com can solve this.
 d) Help Button. URL link to Reporting Bugs Documentation
 e) Start/Send button: This starts the rest of the ubuntu-bug dialog as today. If no package was selected the Apport dialog begins as today and offers it's choices as usual.

Barrier: Finding the package is a problem to normal users. Many do not know what a package is. Even if they know it, a Launchpad search often does not find it.
EG Blender Snap on Kubuntu works OK, but the Blender Eaon-Universe has a missing library. Neither search for Kubuntu or Blender finds the package.
EG: 'ubuntu-bugs' was not found on search on Launchpad or "packages.ubuntu.com". People would not guess Apport. Even searching apport on packages.ubuntu.com does not find apport package, but package apport. Is that the same one as apport package? There is also just "Apport". This barrier would be solved with automation.
EG: The command line is not familiar to non-IT users, so "dpkg -l" is unknown. It was mentioned on Alan Popes 1:12h video on bug reporting, listing many of the difficulties and tricks required:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2427&v=68ImDFjiq28

Bugs from non-IT users are underreported due to these barriers. Meaning they end up having a very different experience of Ubuntu than the experienced users, who might wonder why.

ADDITIONS to this requirement:
a) If you make a wrong selection in the apport choices, add new "Next/Back" buttons to allow options to be changed. Today you have to exit and start all over again.
b) If the bug belongs upstream or at another bug tracker, forward the bug to the correct place automatically. The user cannot know where to post it. The Bug reporting tool should be a one-stop shop.
c) If b) is too much work, add a help information and a URL to guide the user to report the bug in the best possible place.

ianp5a (ianp)
description: updated
description: updated
ianp5a (ianp)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
ianp5a (ianp) wrote :
Changed in apport (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
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