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I wanted to ask if Stack Overflow has an appropriate place to suggest bugfixes to, for example, a Python package with source code available in GitHub? Would this be something worth posting an SO question about? If so, what is the best practice for suggesting a bugfix?

More background:

After going through a lot of trouble with a Python library (PyCogent) I finally realised the problem was a bug in their source code.

My boss suggested I fork the GitHub repo, fix the bug, then send a pull request to the original developers.

psubsee2003
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asked Jan 22, 2014 at 11:05
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    Listen to your boss; Stack Overflow is not an issue handling system. If you have a question about how to fix the bug, ask that question. But if you have a bug fix ready, fork, send pull request, and let the PyCogent developers themselves handle this. Why would you expect them to read Stack Overflow to find out about the bug? Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 11:29
  • Cheers Main reason for me posting it was to get feedback that my fix to the bug was good/bad with suggestions from SO users. Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 11:35
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    If you want a code review, then there is codereview.stackexchange.com; if you want help with an approach or cannot quite figure out how to fix it, you can ask on Stack Overflow, but it may be better to ask in the issue tracker for the project; presumably the developers know their project best. Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 11:39

2 Answers 2

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File an issue with the project, as this is outside the realm of what Stack Overflow is for -- no such mechanism exists for something like what you are suggesting.

You might place that it's a bug with the library, providing references (e.g. GitHub issue) as an answer.

answered Jan 22, 2014 at 11:18
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Your boss made a pretty good suggestion there. The ideal way of fixing a bug in a public project is to send a patch yourself, or – in GitHub terms – forking the repo, and sending a pull request.

If you cannot fix the bug yourself, you'd obviously have to file a bug report as Qantas 94 Heavy suggested.

Stack Overflow itself is not the proper place to post a bug report.

answered Jan 22, 2014 at 11:22

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