/srv/irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/05/20/#ubuntu-classroom.txt

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jonohi everyone17:29
jonoQ+A with rickspencer3 kicks off in a min17:29
rickspencer3hi jono17:29
jonohi rickspencer317:29
jonoalright, lets give it a minute for the late stragglers to arrive :-)17:30
=== ChanServ changed the topic of #ubuntu-classroom to: Welcome to the Ubuntu Classroom - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Classroom || Support in #ubuntu || Upcoming Schedule: http://is.gd/8rtIi || Questions in #ubuntu-classroom-chat || Current Session: Q and A with Rick Spencer - Instructors: rickspencer3
ClassBotLogs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/05/20/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.17:32
jonoOK, let's get this show on the road17:33
rickspencer3indeed!17:33
jonotoday we have an exciting Q+A session17:33
jonotoday Rick Spencer, the Ubuntu Engineering Director, the guy responsible for delivering engineering at Canonical for each Ubuntu release, is going to answer your questions17:33
rickspencer3hi all17:33
jonoasking questions is really simple, this is how it works:17:33
jono 1. Join #ubuntu-classroom-chat17:33
jono 2. Ask you your question and pre-fix it with 'QUESTION'17:34
jonofor example:17:34
jonoQUESTION: what are the plans for the Ocelot cycle?17:34
jonothat's it!17:34
jonoso, without further ado, get your questions in, folks!17:34
rickspencer3hi all17:35
rickspencer3I'll do my best to answer any and all question17:35
rickspencer3please note, I'm usually great with tech support though :/17:35
rickspencer3I can point you to the right places17:35
rickspencer3let's see if there are any questions yet17:35
ClassBotBourne23612 asked: will ubuntu be ever be able to play mp3 files?17:36
rickspencer3hmm17:36
rickspencer3interesting question17:36
rickspencer3I play mp3 files all the time on Ubuntu17:36
rickspencer3so, the thing about mp3s is that the codec is not totally free17:36
rickspencer3and Ubuntu is a Free os, so we don't install mp3 support by default17:36
rickspencer3however, of course the developers know that people want mp3s!17:37
rickspencer3so, they've made it easy to get mp3 support17:37
rickspencer3I think you can even turn on mp3 support from the installer starting in 10.1017:37
rickspencer3however, this is not checked by default because many of us, inculding the tech board, we not comforatable with enabling a non-free desktop be default17:37
rickspencer3you can also buy supported codecs in software cetner17:38
rickspencer3and there are are free codecs supported in universe, as well17:38
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rickspencer3also, if you try to play an mp3, Ubuntu should try to install support for you, but to be honest, I don't think we've given that part of the experience much attention17:39
ClassBotbcurtiswx_ asked: how'd you get where you are now? did you start in bugs, or devel, or pacakging, or d) none of the above ?17:39
rickspencer3hi bcurtiswx_17:39
rickspencer3so, I think you're asking "how did I get to be director"17:39
rickspencer3I took a "none of the above" route17:39
rickspencer3brace yourself bcurtiswx_, this is a long story17:40
rickspencer3I'll try for a short version17:40
rickspencer3I started with computers when I was about 1217:41
rickspencer3at that time, all you could really do with a 'puter was program it and use the programs you wrote17:41
rickspencer3we distributed programs via listings17:41
rickspencer3that is, to distribute software, we printed the source code and sent it int he mail!17:41
rickspencer3years later, a learned all about program management and stuff during an amost 10 year stint at Microsoct17:42
rickspencer3Microsoft*17:42
rickspencer3which is what brought me to Seattle17:42
rickspencer3however, some years ago, I fell in love with open software, so, I'm sure you can imagine that this limited my options at Microsoft, so I quit to get into Free Software17:42
rickspencer3I got a job running a development team that used, but did not create (much) free software17:43
rickspencer3then about 3 years ago, I saw Canonical was hiring for a Desktop Engineering Manager17:43
rickspencer3I applied on teh website, and Keybuck hired me!17:43
rickspencer3meantime, I had been writing a lot of code for Ubuntu related projects17:44
rickspencer3I had started a project to make programming for Ubuntu as easier than programming with Visual Studio17:44
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rickspencer3so I had this body of work and a vision for the product and all this management experience17:44
rickspencer3then the desktop team took really good care of me17:44
rickspencer3really tought me all about teamwork, how to build Ubuntu, etc...17:45
rickspencer3then the Ubuntu team at Canonical got really big, and Ubuntu Engineering needed a director, and I got that job17:45
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rickspencer3(I left out lots of juicy bits, but I guess the heart of the answer is that I cast my lot with Ubuntu, quit my job, and started a project that interested me)17:45
rickspencer3phew17:46
* rickspencer3 sips water from cup17:46
ClassBotbadday asked: Are you planning to use Thunderbird instead of Evolution in the future?17:46
rickspencer3not my call!17:46
rickspencer3I'm not on the desktop team anymore :(17:46
rickspencer3*sniff*17:46
rickspencer3I would ask jasoncwarner, or email the ubuntu-desktop list if you want to discuss that17:46
rickspencer3I don't hve a strong opinion, personally, I like evo fine17:47
ClassBotpantaloons asked: it is hard to get started in android development on ubuntu because java setup is difficult. do you plan to work with google to make this a more smooth process without the terminal involved?17:47
rickspencer3not that I know of17:47
rickspencer3I'd like to see some investment in Ubuntu as a platform for developing for other platforms, but this hasn't risen to the top of Canonical's priorities yet17:48
rickspencer3if a community led effort starts around this, I'd love to know in case there are things we can do to help17:48
ClassBotnigelb asked: As Engineering Director, what does your day to day job entail?17:49
rickspencer3well, I spend a lot of time on the phone, tbh17:49
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rickspencer3I see my job largley as a supporting role, to help Ubuntu Engineers (employed by Canonical or not) to meet their goals with Ubuntu17:50
rickspencer3but I also find myself doing a lot of talking with other managers at Canonical who would like Ubuntu to do certain things17:50
rickspencer3talking to Ubuntu engineers to make sure that everyone is rowing in the same direction17:50
rickspencer3etc...17:50
rickspencer3so, a lot of listening17:51
rickspencer3a lot of email17:51
rickspencer3pretty boring now that I am talking about it ;)17:51
ClassBotbadday asked: Are there concrete plans to improve working together with debain so that both can profit from recent developements?17:52
rickspencer3I;m not 100% certain which recent developments you are referring to17:52
rickspencer3but most of the work that I see going on to make the Ubuntu <-> Debian relationship more and more mutual beneficial happens at the engineer to engineer level17:53
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rickspencer3in general, I see a strong debian resulting in a strong Ubuntu, and visa versa17:54
rickspencer3so I am supportive off efforts to, for instance, work a package into Ubuntu via debian, or whatever17:54
rickspencer3then there is teh Dex project17:54
rickspencer3but that's not Ubuntu specific17:54
ClassBotprimefalcon asked: I want to know is if the freezing issue with 11.04 on an ati graphics driver has been solved yet?17:55
rickspencer3urk17:55
rickspencer3well, ATI tends to give open source distros a bit of heartache due to the closed development of their drivers17:55
rickspencer3so, I don;t know if you are referring to the community developed driver, or the closed driver17:55
rickspencer3in any case, I'm sorry it's freezing for, but I don't know if that specific issue has been solved17:56
rickspencer3launchpad would be able to answer your question better than I could17:56
ClassBotbleiz asked: i have a little problem with my ubuntu 11.04.When I reduce a window, it leaves traces on the screen, how to solve it?17:56
rickspencer3sorry, dunno, I would check if a bug has been logged17:56
rickspencer3sounds annoying though, sorry about that17:57
ClassBotasif_ asked: I really want to get involved withd ubuntu. I have set up my username and everything but I cant find any code to assist me. Any idea where i can get a start17:57
rickspencer3hi asif_17:57
rickspencer3I hope you find it welcoming and fun to contribute to Ubuntu17:57
rickspencer3I'm sorry that you are finding it frustrating to get started17:57
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rickspencer3in fact, we talked about this problem quite a bit at the last Ubuntu Developer Summit17:58
rickspencer3different kinds of people want to contribute in different ways, and it can be hard to see how to get started17:58
rickspencer3when you say you "can't find any code" this suggest to me that you are seeking to contribute via coding, as apposed to packaging, documentation, artwork, etc...17:58
rickspencer3I would suggest, perhaps, joining an irc channel for an application that you are interested in18:00
rickspencer3and asking how to help18:00
rickspencer3however, without knowing more specifics, it's hard for me to say18:00
rickspencer3feel free to PM later if you want to talk more, at least I should be able to connect you iwth someone to help yuo get started18:00
ClassBotprimefalcon asked: Actually I do have one solid question since LTS releases are supposed to be the more stable releases why aren't these pushed towards the new users rather than the standard releases18:00
rickspencer3well ...18:01
rickspencer3there are different view points on this18:01
rickspencer3the LTS are more stable in the sense that they are supported longer18:01
rickspencer3for example, with security updates18:01
rickspencer3so, once the problems are shaken out of the release, the release is more durable in taht sense18:02
rickspencer3however, the Free Desktop moves fast!18:02
rickspencer3every 6 months a new kernel supports new hardware, for example18:02
rickspencer3apps are upgraded18:02
rickspencer3etc...18:02
rickspencer3so, there is some benefit to staying with the current release18:03
rickspencer3however, I understand what you are saying18:03
rickspencer3the implication is that Ubuntu quality is not always sufficient for a new user, adn this causes frustration for the user, and makes it hard to support them18:03
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rickspencer3I want us to take the approach of fixing that problem18:03
rickspencer3strive to make every release suitable for a new user!18:04
ClassBotBourne23612 asked: i hate to say this but video quality is not as crisp in ubuntu as in windows.will anything be done about it?18:04
rickspencer3well, if it's true, please don't "hate to say it"18:04
rickspencer3I mean, it's not trolling or anything if you're pointing out an area of improvement, especially if it's said in the spirit of teamwork and with a willingness to help18:05
rickspencer3so, hmmm18:05
rickspencer3I'm not sure specifically what you are referring to us "video quality"18:05
rickspencer3if it's that graphics chip support is not as great as it could be18:05
rickspencer3I totally agree with you18:06
rickspencer3fortunately, Ubuntu has a thriving xorg team18:06
rickspencer3and they are growing and this is getting better each time18:06
rickspencer3and they have some ineteresting proposals to get more stable graphics support in each release, while also finding a way to support new video hardware18:06
rickspencer3I suggest that you look into joining the xorg-edgers team to get involved18:07
rickspencer3but, they are looking at options such as staying one xorg version behind each release to get the quality of that release18:08
rickspencer3but then packaging the current xorg for folks who need that for their hardware18:08
rickspencer3also, bryceh, RAOF, sarvat, tselliot, and others have been engaging with chip vendors directly to discuss aligning development models with Free Desktop release schedules and such18:09
ClassBotRevSpecies116 asked: Is Ubuntu moving away from Mono use?18:09
rickspencer3It always interests me how the discussion around mono can get emotional and political, and rarely looks at it's technical merits18:10
rickspencer3in any case, I don't think anything has changed in Ubuntu's position wrt mono18:10
rickspencer3so long as useful programs are written in it, and the terms under which the technology is available is Free, Ubuntu will choose mono apps if that is in the best interests of the user18:11
rickspencer3for example, the desktop team moved to Banshee in 10.10, because they thought that was best for hte user, the switched to a mono app18:11
rickspencer3previously, they switched from f-spot to shotwell, so moved away from a mono app18:11
ClassBotcprofitt asked: what is the status of the project to make development as easy on Ubuntu as it is on Windows with Visual Studio?18:12
rickspencer3so, I will answer this as crisp as possible, because once I start talking about it, it's hard for me to stop18:12
rickspencer3:)18:12
rickspencer3when I joined Canonical, I worked with some community folks to start a project, which ended up being called "quickly"18:12
rickspencer3this is a set of commands and boiler plate code that get you developing in a short period of time, and also makes things like packaging and using PPAs really easy18:13
rickspencer3like:18:13
rickspencer3$quickly package18:13
rickspencer3is the command for making a deb file18:13
rickspencer3we've also started http://developer.ubuntu.com18:14
rickspencer3both of these projects are about half done18:14
rickspencer3this has been pretty much all community driven to date18:14
rickspencer3for example, I work on these on nights and weekends only18:14
rickspencer3other folks, like didrocks, and mterry do find some paid time to contribute18:15
rickspencer3and their are some stellar contributors who don't work for Canonical18:15
rickspencer3so, try out quickly, check out the web site ...18:15
rickspencer3and join the community if you think you can help make it all better18:15
rickspencer3:)18:15
ClassBotpantaloons asked: in the keynote at uds mark said that android and ios have got millions of new users and ubuntu hasn't, why do you personally think that is?18:16
rickspencer3well, there is no one reason18:16
rickspencer3but I think one thing is that ios doesn't sell on OS, they sell devices with an OS on them18:16
rickspencer3same with android18:16
rickspencer3currently, Canonical works with OEMs to sell desktops and laptops and netbooks with Ubuntu pre-isntalled18:17
rickspencer3btu that is a really hard market to break into, due to certain *cough* situations *cough*18:17
rickspencer3also, for android, phone companies pour millions into advertising18:18
rickspencer3because they want the phone customers18:18
rickspencer3so, Ubuntu lacks that kind of marketing muscle yet18:18
rickspencer3however, I think Ubuntu will get there18:18
rickspencer3if not Ubuntu, then another Free OS, will18:19
ClassBottexastwister asked: Why the change from Eucalyptus to OpenStack for cloud management? How will Ubuntu stand out from other distros (more established in the Enterprise space) who are also focusing on OpenStack?18:19
rickspencer3well, first, the change is just in the default18:19
rickspencer3so, to be crystal clear, the server team and Canonical still support Eucalyptus18:19
rickspencer3In terms of differentiation18:20
rickspencer3the Server team has a really good start18:20
rickspencer3first, Ubuntu is very popular as a cloud guest18:20
rickspencer3so, this creates a natural affinity for use as a cloud host18:21
rickspencer3secondly, ORCHESTRA!18:21
rickspencer3Ubuntu Server has inherited Ubuntu's maniacal focus on users18:21
rickspencer3even if the user is a dev-ops engineer, they still desever great user-centered design18:21
rickspencer3and orchestra and related tools like ensemble will deliver that ease of use and power18:22
rickspencer3(imnsho) :)18:22
ClassBotprimefalcon asked: Why is the polling option that tracks user installs not installed by default, wouldn't it be a lot easier way to track ubuntu usage?18:22
rickspencer3so, there are a couple of ways that this could be done18:22
ClassBotThere are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.18:22
rickspencer3one way was a totally anonymous counting system called "census"18:22
rickspencer3I like the idea of knowing more precicely how many users Ubuntu has18:23
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rickspencer3however, a significant subset of the community was not comforatable going down this path18:23
rickspencer3as a community distro, I felt that the feedback was that such counting moving away from some hard to articulate core values of Ubuntu18:24
rickspencer3so, I while the information will be valuable, I don't think doing it by default is the right thing to do18:24
rickspencer3it's not too precise, more of a gut feel18:24
ClassBotrhodz asked: Is there any plans (if not existing) that Ubuntu will make it to a Mobile Version?18:25
rickspencer3well, Ubuntu *is* a mobile version, in that it is designed to work on desktops, laptops, and netbooks18:25
rickspencer3and, if I may be so bold, I believe it works quite well18:25
rickspencer3I think Unity could be extended to other mobile form factors too18:26
rickspencer3and in fact, some company has released Ubuntu on a tablet, I think18:26
rickspencer3if you're interested in a proper mobile derivative though, that would be an interesting community project, I think18:27
ClassBotRevSpecies116 asked: Will there be a working backported version of Unity with support for 10.04LTS18:27
rickspencer3I don't think Canonical has any plans for this, and I think it would be hard to do18:27
ClassBotThere are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.18:27
rickspencer3that said, someone may do it18:27
ClassBotprimefalcon asked: Banshee works great in 11.04 however when I try to install it on 10.10 it takes over opening of folders rather than nautilus (even in the places menu), is there an easy fix for this18:28
rickspencer3wow, that sounds like an annoying bug18:28
rickspencer3I'm not sure how to fix that, I bet it's in the GUI somewhere18:29
rickspencer3I bet someone in #ubuntu would help18:29
rickspencer3or you could log a bug18:29
rickspencer3or find one in lp18:29
rickspencer3sorry about that18:29
ClassBotOmega asked: What are the things you are looking forward to the most in Ocelot?18:30
rickspencer3well, last cycle was a lot of big changes in the UI18:30
rickspencer3this cycle I have 2 core gaols for the project18:31
rickspencer31. Invest in our community18:31
rickspencer3 - ensure that existing core contributors can contribute efficiently and have fun doing so18:31
rickspencer3 - make it easier for new folks to join18:31
rickspencer31. Quality18:31
rickspencer3Canonical is investing a lot to help us raise the quality for Ubuntu, and I am very excited to see that bear fruit18:32
ClassBotLogs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/05/20/%23ubuntu-classroom.html18:32
=== ChanServ changed the topic of #ubuntu-classroom to: Welcome to the Ubuntu Classroom - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Classroom || Support in #ubuntu || Upcoming Schedule: http://is.gd/8rtIi || Questions in #ubuntu-classroom-chat ||
nigelbthanks for the session rickspencer3 :)18:36
rickspencer3thank you nigelb it was my pleasure18:37
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