[13:10] <jsjgruber_> testing new lernid ubuntu version from here
[13:11] <leoquant> new version would be great
[17:16] <sebsebseb> hi
[17:25]  * jcastro taps the mic
[17:25] <jcastro> 5 minutes until the next Q+A
[17:26] <jcastro> Q and A with David Mandala, ARM Engineering Manager
[17:30] <jcastro> Alright welcome everyone
[17:31] <jcastro> welcome to our series of Q+A sessions with managers at Canonical
[17:31] <jcastro> up today we have David Mandala, ARM Engineering manager for Ubuntu
[17:31] <jcastro> he's going to introduce himself
[17:31] <jcastro> so start thinking about your questions
[17:31] <davidm> Hi Everyone, I'm David Mandala, I'm the manager of the Ubuntu ARM team and have been working on ARM for the last couple of years within Ubuntu
[17:31] <jcastro> and ask them with QUESTION: in the #ubuntu-classroom-chat channel
[17:32] <jcastro> and then we'll get started
[17:32] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/04/01/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
[17:32] <jcastro> so without further delay, take it away davidm!
[17:32] <davidm> I am happy to try and answer your questions about Ubuntu ARM
[17:33] <jcastro> while people start to queue up questions why don't you tell us about yourself
[17:33] <jcastro> and your team
[17:33] <jcastro> and what it is your team does
[17:34] <davidm> The ARM team is fairly small, we enable different ARM system on chip designed to run Ubuntu Netbook
[17:34] <davidm> To date we enabled the Freescale iMX51, the Marvell Dove, the TI OMAP 3 and TI OMAP 4 SoC's
[17:35] <davidm> The Ubuntu 10.10 contains images for Marvell and TI OMAP 3 and 4
[17:35] <ClassBot> davidcalle asked: What's your feeling about Unity 2D?
[17:36] <davidm> I think Unity 2D is really nice on ARM.  One of our challenges with ARM is the accelerated graphics stack is usually proprietary
[17:37] <davidm> I think Unity 2D is lightweight and runs really really well with out acceleration
[17:38] <ClassBot> bjf asked: when will ubuntu start producing arm images targeted specifically at arm server ?
[17:38] <davidm> We are producing a headless image this cycle and I think specific ARM server images will follow on very soon
[17:39] <davidm> possibly as soon as the next cycle but its not completely clear today
[17:39] <ClassBot> bjf asked: What is the currently recommended HW platform for someone wanting to get started, playing with ubuntu on ARM ?
[17:40] <davidm> I personally like the TI Panda board, we have images and drivers for that board in the upcoming release.  You can also use a Beagle or BeagleXM all of the boards are sub $200 USD
[17:41] <davidm> The beagle is a little low on RAM for the netbook image, The Beagle XM and Panda have more RAM
[17:41] <ClassBot> sebsebseb asked: Some people go on about ARM, but what's so special about it really, not just for Ubuntu, but in general?
[17:43] <davidm> ARM is a very very low power architecture, using milli watts or 1-2 watts vs other chip families that use 50+ watts or even hundreds of watts
[17:43] <davidm> most folks today that have a cell phone are carrying an ARM device, nearly all cell phones use ARM SoC's
[17:44] <davidm> So think in terms of many many hours of battery life and no fans in designs
[17:44] <ClassBot> davidcalle asked: Can you tell us what companies/vendors will ship 11.04 on arm?
[17:45] <davidm> 11.04 will ship with Netbook images for Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP 3 and OMAP 4.  There will also be headless serial port images for both TI SoC's
[17:46] <ClassBot> davidcalle asked: What is your team going to focus on during the next cycle?
[17:47] <davidm> Well we never quite know for sure what new SoC's might be in the pipeline but we expect to continue with the TI SoC's and perhaps some others as low cost boards become available to the community
[17:47] <ClassBot> sebsebseb asked: Do you think Ubuntu might eventually have a version for mobilephones/smartphones?
[17:49] <davidm> That is a good question, but I don't know the answer really.  We might, certainly Unity and Unity 2D are targeted to making better use of small screens.  But cell phones have a really small screen so if it happens it will need applications that work on that size screen
[17:50] <davidm> We don't have many of those today for sure.  The ARM team is working hard with upstreams to fix application window sizes just to properly fit netbooks today
[17:51] <ClassBot> popey asked: Why is it that the latest ARM laptop on the market (Hercules http://www.hercules.com/uk/ecafe/bdd/p/156/ecafe-trade-ex-hd-black-/ ) looks like it uses Ubuntu and should be applauded, but doesn't even mention Ubuntu on the site? No OEM license?
[17:52] <davidm> Well I can't talk to the specifics in this case, it's the first I've seen this netbook.  I am really happy to see Ubuntu ARM being used.  From my quick look at it just now it does indeed look like it's using Ubuntu ARM images.  All I can say is yea! Folks are using what we make :-)
[17:52] <ClassBot> popey asked: How much longer do we have to wait for ARM to deliver credible alternative laptops to x86? (I can name only two ARM laptops that actually ship off the top of my head)
[17:53] <davidm> Sorry my Crystal ball is broken today ;-P
[17:53] <jcastro> heh
[17:54] <davidm> That said I hope to see more and more netbooks shipping over the next year, I was able to buy a Toshiba AC100 over the counter in the UK 4 months ago.  Granted is was not running Ubuntu but it is really really nice.  And the community was nice enough to get Ubuntu running on it :-)
[17:55] <davidm> So the stream has started, I hope it turns into a flood over the next 12 - 18 months
[17:55] <ClassBot> sebsebseb asked: Will Ubuntu Light be available for download?
[17:57] <davidm> Sorry I don't know much about Ubuntu Light, it was designed to provide a super fast boot to check email and web.  I have no idea where it's at today, there does seem to be less demand for such technology as boot speeds on Ubuntu are much faster then they were even a year ago.
[17:57] <davidm> My team did not work on that project sorry I can't tell you more, I just don't know more.
[17:58] <davidm> Wow no questions in the queue
[17:59] <davidm> Either I've done a great job at answering your questions or such a bad job you have all run away screaming
[18:00] <ClassBot> sebsebseb asked: If Canonical gets much more invovled with ARM Linux, will it maybe help other distros sometimes with this as well?
[18:01] <davidm> sebsebseb I'm not sure I understand the question, but here goes:  We work hard to make sure the entire archive works with ARMv7 hardware and we push fixes upstream when we find issues with code that works with x86 and not on ARM.  For example we found that mono on ARM was very broken and folks on my team have been working hard with upstream to fix that
[18:02] <davidm> So from the point of view of over all increasing the quality of applications running on ARM we do that
[18:03] <davidm> in terms of helping other distro's build ARM version of their distro's no that we don't do.  As I said at the beginning we are a very small team.
[18:03] <ClassBot> davidcalle asked: How do you feel about Linaro?
[18:03] <davidm> I think that Linaro is very important
[18:04] <davidm> If you want to develop applications on X86 it's trivial to do the same on ARM is harder.  Linaro is helping to make developing both applications and products on ARM as easy as it is today on X86
[18:06] <davidm> Today its nearly impossible to boot the same ARM kernel on more then a single board, you actually need to change settings and  recompile for each platform and board supported.
[18:06] <davidm> Linaro is working to change that.
[18:07] <davidm> On x86 Ubuntu effectively has two kernels a 32 bit and a 64 bit kernel.  On ARM we have had lots more then that just to support a hand full of SoC's
[18:07] <davidm> There is a lot more that Linaro is doing but they can tell you more I'm sure
[18:08] <ClassBot> sebsebseb asked: Yeah, but I meant if the ARM team at Canonical was much bigger, would it then maybe help other distro's make ARM versions of their distros sometimes?
[18:10] <davidm> Not really, our job is to work on Ubuntu ARM not on brand x ARM.  As I said we are concerned about making ARM applications better, but each distro has different goals different desires.  We will stay focused on Ubuntu not other distro's
[18:11] <davidm> More questions?
[18:13] <ClassBot> davidcalle asked: could you or your team make a video of an arm device booting and running Unity 2D?
[18:14] <davidm> Wow, nice question, and oddly enough something I had never thought of.  I don't see why we could not.
[18:15] <davidm> I'll get it done, perhaps not until after release we are really tight jammed up testing and closing as many bugs as we can, but perhaps right after release
[18:16]  * davidm slaps his head, what a great idea!
[18:16] <davidm> Folks we have about 145 minutes left more questions?
[18:17] <davidm> Folks we have about 13 minutes left more questions? (fix typo) ;-D
[18:18] <davidm> It is harder to do this then I thought.  If you get your fingers moving too fast you spend a lot of time looking for typo's
[18:19] <davidm> Anyway, grap a board (they are pretty cheap) jump in we have some nice images to work with and help close bugs and fix screen size issues. :-)
[18:20] <ClassBot> GrueMaster asked: What is the best way for the community to add input to the devlopment process of arm images?
[18:20] <davidm> Great question
[18:20] <davidm> :-)
[18:21] <davidm> Well there are several things you can do: 1) Attend UDS, come with ideas and be ready to help. 2) Jump into #ubuntu-arm and make suggestions and also be willing to help
[18:21] <davidm> hmm several???? That was two
[18:21] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[18:21] <davidm> come into #ubuntu-devel and make suggestions and again be willing to help
[18:22] <davidm> The nice part is for the last couple if years it's been nearly impossible to get hardware.  That has changed, you can get a Panda board, you can get Beagle boards
[18:23] <davidm> That means you can test, develop and share your ideas far more easily then ever before.
[18:24] <davidm> I really look forward to all of you showing up in #ubuntu-arm and jumping into the pool.  It's fun.
[18:25] <davidm> I think that Linaro might be doing more with Android not sure you may want to ask in the Linaro mailing lists or irc channels
[18:25] <davidm> Sorry I don't know more for sure
[18:25] <davidm>  thanks for coming today, this was fun
[18:26]  * davidm has clearly lost his marbles and needs help finding them
[18:26] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
[18:27] <davidm> Anyone finding davidm's marbles please bring them to #ubuntu-arm so he can gather them up and put them back in place
[18:29] <davidm> OK just about out of time, if you have more questions at any time come one over and ask them in #ubuntu-arm
[18:30] <davidm> thanks again for your time and questions
[18:31] <jcastro> thanks everyone for stopping by!
[18:31] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/04/01/%23ubuntu-classroom.html
[20:49] <bebe> Hi everybody! Iḿ looking for a moderator for facebooks "ubuntu" group. Iǘe got the tipp to search for one here... Thank you!
[20:51] <serfus> bebe, this is actually not the right place
[20:52] <serfus> bebe, if i am correct jono bacon is the facebook group owner
[20:52] <bebe> Oh thank you!
[20:52] <serfus> bebe, why don't you just send him a message through facebook?
[20:53] <bebe> I came here via this site: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WeeklyQandA?action=AttachFile...
[20:54] <bebe> After knowing his name (thank you again) iĺl try to contact him on facebook.
[20:55] <bebe> Ah- i have found him on facebook. Great!
[21:07] <bebe> @serfus: I wrote to Jono- i think, you helped very much! Thank you, have a good time! Cheers!
[21:07] <meetingology> bebe: Error: "serfus:" is not a valid command.