The web, as the interactive playground it is, creates the ideal format for instant and conversational feedback and comments. This speeds up a process that was previously limited to letters and phone calls yet creates a new arena of pointless noise and spiteful remarks.

Let's look at a recent comment on the Cromium issue tracker:

Autofill suggestions not visible on forms with yellow background in edit fields [link]

This is a problem where the default text field background highlighting in Chrome/Chromium is yellow, which causes problems on sites with a dark theme using white text in text boxes.

The initial report is concise, explains the steps to reproduce and offers a screenshot of the problem. Additional comments highlight similar problems with Webkit and add to the issue. More recent comments add nothing:

"Fix it once and for all Google!"

"Please (and I mean PLEASE) you should not force styles to [sic] webdevelopers. It really is very hard to maintain a design through all browsers (and I mean VERY HARD). If you start making these kinds of decisions for us you will be quickly put in the same side as IE stands... you know wich [sic] side is that."

Was this a threat? A misunderstanding of how web development works?

It's important to understand that comments like this sully the actual issue and turn a sound bug report into a childish blabble of nonsense. It's not exactly the most productive way to get the issue resolved.

How to give good feedback in bug tracking

1, search for your issue

If someone has written something similar or said more or less the same thing you were thinking of writing there is no need for a similar comment.

This is because duplicates waste time. It's more than likely that you can like a comment, star an issue or recommend it. This means your view is heard and the main point is kept concise (which showing others think the same).

2, Be coherent

Explain clearly, using steps if possible, how to replicate the problem.

This helps people understand how this affected you. "it doesn't work" or "fix it now" doesn't describe anything.

3, be polite

Cultural differences or writing in a second language can often lead to comments being read in the wrong light. Being rude can lead to unwarranted arguments that detract from the issue at hand.

4. Reread what you have written

Make sure you understand it and that any steps taken to reproduce the issue can be followed to reproduce the bug.

5. Follow up

There is not point making a statement or reporting an issue then ignoring any questions or responses.