Subject: Re: Bugs in Cygnus Tools bash
From: "Cliff Hones" <[email-masked]>
To: "Chris Game" <[email-masked]>
Cc: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 14:28:55 -0000

> > A word of advice - don't report things as bugs unless you are sure
> > they are bugs and not cockpit error - it can make you look
> > foolish if you or your configuration are to blame.
> 
> That seems a bit harsh. How else are people supposed to figure out
> what's wrong if they don't ask? There's no such thing as a stupid
> question, and any mis-reported bug gives an opportunity for Cygwin's
> usability to be improved - even if it's the documentation! And a few of
> us less-than-experts on here benefit from other's mistakes.

No - you misunderstand.  I wasn't suggesting that people don't ask for
help here - just that they don't immediately assume that the problem
lies with the tools rather than their use of them.  I tend to notice
that more experienced users report just the bare facts of a problem,
and even if they suspect it is a bug they wait for others (eg the
package maintainer) to confirm this.

And there is indeed such a thing as a stupid question.  But the
original poster didn't ask a question - he just blandly stated there
were bugs in bash, while the evidence he provided showed that it
was likely his misuse or misunderstanding at fault.  If he had
asked for help I wouldn't have made my comment.

-- Cliff

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