[00:00] <jcastro> ok everyone, let's get started
[00:01] <jcastro> please announce yourself and from which LoCo you hail from
[00:01] <jcastro> I'm Jorge Castro and I'm from ubuntu-michigan
[00:01] <nhandler> I'm Nathan Handler and I'm with ubuntu-chicago
[00:01] <jcastro> For the next hour I will be running a session on how to run an effective "bug jam" for your Local Team
[00:02] <jcastro> LoCo teams from around the world will be participating in the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam
[00:02] <jacob> jacob from ohio..!
[00:02] <jcastro> so the primary goal of these sessions are to provide help, tips, and tricks in how to make that more efficient and fun for everyone
[00:03] <jcastro> though a LoCo can have bug jams as much as they want
[00:03] <jcastro> For example in Berlin they have a bug jam every 2 weeks!
[00:03] <jcastro> Looks like we have good representation from the midwest
[00:03] <jcastro> anyone else?
[00:04] <jcastro> ok, let's continue. :)
[00:05] <jacob> heh, small group.
[00:05] <jcastro> So, the primary piece of documentation that is important for a bug jam is this page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RunningBugJam
[00:05] <jcastro> if you're doing a real life bug jam, ie. meeting someplace
[00:05] <jcastro> then the venue is probably the most important part
[00:06] <jacob> jcastro: bug jams have been done online? wasn't aware of that
[00:06] <jcastro> because that takes planning and choosing a location that fits for the loco
[00:06] <jcastro> yes, in fact, one of the most successful groups during the last GBJ was club-ubuntu
[00:06] <jcastro> which is a group of people without a physical loco
[00:06] <jacob> mm, interesting.
[00:06] <jcastro> of course, we encourage people to get together physically
[00:07] <jcastro> in fact, the goal of the bug jam isn't so much fixing bugs, as it is an opportunity for the loco to get together and have a good time
[00:07] <jcastro> so you shouldn't have a goal of something like "We should try to do X bugs as a loco"
[00:07] <jcastro> the goal should be that everyone has a good time
[00:07] <jcastro> and learned something about ubuntu
[00:08] <jcastro> so your venue should probably be centrally located
[00:08] <jcastro> or on a place that's easy for people from around the area to congregate at
[00:08] <jcastro> power and internet are of course important.
[00:08] <nhandler> And a projector can come in handy too
[00:08] <jcastro> yep
[00:09] <jcastro> one thing we found useful
[00:09] <jcastro> was to tell people to get their launchpad accounts ready beforehand.
[00:09] <jacob> Panera has been friendly with the power and wireless, though they have a 30min cap on wifi as of a few months ago (d'oh)
[00:09] <jcastro> new people will show up and need accounts, but it helps if you can get people to at least do those before they show up
[00:10] <jcastro> the projector is useful because we used it to keep a list o bugs we were working on
[00:10] <jcastro> and when someone got "stuck", someone would put the bug on the projector
[00:10] <jcastro> and then the group would go over the bug, discuss possible actions, and then recommend what to do
[00:10] <jcastro> this is useful because it allows new people to see how bug workflow works
[00:10] <jcastro> and it allows you to work together
[00:11] <jcastro> because it's easy to get rusty if you're not doing your 5-a-day. :)
[00:11] <jcastro> Promoting the jam is also key
[00:11] <jcastro> on the wiki page we provide a PDF that you can print
[00:11] <jcastro> (someone even translated it to spanish!)
[00:11] <jcastro> of course we encourage people to blog/dent/post on the forums, etc.
[00:12] <jcastro> You'll want to take pictures of the jam so you can share those with other Local Teams
[00:12] <jcastro> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam
[00:13] <jcastro> if you look on that page you'll see a list of bugs that we've classified from easy to hard.
[00:13] <nhandler> jcastro: You mentioned 5-a-day a few minutes ago. I would just like to mention that Daneil Holbach is currently working on improving 5-a-day, and plans to release a new version prior to the Global Bug Jam.
[00:13] <jcastro> right
[00:13] <jcastro> it'll be easy to just join a team
[00:13] <jcastro> instead of having an applet and all that
[00:13] <jacob> cool, i think that was a bit of a barrier when introducing some to 5-a-d
[00:13] <jcastro> For your new volunteers, something like "New bugs without a package assigned to them" would be useful
[00:14] <jcastro> yeah, that's why it's going away
[00:14] <jcastro> you'll just join your loco group in lp, and a 5-a-day group
[00:14] <jcastro> and then that's it
[00:14] <jcastro> Bugs marked for expiration are also good for beginners
[00:14] <jcastro> one can probably check those bugs for days asking the reporter if they still experience the bug.
[00:15] <jcastro> For more advanced and intermediate people we have lists as well
[00:15] <nhandler> needs-packaging bugs are also pretty easy to triage.
[00:15] <jcastro> yep
[00:15] <jcastro> You can pair people off, or small groups, or individual, whatever works for your team
[00:15] <jcastro> I tend to like pairing off experienced people with new people
[00:16] <jcastro> the experienced person won't get as many bugs done, but in the long run teaching their knowledge pays off
[00:16] <jcastro> plus since it's face-to-face, you can get alot of tutoring done, and then let the new person improve on their own after the GBJ
[00:17] <jcastro> teaching someone to fish vs. giving them a fish kind of thing
[00:17] <jcastro> any questions so far?
[00:17] <nhandler> Nope
[00:17] <jcastro> We also have a video of how to run a bug jam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBY7wfX2jpA
[00:17] <jacob> would it be a good idea to try to get a bug jam of sorts going on during a release party?
[00:17] <jcastro> also, all the videos in the developer channel
[00:17] <jacob> those have been ohio's most successful events in terms of attendance
[00:17] <jcastro> you could have those running on the projector too while people are doing stuff
[00:17] <jcastro> yes
[00:18] <nhandler> jacob: I believe that is what the French Loco did too
[00:18] <jacob> while the idea of a bug jam on the mailing lists has been met with a bit of silence
[00:18] <jcastro> in fact, we want LoCos to spontaneously run jams
[00:18] <jcastro> we also encourage locos to run jams at events
[00:19] <jcastro> so while we didn't have internet at the ohio linuxfest we still had a tutorial session on bug best practices, etc.
[00:19] <jacob> (if only there was internet access at OLF, that would be a great place for one)
[00:19] <jcastro> yeah
[00:19] <jcastro> We didn't try this at my loco last year but we plan to try
[00:19] <jcastro> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam/Bingo
[00:19]  * nhandler found the greasemonkey script annoying
[00:20] <jcastro> you can also think of local prizes or ways of rewarding people who are doing well
[00:20] <jcastro> again, don't worry about the actual numbers, worry about having a smooth run event where people are having a good time
[00:20] <jcastro> some loco's have jams at pubs, or they might go to a pub after, or whatever
[00:20] <jcastro> so it's very much a social thing
[00:21] <jcastro> a new volunteered shouldn't feel bummed out if they only get through one bug for example
[00:21] <jcastro> every little contribution is appreciated
[00:21] <jacob> i think our (ohio's) main barrier is getting people to *go* to the actual events - plenty show up on irc ;)
[00:21] <jcastro> well
[00:21] <jcastro> for non-GBJ days you can always do what club ubuntu does
[00:22] <jcastro> pick a date on the calendar and just do it in irc.
[00:22] <jcastro> sometimes a LoCo might want to pick one thing and work on those bugs
[00:22] <jcastro> for example "hey, we all like pidgin, let's focus on that."
[00:22] <jcastro> or something
[00:22] <jacob> jcastro: we've been doing that with a bit of success on Friday's, "5-a-day Friday"
[00:22] <jcastro> ah, excellent.
[00:22] <jcastro> I didn't know that, you should blog that. :D
[00:23] <jacob> it's quieted down recently, but i think i'll poke some people to get it running :P
[00:23] <nhandler> jacob: You might also consider turning it into a community-wide Bug Day
[00:23] <jacob> yeah, that's an idea. something for #ubuntu-bugs perhaps?
[00:24] <jcastro> whichever way works for your LoCo is encouraged.
[00:24] <jcastro> yeah, there are existing bug days
[00:24] <jcastro> called hug days
[00:24] <jacob> right
[00:24] <jcastro> it might be a good idea to just get your loco started in that
[00:24] <jcastro> and just set some small but attainable goals
[00:24] <jcastro> like "this cycle we'll do 2 hug days and the GBJ"
[00:24]  * jacob searches for the next hugday
[00:25] <nhandler> February 19 jacob
[00:25] <jacob> nhandler: thanks, that's close
[00:25] <jcastro> in our LoCo we really only do the release party and the GBJ as our two main events per cycle
[00:25] <nhandler> jacob: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBugDay/20090219
[00:25] <jcastro> and inbetween people try to do their 5-a-day
[00:26] <jcastro> any other questions or ideas?
[00:27] <nhandler> What wiki pages would you recommend showing to new contributors at/prior to the GBJ?
[00:27] <jcastro> ah
[00:27] <jcastro> good question
[00:27] <jacob> just remembered this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OhioTeam/5-A-Day-Friday if you're interested in that
[00:27] <jcastro> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs
[00:28] <jcastro> so we've revamped these pages to be easier to read
[00:28] <jcastro> and not so daunting
[00:28] <jacob> jcastro: indeed, those are much more pretty than I remember
[00:28] <jcastro> triaging is probably the best thing to get people started on
[00:29] <jcastro> It wouldn't hurt at the beginning of the jam for someone to go over a simple bug
[00:29] <jcastro> and the documentation
[00:29] <jcastro> though it's broken right now, remember staging.launchpad.net is a test instance of lp with test data
[00:30] <jcastro> so you can  make example bugs in there to help teach people
[00:30] <jcastro> without adding noise to the normal bug tracker
[00:30] <nhandler> Will staging.launchpad.net be up again by the GBJ?
[00:30] <jcastro> that is useful because people can click around and get a hang of it
[00:30] <jacob> ah, another thing - ustream.tv, works out well for demonstrating bugs if you have the right video hardware for streaming
[00:30] <jcastro> yeah it's been messed up today
[00:31] <jcastro> normally it's up and around though
[00:31] <jcastro> hmmm, any other tips?
[00:33] <nhandler> We have the Greasemonkey scripts that are very helpfuli
[00:33] <nhandler> s/helpfuli/helpful/
[00:33] <jcastro> ah, good pointer
[00:34] <jcastro> https://code.edge.launchpad.net/launchpad-gm-scripts
[00:34] <jcastro> though I would let the intermediate/advanced users use those
[00:34] <jcastro> I have found that explaining GM in the first place can get complicated for people
[00:35] <nhandler> I find the karma script very useful. It shows a user's LP name next to their real name. It also shows their karma and certain teams that they are on. This is useful for spotting comments from more experienced users.
[00:36] <jacob> nhandler: +1, i've added other teams to that script (our loco for example, makes it easy to spot team activity)
[00:37] <jcastro> that's a good idea
[00:38] <jcastro> I am trying to think of other wacky ideas
[00:38] <jcastro> but this is pretty straightforward and both your LoCos have been around for a while
[00:38] <jacob> bug jeopardy? "i'll have 'Bugs without a Package' for $500"
[00:39] <jcastro> haha
[00:39] <nhandler> What would you advise LoCo's that don't really have any experienced bug triagers do to participate in the GBJ?
[00:39] <jcastro> nhandler: I always learn by following along
[00:39] <nhandler> jcastro: Following along where? In #ubuntu-bugs?
[00:39] <jcastro> one thing I find useful is finding a person who is an experienced triager and follow their work
[00:39] <jcastro> yep, either in irc or on launchpad
[00:39] <jcastro> for example (give me a sec)
[00:41] <jcastro> ok so Pedro is a good example of an experienced bug person
[00:41] <jcastro> https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/~pvillavi
[00:41] <jcastro> that's the list of bugs he's touched
[00:41] <jcastro> you can have new people open a bunch of those in their browser
[00:41] <jcastro> and see how he does his work
[00:41] <nhandler> Most of the people at the top of the 5-a-day list (http://daniel.holba.ch/5-a-day-stats/) are pretty experienced too
[00:42] <jcastro> yep
[00:42] <jcastro> and also, ubuntu-bugs will be hopping with people
[00:42] <jcastro> and of course they will be available to answer questions, etc.
[00:42] <jcastro> one thing I find useful for the irc channel
[00:42] <jcastro> is to have one person representing the group
[00:42] <jcastro> and ask the questions on irc
[00:42] <jcastro> and then announce the answer or whatever in the room
[00:42] <nhandler> jcastro: Didn't bdmurray create a tag for LP that was used for new triagers to request help?
[00:43] <jcastro> that way you don't have people sitting next to each other all asking the same questions.
[00:43] <jcastro> hmm, I don't recall that
[00:43] <jcastro> but that is a good idea
[00:43] <jcastro> I will ask him and then add the info to the bug page
[00:43] <nhandler> Thanks a lot jcastro
[00:43] <jcastro> wow, that seems like a really great idea now that I think about it
[00:44] <jcastro> but at the minimum, if someone is totally lost, having them follow along with someone else or just watching a bug will help them
[00:45] <jcastro> bug work can be complicated and frustrating, so don't force it, go at their pace.
[00:46] <jcastro> any other ideas or questions?
[00:49] <jcastro> well, as always, people can ask questions on the loco lists
[00:49] <jcastro> or get ahold of me via jorge@ubuntu.com
[00:49] <jcastro> so go forth and conquer bugs!
[00:49] <jcastro> if you use KDE, you can go forth and konquer bugs!
[00:49] <nhandler> Thanks a lot for giving this great session jcastro !
[00:49] <nhandler> :)
[00:49] <jcastro> thank you for coming!
[00:50] <jacob> great session jcastro :)
[00:50] <jcastro> happy unix epoch everyone!
[00:50]  * jacob parties \o/
[00:50] <Rafik> thx jcastro :)
[00:52] <jcastro> wow, a fourth person!
[00:53] <nhandler> jcastro: I think you had a few people silently watching the session.
[00:54] <mattt> i found out about this channel too late, doh!  :)
[01:02] <nhandler> IRC Logs for jcastro's session are available here: http://paste.ubuntu.com/117893/
[01:03] <mattt> handy, tnx
[01:05] <nhandler> You're welcome matt
[03:20] <andresmujica> hmm...