Ambiguous Error Messages

[ProtoSD]

Ok, I know there's been some frustration with the ambiguous error messages we get from FreeNAS. We've all seen these useless errors in just about every piece of software there is, but why? I mean, if the programmer put the message there, they must have anticipated a problem and had a clue to what it could be, so why not share? They should be something more entertaining or informative than "An error occurred" WTF?!

So, let's have some fun and vote on some alternate error messages.

 

[paleoN]

I voted for Unix fortune message. That way we can experience some humor when we get an error. Now the way I would implement it would be to have weighted probabilities of which fortune message you would receive based on which error occurs.

For example a particular iSCSI error would have a 75% chance to return any of the following:

• Pittsburgh driver's test
  2: A traffic light at an intersection changes from yellow to red, you should
  a) stop immediately.
  b) proceed slowly through the intersection.
  c) blow the horn.
  d) floor it.
  The correct answer is d.
  If you said c, you were almost right, so give yourself a half point.

• Pittsburgh driver's test
  4: Exhaust gas is
  a) beneficial.
  b) not harmful.
  c) toxic.
  d) a punk band.
  The correct answer is b.
  The meddling Washington eco-freak communist bureaucrats who say otherwise
  are liars. (Message to those who answered d. Go back to California where
  you came from. Your kind are not welcome here.)

• Pittsburgh driver's test
  5: Your car's horn is a vital piece of safety equipment.
  How often should you test it?
  a) once a year.
  b) once a month.
  c) once a day.
  d) once an hour.
  The correct answer is d.
  You should test your car's horn at least once every hour,
  and more often at night or in residential neighborhoods.

• Pittsburgh driver's test
  10: Potholes are
  a) extremely dangerous.
  b) patriotic.
  c) the fault of the previous administration.
  d) all going to be fixed next summer.
  The correct answer is b.
  Potholes destroy unpatriotic, unamerican, imported cars, since the holes
  are larger than the cars. If you drive a big, patriotic, American car
  you have nothing to worry about.

This would then allow the devs to create a lookup table to reference what error most likely occurred based on which message the user reported. The table would of course quickly grow stale as FreeNAS is updated.