How to report Ubuntu crashes Updated 2025-07-16
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Their crash system does not have an amazing user interface.
Tested on Ubuntu 21.10.
After something crashes, look under /var/crash for a crash file, which helps to determine which package to report under on Launchpad.
E.g. a file /var/crash/_usr_sbin_gdm3.0.crash makes you want to file the bug under gdm at: bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+filebug
Then, while reporting the bug, you want to give the developpers access to that .crash file. But you can't publicly upload it because it contains memory dumps and could contain secret information. The way to do it is to look at the ID under:
sudo cat /var/crash/_usr_sbin_gdm3.0.uploaded
Ubuntu's crash report system has already uploaded the .crash for you, so you just have to confirm it and give the ID on the ticket.
You can view a list of all your uploaded errors at:
xdg-open https://errors.ubuntu.com/user/$(sudo cat /var/lib/whoopsie/whoopsie-id)
and each of those contain a link to:
https://errors.ubuntu.com/oops/<.uloaded error id>
which you yourself cannot see.
Running:
sudo apport-unpack /var/crash/_usr_sbin_gdm3.0.crash /tmp/app
splits it up into a few files, but does not make any major improvements.
apport-retrace
sudo apt install apport-retrace
sudo chmod 666 /var/crash/_usr_sbin_gdm3.0.crash
apport-retrace -g /var/crash/_usr_sbin_gdm3.0.crash
opens GDB with the core dump. Debug symbols are supplied as separate packages, which is a really cool idea: so you should be able to download them after the crash to see symbols. askubuntu.com/questions/487222/how-to-install-debug-symbols-for-installed-packages mentions how to install them. Official docs at: wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProgramCrash#Debug_Symbol_Packages
Tried:
echo "deb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com $(lsb_release -cs) main restricted universe multiverse" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddebs.list
echo -e "deb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com $(lsb_release -cs)-updates main restricted universe multiverse\ndeb http://ddebs.ubuntu.com $(lsb_release -cs)-proposed main restricted universe multiverse" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddebs.list
sudo apt install ubuntu-dbgsym-keyring
but then sudo apt update fails with:
E: The repository 'http://ddebs.ubuntu.com impish-security Release' does not have a Release file.
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Software with bad user interface Updated 2025-07-16
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It is hard to pinpoint why, but the following useful software just feel bad for some reason:
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