Dear Mod:

Please reconsider the hard no bug report forum rule. It's only hindering the functionality of this forum.

For example, this thread:

https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/104397 [www.sidefx.com]

got locked because the mod think it's a bug report.

However, when a user posts an issue they encountered, it's NOT JUST TO REPORT BUGS. It's not to make Houdini look bad. It's asking for a solution/workaround. People, surprisingly, use Houdini to get their works done. Not to be an unpaid Q&A for SideFX or unpaid PR for AutoDesk.

IF that thread weren't locked, I could've told the original poster the workaround (yeah there is a workaround).

It'd beneficial not just for the original poster, but all the future users who google and find that thread. But since it's locked for purist reason, the chance was gone.

And even if the poster's intent is just to report a bug, and there is no workaround, at very least if other users confirm the bug exists in that thread, the future users will know that it's a bug not their settings issues.

But again, the thread locked. Learning chance gone.



I expect I'd probably be told to use RFE feature to 'report' this 'issue' or even be banned for life. But someone has to state the obvious. Does the official forum of any other DCC -- no, any other software -- have such a hard rule against quasi-bug-reports?

We're trying to make the software better for everyone. The best way to achieve that is when a bug is logged, assigned, and tracked so that it gets addressed via some combination of fix, UI improvement, and or documentation. A forum post with a workaround answer might sort things out for that particular user and anyone else that comes across the post but, of course, the bug is still in the software until someone reports it so that it gets assigned and fixed properly. That's why we have the READ THIS FIRST message in each forum - so that issues get properly logged and fixed...for everyone.