Package: bugs.debian.org Problem: Users get 'bug closed' notice and are left scratching their heads why. (Happens in some installations of the BTS much more than others.)
Solution 1: Train developers proper use of BTS. Never worked. They forget. E.g,, on debbugs.gnu.org. Been there. Done that. Solution 2: User should subscribe to the bug. No way to automate. Users need to take extra action for each bug. And even if they could set an "always subscribe me", would still make duplicate mail except for the final improper close, where it finally shines as a solution, just once. Solution 3: User simply should get on the Internet and browse the bug on the BTS website to figure out what happened. Alas, user cannot take his mailbox on a trip without needing to connect again to find out what happened for each bug. Much worse than other trackers that send the answer in the close message (Bugzilla, Trac, etc.) User is wondering "why do I need to connect again just to get the answer?" Final Solution: The BTS, upon receiving the "close" command, should generate its normal mail to the user: Your bug has now been closed. However it should look back, and append: "Here's a list of actions that happened since the last time you received mail:" Bloflowitz commented "Hey Nurflowitz." 12:34 April 3, 2018. Nurflowitz marked the bug as wontfix 13:44 April 3, 2018. Nurflowitz closed the bug 13:45 April 3, 2018. That's right, the BTS should look back until the last Cc of the submitter's email somewhere in the headers, or the 12345-submitter address, and send a summary of the missing chunk of actions along in the "your bug has been closed" notification. Problem solved! This upgrade will work fine even on BTS's with properly trained developers, e.g., bugs.debian.org, as the developers usually properly Cc the submitter, thus that summary will (usually) be empty, and the "Here's a list of actions that happened..." line will (usually) not be triggered. So nothing will look different (usually)!
