[15:00] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2014/04/22/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
[15:00] <jose> hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Ubuntu Open Week!
[15:01] <jose> I'll just give a couple minutes so people can join us
[15:02] <jose> so, I think we're good to go :)
[15:03]  * jose plays Jeopardy theme song
[15:03] <jose> welcome everyone to another Ubuntu Open Week
[15:04] <jose> before we start, why don't we introduce ourselves? This channel is not-moderated only for this session so we can discuss a bit
[15:04] <jose> I'll go first: I'm Jose, and I'm from Peru (no, I don't have a llama on my backyard)
[15:05] <skiei> Hi Jose, good too meet you. I am a developer from Bangalore, India. Looking to find myself a place to contribute to ubuntu/linux.
[15:06] <jose> welcome, skiei!
[15:06] <jose> anyone else is around?
[15:06] <belkinsa> Me!
[15:06] <jose> hello, Me!
[15:07] <belkinsa> I'm Svetlana and I'm a Ubuntu Community Member that focuses on get people involved with Ubuntu.  I'm a part of Ubuntu Women, Ohio LoCo, LoCo Contacts, and Ubuntu Doc Team.
[15:07] <j_f-f> Hi jose
[15:07] <jose> hello, j_f-f!
[15:08] <belkinsa> And I will be giving the Ubuntu Women session tomorrow at 1500 UTC with pleia2/
[15:09] <jincreator_> Hi, all, I'm Jinkyu, university student from Korea. I'm looking for a way contribute to ubuntu by fixing bugs.
[15:10] <jose> anyone else wants to introduce themselves?
[15:11] <jose> ok, let's move on, then
[15:11] <jose> this is the first session we're having for the Ubuntu Open Week, which is a series of sessions where you will be able to find your place in the Ubuntu Community
[15:12] <jose> we have been planning this so that during the week you will be able to find people from many many different teams
[15:12] <PabloRubianes> I am here too jose
[15:12] <jose> hello, PabloRubianes
[15:13] <PabloRubianes> o/ all
[15:13] <jose> so whether you are a developer, designer, or a community member you will be able to see a lot of areas where you can contribute
[15:14] <jose> we're go through some of the basics around the sessions
[15:15] <jose> first of all, how to ask questions
[15:16] <jose> if you want to ask any questions, you need to type the word QUESTION: before your actual question
[15:17] <jose> as an example: "QUESTION: How do I do this?"
[15:17] <jose> go ahead, and try it if you want
[15:17] <jose> (that should be done in #ubuntu-classroom-chat)
[15:18] <ClassBot> jincreator_ asked: How do I do this?
[15:19] <jose> well, by doing that, for sure :)
[15:19] <jose> so have in mind that a instructor may choose to answers questions throughout the session or at the end
[15:20] <ClassBot> torbuntu-germany asked: How old are MArk Shuttleworth?
[15:20]  * jose checks Wikipedia
[15:20] <skiei> QUESTION:  (n00b question) how exactly can we find a place to contribute to? i'm new to the foss community, and not too comfortable with finding tasks on my own
[15:20] <jose> skiei: remember questions are asked in #ubuntu-classroom-chat
[15:20] <jose> so, torbuntu-germany, according to Wikipedia Mark is 40 years old :)
[15:21] <skiei> oops
[15:21] <jose> so, yep, that's how you can ask questions
[15:22] <jose> don't feel ignored if an instructor does not answer your questions right away, they may have chosen to leave questions for the end of the session
[15:22] <jose> or maybe for the end of the sub-topic
[15:22] <jose> many times, instructors cover what's on the questions later on in their sessions
[15:24] <jose> and as you may have discovered by now, #ubuntu-classroom (this channel) is where sessions take place
[15:24] <jose> and all chatter and questions should go in #ubuntu-classroom-chat
[15:24] <jose> during the sessions, you will not be allowed to talk in here, it will only be restricted to the Instructor
[15:24] <jose> so moving on
[15:25] <jose> as I mentioned before, the Ubuntu Open Week is the right event if you want to get involved with the awesome community that we have
[15:26] <jose> the full schedule can be found here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek
[15:26] <jose> as an example, today we are going to have people from the Ubuntu Server Team, from the Ubuntu Documentation Project, and from the Juju Team
[15:27] <jose> all of them are going to talk to us about the different things they do on their teams
[15:29] <jose> and then they're going to explain to us what can we do to contribute to the teams
[15:29] <jose> or projects
[15:30] <jose> also, if you are not able to attend a session and want to read the logs, they will be linked to each title on the schedule as soon as we can (it's managed by humans, so things don't happen automagically)
[15:31] <jose> there is one session each day that will be done via a video livestream, and they are marked with the [ON AIR!] tag on the schedule
[15:31] <jose> you will be able to watch the video at ubuntuonair.com, and the channel for discussion is still going to be #ubuntu-classroom-chat
[15:32] <jose> and if you by chance miss the video stream, you can watch it at any time later by going to youtube.com/ubuntuonair
[15:32] <ClassBot> j_f-f226627 asked: I'm a software Developer especially with C++. How can I help?
[15:33] <jose> I think I can not give a direct answer to that question right now, but if you find a session that interests you just make sure to be around
[15:33] <jose> I can suggest the Ubuntu Development Team session, which is taking place on the 24th April at 15 UTC
[15:35] <ClassBot> DS_McGuire_ asked: I am (in my spare time) a web developer, I study HTML, CSS and JavaScript mostly. Is there anyway I can help?
[15:35] <jose> DS_McGuire_: for you, I can recommend the Ubuntu Websites and App Development sessions
[15:35] <jose> but as I mentioned earlier, each of you can mark the session that interests you the most and attend it
[15:38] <jose> if you check the schedule, all times for sessions are set on UTC
[15:39] <jose> so make sure to convert the time correctly to see at what time the session you want to attend is, so you don't miss it
[15:39] <jose> we suggest using timeanddate.com to convert times, or you can click on the time of the event on the schedule
[15:40] <jose> these will be updated daily so you don't get an error saying that the event has passed :)
[15:40] <jose> so, I don't know if you guys have any questions about the event itself?
[15:47] <ClassBot> torbuntu-germany asked: Have the UbuntuOpenWeek Sessions Slides?
[15:48] <jose> nope, this time OpenWeek sessions will not have slides :(
[15:48] <ClassBot> jincreator_ asked: Is Ubuntu Open Week runs regularly? If then, when is next Ubuntu Open Week?
[15:48] <jose> we try to run them regularly, each cycle that is
[15:48] <jose> usually the first week after release, so...
[15:49] <jose> I think the release calendar for the next release hasn't been set yet, so we'll have to wait for that :)
[15:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[15:50] <ClassBot> torbuntu-germany asked: After every Release? Ore LTS Release only?
[15:50] <jose> we try to do them after every release, but sometimes it's a bit hard to organize this kind of events
[15:51] <jose> but they are always announced in ubuntuclassroom.wordpress.com, which is our team's blog :)
[15:52] <jose> before we end this session, I want to thank everyone who is contributing to Open Week :)
[15:52] <jose> thanks to all of our instructors, to pleia2 for managing some of the sessions, and to Sam Hewitt for the new OpenWeek logo we're featuring this time!
[15:53] <jose> next up, in a bit less than 7 minutes, we have a session about the Ubuntu Server Team with beisner
[15:53] <jose> so go grab a cup of coffee, sone snacks, and we'll be back by then
[15:53] <jose> I hope you enjoy the rest of the OpenWeek, see you all around!
[15:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
[16:00] <gaughen> beisner, I'm here!
[16:00] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2014/04/22/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
[16:01] <beisner> hi, gaughen!  o/
[16:01] <beisner> Greetings all!
[16:02] <beisner> We'll wait another minute or so for folks to join.
[16:02] <beisner> Again, welcome to Ubuntu Open Week!  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek
[16:03] <beisner> Thank you for joining us.
[16:03] <beisner> A brief intro...
[16:03] <beisner> My name is Ryan Beisner, I am a Quality Assurance Engineer on the Server Team at Canonical.
[16:03] <beisner> In other worlds, such as twitter and launchpad, I am 1chb1n.
[16:03] <beisner> For the first bit of our session, we also have the Ubuntu Server & Openstack Team manager, Pat Gaughen (irc: gaughen) with us today.
[16:04] <beisner> Thank you for joining, gaughen!  :)
[16:04] <beisner> Feel free to ping us later on irc or g+ for follow-up questions, etc.
[16:04] <beisner> ok, so
[16:04] <beisner> First, I want to thank Jose & crew for arranging the Ubuntu Open Week sessions.  Your community rally is most appreciated!
[16:04] <beisner> And a great big THANK YOU to the community members who support and promote Ubuntu!
[16:04] <beisner> We are fortunate to have a very strong community, with continually growing interest.
[16:05] <beisner> The general purpose of Ubuntu OpenWeek is to provide information and answer questions about getting involved with the Ubuntu community.
[16:05] <beisner> This Server segment of OpenWeek is all about how you can get involved in one of the most exciting things happening right now:
[16:05] <beisner> adoption of open source in the enterprise, and more specifically, the continued proliferation of Ubuntu Server in the cloud space.
[16:05] <beisner> Together, let's be a part of producing the awesome Ubuntu Server platform - which is in use today by many businesses and organizations of all sizes.
[16:06] <beisner> You don't have to be a seasoned programmer, devops wizard or architect of clouds.
[16:06] <beisner> Although, if you are, we certainly welcome your involvement!
[16:06]  * beisner waves to the classroom-chat
[16:07] <beisner> Glad to see so many folks present!
[16:07] <beisner> o/  :)
[16:07] <beisner> And so, super ninja programming skills are not necessarily required to help out.
[16:07] <beisner> The daily (day-job) work that many system admins do while working with and deploying Ubuntu is actually quite ideal for involvement here.
[16:08] <beisner> So, we want to encourage you to explore the many areas ... and find a place to get involved.
[16:08] <beisner> ...At any time, please feel free to ask questions.
[16:08] <beisner> As a reminder, please post your questions in #ubuntu-classroom-chat in the following format:
[16:08] <beisner> QUESTION: How are you today?
[16:09] <beisner> I'd like to post some Server Team links for your reference, then we'll jump into a few things.
[16:09] <beisner> The Server team’s site:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/
[16:09] <beisner> The Server Team blog:  http://www.ubuntuserver.org
[16:09] <beisner> It’s also worth keeping an eye on http://planet.ubuntu.com
[16:09] <beisner> You can download current and past releases of Ubuntu Server here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/
[16:10] <beisner> And hot of the press...
[16:10] <beisner> The official Ubuntu Server Guide (14.04 Trusty Tahr):  https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/serverguide/index.html
[16:11] <beisner> Now, a quick overview of the stuff we do & the things we care for.
[16:11] <beisner> Naturally, the 'traditional' suite of server packages are critical to a solid enterprise-grade server release.
[16:11] <beisner> Apache, samba, bind, dhcpd, mysql, postgres, et al, are all mature projects.
[16:11] <beisner> But even those good ol' staples continue to develop and progress.
[16:12] <beisner> The complete list of packages that the server team looks after can be found on the wiki:  https://bugs.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-server/+packagebugs
[16:12] <beisner> On a high level, perhaps some of the most notable undertakings of the server team are:  Openstack, MAAS, LXC (linux containers), uvtool, cloud-init, Ubuntu cloudimages ...
[16:12] <beisner> See the ServerTeam Wiki for more detail of course.
[16:12] <beisner> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/
[16:13] <beisner> That encompasses and overlaps with other areas of focus such as JuJu charms for automating Openstack deployments (!).
[16:13] <beisner> (Pretty cool stuff right there!)
[16:13] <beisner> ARM architecture is also a biggie.  Most other distros aren't there yet.
[16:14] <beisner> If you are specifically interested in being involved in any of these other areas, ping us on freenode irc #ubuntu-server.
[16:14] <beisner> o/ hi rbasak
[16:14] <beisner> Any one of these products could dovetail into a full session, so we won't detail those now.
[16:14] <beisner> If there are specific questions, fire away!  Remember to preface all of your questions with  QUESTION:
[16:15] <beisner> Next I'd like to touch on the release cycle.
[16:16] <beisner> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases  shows the current and past releases
[16:16] <beisner> As well as their lifecycles.
[16:16] <beisner> I'd say most Server deployments stick to the LTS releases in production environments.
[16:17] <beisner> The 5-year lifecycle is attractive to sysadmins and desktop users alike.
[16:17] <beisner> But the interim releases are also very important as they are where we break new ground.
[16:17] <beisner> FYI Long-Term Support info:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS
[16:18] <beisner> For the dev folks out there, one way that you may be able to contribute is with SRUs.
[16:18] <beisner> If you are a software developer, there are ongoing tasks like Stable Release Updates (SRUs) and backports ... preparing debdiffs, performing verification, etc., may be right up your alley.
[16:18] <beisner> The SRU page:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates
[16:19] <beisner> And the more advanced & involved front, for those who love devops (including puppet/chef/ansible/salt only shops):
[16:19] <beisner> We'd love to see you run your own deployment tests against both stable -proposed pockets and against the current development release, detecting regressions, filing bugs, and reporting success.
[16:20] <beisner> Again, freenode irc #ubuntu-server is the place to ping us if you are interested in these types of involvement.
[16:20] <beisner> And now, other ways to get involved with Ubuntu Server...
[16:21] <beisner> We recognize that not everyone is a software engineer.  That's ok!
[16:21] <beisner> There are a lot of ways to contribute which don't necessarily involve coding.
[16:21] <beisner> Specifically, the GettingInvolved page is a good resource:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/GettingInvolved
[16:22] <beisner> There are other areas, such as documentation, web page, wiki, irc support, and more.  Later OpenWeek sessions will provide info on those valuable efforts of contribution as well.
[16:22] <beisner> Let's talk a bit about server ISO testing.
[16:22] <beisner> This is something everyone can do.
[16:23] <beisner> Well, this piece really applies to Server and Desktop.
[16:23] <beisner> I think that sometimes folks may run into an issue while installing a system via ISO, and find their own workaround, then move along to resuming their initial mission of bringing up a new box for a particular purpose.
[16:24] <beisner> While we do have a lot of automated testing in place, I think it's also essential to have a good test base of the ISO
[16:24] <beisner> builds.  Sometimes this manual ISO testing can reveal issues with scenarios that the automated testing may not.
[16:24] <beisner> And so ...
[16:24] <beisner> This is a call out to the community to help the server team by participating in periodic server ISO testing. :)
[16:25] <beisner> The QA Tracker page is where you can learn more about ISO testing:  http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/
[16:25] <beisner> You can run the current (or past) ISO builds against pre-defined test cases, then report your results in the QA Tracker.
[16:26] <beisner> Most of these tests can be performed in a VM - on KVM, qemu, virtualbox, vmware, etc., or on bare metal hardware.
[16:27] <beisner> Any bugs discovered and filed can be referenced, linking the Launchpad bug to the QA Tracker results.
[16:28] <beisner> Anyone who is interested in participating can get started at http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/.
[16:28] <beisner> Your involvement on this front is very much appreciated!  Well, on all fronts, really! ;)
[16:29] <beisner> And I'd like to reiterate -
[16:29] <beisner> For those deploying Ubuntu Server and the related packages in your day-to-day work:  You are in a *great* position to be able to contribute to the Ubuntu community.
[16:29]  * beisner is out of breath.
[16:29] <beisner> Questions, good!
[16:29] <ClassBot> PaulW2U asked: I only have laptop hardware available at present. Is ISO testing on laptops useful?
[16:30] <beisner> +1 rbasak - most of the server iso testing is hardware-independent.
[16:30] <beisner> PaulW2U ^^
[16:30] <beisner> My suggestion would be to use KVM or virtualbox to spin up the ISO and run through the test cases.
[16:31] <beisner> Unless you're ok with paving the laptop altogether to install natively, which is also a good test.
[16:31] <beisner> !Y
[16:32] <beisner> !QUESTION / !Q
[16:32] <beisner> Ok I can make servers do all sorts of cool things, but not ClassBot apparently.  ;)
[16:33] <ClassBot> jincreator_ asked: Is iso testing automated, or run by humans(volunteers)?
[16:33]  * beisner thanks Jose
[16:33] <beisner> jincreator_:  There are some automated ISO tests, but not all of the testcases on the QA Tracker are currently automated.
[16:34] <beisner> We are working on automating more of them, however.
[16:34] <beisner> The broader server hardware base in the community at large is also something that is difficult to reproduce in a lab.
[16:34] <beisner> (Although we do test on quite a wide range of hardware.)
[16:35] <beisner> Good questions.  Thank you.
[16:36] <beisner> Are there any more questions about ISO testing?  Or anything else so far?
[16:36] <ClassBot> jincreator_ asked: Where can I see the automated ISO testing code?
[16:38] <beisner> jincreator_:  I'm not sure if there is currently a public resource specific to iso automation, other than the individual pieces that one can use to make it happen.
[16:39] <beisner> Such as...  preseeding:  https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/installation-guide/amd64/apb.html
[16:39] <beisner> And UTAH:  http://utah.readthedocs.org/en/latest/index.html
[16:40] <beisner> That could be a great area to get involved, and I'd invite you to ping us on that.
[16:40] <beisner> Another great question!
[16:41] <beisner> Shall we jump into some of the basics of bug filing?
[16:41] <beisner> I'm not going to dive too deep, but I do want to provide some information and guidance.
[16:42] <beisner> I think it's safe to say that the health and stability of any open source ecosystem relies on bug reports, and the quality/completeness of those reports.
[16:42] <beisner> One of my favs:
[16:42] <beisner> "A problem well stated is a problem half-solved." -Charles Kettering
[16:43] <beisner> By contrast, "a problem unreported is pretty difficult to solve."  -Me  =)
[16:43] <beisner> If you're experience an issue, I'd say first search launchpad for an existing bug.
[16:43] <beisner> https://bugs.launchpad.net/
[16:43] <beisner> If there is indeed an existing bug, and you can provide additional diags, insight or info, please do so.
[16:44] <beisner> This may help to triage the bug.
[16:44] <beisner> But if you find that the problem, supported by research of support, lists, irc, manpages, docs, etc., is unexpected behavior:  please do file a bug.
[16:45] <beisner> Some folks may be apprehensive about filing bugs ... but there is no shame in ending up with a NotABug or Invalid.
[16:45] <beisner> Here are some good resources on reporting bugs:
[16:45] <beisner> Reporting bugs in Ubuntu Server:  https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/serverguide/reporting-bugs.html
[16:46] <beisner> General info and instructions regarding Bug Filing:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/
[16:46] <beisner> General bug filing guidelines:  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs
[16:47] <beisner> Plug:  For more detail about QA-centric activities and the Quality Team, I invite you to join balloons right here on Wed 23 Apr @ 1800UTC.
[16:47] <beisner> Are there any questions before we move on?
[16:48] <beisner> Moving on - are there any LUG nuts in the house? \o/
[16:48] <beisner> There are many local and regional Linux User Groups out there - and some of them focus on Linux server use.
[16:49] <beisner> We are definitely interested in participating in these types of groups and events.
[16:49] <beisner> As you probably know, we have team members all across the US and around the world.
[16:50] <beisner> Whether it's Q&A about Ubuntu Server, general banter or a more official presentation or demo...
[16:50] <beisner> Please let your LUG know that we also want to be a part of your community.
[16:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[16:50] <beisner> In-person meet ups, virtual hangouts, and ongoing participation, etc.
[16:50] <beisner> Who knows, it may even involve pizza!
[16:51] <beisner> Feel free to reach out on #ubuntu-server or ping me, gaughen or any of the Ubuntu Server Team.
[16:52] <beisner> I want to make sure we leave time to address any other questions out there.
[16:53] <beisner> Ok, no ?s at the moment.
[16:53] <beisner> Wrapping up -
[16:53] <beisner> You, the community are a very important partner in keeping Ubuntu Server a very high-quality platform of choice.
[16:54] <beisner> On behalf of the Ubuntu Server Team:  one more THANKS for your support of this awesome distro.
[16:55] <beisner> Thank you for joining us for this session from the Ubuntu Server team.
[16:55] <beisner> IRC:  #ubuntu-server
[16:55] <beisner> Wiki:  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam
[16:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
[16:55] <beisner> And now, I'd like to wrap up with a shameless recruit plug!
[16:55] <beisner> Canonical is always looking for the best minds to join us in bringing Ubuntu to the world.
[16:55] <beisner> http://www.canonical.com/careers
[16:56] <beisner> We have just a few minutes left for questions.
[16:57] <beisner> Thanks again for attending Ubuntu OpenWeek!
[16:57] <beisner> Check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek for the full schedule and other useful links.
[16:59] <beisner> Bye all.  See you around!
[17:00] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2014/04/22/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
[17:00] <pleia2> hi everyone!
[17:01] <pleia2> quick reminder, if you have any questions during the session please ask them in #ubuntu-classroom-chat with the prefix QUESTION: so the bot can pick it up
[17:01] <pleia2> my name is Elizabeth K. Joseph and I'm a member of the Ubuntu Documentation team
[17:01] <pleia2> today I'm here to give an overview of the places where you can get involved with documentation in the Ubuntu community
[17:02] <pleia2> so let's dive right in :)
[17:02] <pleia2> first up, we have the Desktop Documentation
[17:02] <pleia2> the Desktop docs are shipped on every Ubuntu Desktop install, they're what you'll find when you search for help on your desktop
[17:02] <pleia2> they're also published to help.ubuntu.com, so the latest official desktop docs can be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/ubuntu-help/index.html
[17:03] <pleia2> this makes them pretty important to get right, and since everyone who works on documentation in Ubuntu is an unpaid volunteer, we could always use the help with all aspects
[17:04] <pleia2> additionally, the team commits to updating this documentation every cycle, so this means that careful review of the full documentation is done every 6 months and updated based on changes, new features, etc in the release
[17:04] <pleia2> on the technical side, the documentation is written in a markup language called "Mallard" (the same as what GNOME uses)
[17:04] <pleia2> you can learn more about Mallard here: http://projectmallard.org/
[17:05] <pleia2> the source for the documentation can be found at lp:ubuntu-docs which can be accessed via the revision control system bazaar (bzr)
[17:05] <pleia2> a step by step walkthrough of how to contribute can be found here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam/SystemDocumentation/UbuntuDesktopGuide
[17:05] <pleia2> this includes the packages you need to install, some tips for editing documents and how to actually submit your changes via bzr for review
[17:06] <pleia2> all changes made to the desktop guide are reviewd by an admin on the documentation team before being committed
[17:06] <pleia2> any questions about Ubuntu desktop documentation?
[17:07] <pleia2> ok, if you think of any, feel free to ask at any time :)
[17:07] <pleia2> next up we have Server Documentation
[17:07] <pleia2> this documentation is specific to servers running Ubuntu and is separate from the desktop documentation
[17:08] <pleia2> unlike the Desktop documentation, this team is now only committed to releasing a new guide for each LTS release, so every 2 years (with "occasional" updates made available between LTSs)
[17:08] <pleia2> this is because most folks who are running servers are only interested in the LTS versions for their servers (I admit, this is what I do too)
[17:09] <pleia2> server docs are not shipped with installed versions of Ubuntu server and instead are only published on help.ubuntu.com
[17:09] <pleia2> they're available there as html and pdf as you can see in the latest release here: https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/index.html
[17:09] <pleia2> also unlike the desktop docs, these docs are written in DocBook (not Mallard), and the source is also available via bzr at lp:serverguide
[17:10] <pleia2> DocBook is a pretty standard tool for writing documentation in open source projects, so many folks are already familiar with it, but if you've never used it you can learn more at http://www.docbook.org/
[17:11] <pleia2> the step by step walkthrough of how to contribute to server documentation is available here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam/SystemDocumentation/UbuntuServerGuide
[17:12] <pleia2> again, like the desktop guide this tells you what you need installed, how to submit revisions, etc
[17:12] <ClassBot> knome asked: Why is there two different ways of writing documentation. Shouldn't it be standardized?
[17:12] <pleia2> it's actually a question from captine, good question!
[17:13] <pleia2> once upon a time, both sets of documentation were written in DocBook
[17:13] <pleia2> then the GNOME project switched to using Mallard, and since the Ubuntu documentation drew heavily from their documentation the desktop team decided to switch to Mallard so they wouldn't need to rewrite all the markup
[17:14] <pleia2> there isn't actually a whole lot of overlap between Desktop and Server documentation folks, so it hasn't mattered much, and the server team is even talking about switching to something else entirely too
[17:15] <pleia2> now, beyond these "official" documentation types in the core Docuemtation team, we also have docuementation that's maintained on the wiki
[17:15] <pleia2> everything prefixed with /community on help.ubuntu.com is actually a wiki, so starting here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community
[17:16] <pleia2> this can be edited by anyone in the community, at any time, and there are no set deadlines or freezes for when it should be completed
[17:16] <pleia2> as such, it's a much more "living" document that the community maintains, and while there is a team to keep an eye on things (and we need help here), it's not strictly updated every cycle like other forms of documentation
[17:17] <pleia2> it also means you will often find outdated pages and ones that only work with specific versions of Ubuntu, but there is still a lot of valuable information on the wiki
[17:17] <pleia2> it's also not shipped with Ubuntu or anything, so it's more of an online reference
[17:17] <pleia2> to get started working with this, all you need is a web browser and a launchpad account :) if you have any account trouble, we put together this page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide/Registration
[17:17] <pleia2> there are sometimes sync up issues between ubuntu single sign on and launchpad when it comes to logging into the wiki, making it so even when you can log in you still can't edit
[17:18] <pleia2> I have a ticket open with Canonical about this, so hopefully it won't last forever, since it does confuse newcomers
[17:18] <pleia2> once you're able to log in and edit pages, see here for actually getting started: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam/Wiki
[17:19] <pleia2> wiki syntax is easier to learn than DocBook or Mallard, so a lot of folks enjoy starting here
[17:19] <ClassBot> captine asked: I assume when you say there are some people overseeing the wiki docs, you mean there is some sort of review prior to the update being applied?
[17:19] <pleia2> not prior to, and sometimes no formal review ever, I'll get to that in a moment
[17:20] <pleia2> it's got a lower barrier to entry than the official docs that are shipped since there is little formal review process for changes (people may subscribe to certain pages to keep an eye on them, but they don't approve your changes)
[17:20] <pleia2> the wiki also allows you to create new articles for things that aren't documented, and improve existing documents immediately when you find errors
[17:21] <pleia2> the team really likes leveraging the wiki for extended documentation rather than adding the maintenance burden to the official docs (which I mentioned, we commit to updating every cycle)
[17:22] <pleia2> we also use a tagging system on the wiki to help newcomers find things to work on, you can browse all the tags here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Tag
[17:22] <pleia2> these tags allow you to quickly find pages that people have marked as needing content cleanup, expansion or contraction, updating for new releases and more
[17:23] <pleia2> any questions about the help wiki?
[17:23] <pleia2> I also want to mention that the Ubuntu community also has wiki.ubuntu.com - which is not for user documentation, this tends to be confusing for a lot of people
[17:24] <pleia2> it's actually a teams wiki that should be used by community members for project coordination and how-tos related to getting involved with their projects
[17:24] <ClassBot> knome asked: Should I ask somebody if i can make an edit or just go for it?
[17:24] <pleia2> you should just go for it :)
[17:25] <pleia2> if the page has someone who is gardening it, they will keep an eye on changes, in general wikis work pretty well because there is this peer review and most people mean well when they edit
[17:25] <pleia2> I haven't yet seen an edit war on a community help page, and if there ever is an issue it can be discussed on our mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-doc or on irc in #ubuntu-doc
[17:27] <pleia2> alright, that's the wiki!
[17:27] <pleia2> finally, there's also the Ubuntu Manual project
[17:28] <pleia2> they're not strictly part of the Documenation team, but we have some staff overlap and we all pretty much work together
[17:28] <pleia2> the work the Ubuntu Manual does is to present a low-cost (or free pdf) printable Ubuntu book for users, their site is at http://ubuntu-manual.org/
[17:29] <pleia2> it's structured differently than the official desktop documentation because it's in book form, but the manual covers similar topics
[17:29] <pleia2> and like for the desktop guide, the manual team has also been committed to releasing every cycle
[17:30] <pleia2> the Manual is written in LaTeX markup (rather than Mallard or Docbook) and then exported to pdf and to online book print shops in whatever format they require
[17:30] <pleia2> they selected this because it can be a bit easier to edit once the general structure is in place than the other two options
[17:31] <pleia2> but they also use bzr to track the source for these documents
[17:32] <pleia2> the source is here: lp:ubuntu-manual and this page describes how to get it: http://ubuntu-manual.org/getinvolved/authors#download-code
[17:32] <ClassBot> DS_McGuire_ asked: I have just had a look around https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuEyeCandy for example. Most of it (if not all of it is out of date). Who's responsibility is it to keep these updated? Ours or Canonical's?
[17:33] <pleia2> Canonical doesn't pay anyone to work on any of this documentation, so it's all a community effort and our responsibility
[17:33] <pleia2> I imagine you'll find a lot of pages like that on the wiki, we really need a volunteers to help out :)
[17:34] <pleia2> the notes on the top are the Tags I mentioned, which means that we know that it's outdated and are just waiting for someone to help clean it up
[17:34] <ClassBot> captine asked: If not available, could a dashboard be created that pulls the wiki page and orders it by last updated date?  This could help the community to focus some efforts on pages that are likely to be outdated?
[17:35] <pleia2> massive searches like that are really hard because it's a large wiki and it often times out when you try to do such queries
[17:35] <pleia2> but it's certainly something that can be discussed with the team to help make it easier for folks to contribute
[17:36] <pleia2> so, back to Ubuntu Manual
[17:36] <pleia2> one of the things the Manual team did early on was work to make it as easy as possible for contributors can help out, as you can see from their nice, clean get involved page: http://ubuntu-manual.org/getinvolved
[17:37] <pleia2> they define different roles for what folks may be interested, from writing to proof reading
[17:37] <pleia2> they also put a lot of effort into translations and having good design, so they need those folks too :)
[17:38] <pleia2> so that's all the documentation that's focused on Ubuntu specifically - it's a lot! and we have a pretty small team for all of these, and we're friendly, so please come chat with us or join our mailing list if you want to help out
[17:38] <pleia2> beyond that, some of the flavors of Ubuntu maintain their own documentation too
[17:39] <pleia2> Xubuntu, for instance, has documentation that's written in DocBook and also lives on launchpad at lp:xubuntu-docs
[17:39] <pleia2> these documentation teams run pretty independently from Ubuntu, so they can choose their tools, timeline (each cycle, only for LTS) and publishing mechanisms (ship with desktop, or just publish somewhere online)
[17:39] <ClassBot> knome asked: where can i chat with you?
[17:40] <pleia2> we have a mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-doc or on irc in #ubuntu-doc
[17:41] <pleia2> if it's related to the manual, they have #ubuntu-manual and a mailing list associated with their launchpad team: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-manual
[17:42] <pleia2> back to flavors, for Xubuntu for instance the documentation is published on http://docs.xubuntu.org/ and shipped with each release
[17:42] <pleia2> other flavors may either rely upon upstream (lubuntu uses lxde documentation), or have minimal documentation for specific tasks either on the wiki or on their website, like Edubuntu: https://edubuntu.org/documentation
[17:43] <pleia2> so participating in upstream documentation (documenation for GNOME, Xfce, lxde) is highly recommended as well as they also rely heavily (or exclusvely) on volunteers, so documentation everywhere always needs help from the community :)
[17:43] <pleia2> or any of the default applications used in Ubuntu, documentation for LibreOffice, Firefox, all of this gets shipped with Ubuntu
[17:44] <pleia2> and that's pretty much all I had! any more questins?
[17:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[17:53] <ClassBot> captine asked: Will a stream be created for touch documentation?  Esp for installing it on hardware that it doesnt ship on by default etc
[17:53] <pleia2> so afaik currently the only documentation is developer-oriented and lives over on the other wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch
[17:54] <pleia2> there haven't been any efforts to work with the documentation team on further documentation, so I'm not sure what the plans are
[17:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
[18:00] <jose> thanks pleia2! next session will be livestreamed at ubuntuonair.com, and questions will go at #ubuntu-classroom-chat as usual :)
[18:00] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2014/04/22/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
[18:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[18:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.