Weirdly enough someone reported a Ubuntu bug I had and I was able to just respond to the email chain with more useful information as to the cause and that was that. I think mailing lists are powerful they just need to be clearer on how to use them and have some tutorial links towards the bottom. Dont ask me how you start a new email chain for a new bug though. I wouldn't know. To be fair I dont remember how I responded initially.

I agree though sometimes I dont bother reporting bugs if its not on GitHub or a system I am already registered for.