/srv/irclogs.ubuntu.com/2015/01/31/#ubuntu-devel.txt

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aeorilI am wanting to start developing for Ubuntu.  I am interested in low level development (like kernel, drivers, modules, etc) but have not developed on Linux in a while.  I am trying to pick an appropriate image to start developing on from cdimage.ubuntu.com.  I found the images for Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS (Trusty Tahr).  Would that be a good choice?01:31
aeorilAlso, is there an IRC channel for beginners to Ubuntu development?  #ubuntu-beginners-dev says "invite only" when I try to join01:32
Noskcajaeoril, #ubuntu-kernal is for most low-level stuff01:32
Noskcajoops, spelt it wrong01:32
aeorilOk, I will repeat my question there01:33
Noskcaj#ubuntu-kernel01:33
Noskcajthere's no real beginner developer stuff other than the "bitesize" bug tag, the 100 papercuts project, and then just finding whatever issues affect you01:34
aeorilNoskcaj I have been idling on #ubuntu-kernel for some time and it is very low volume - I think my question is pretty general, thouhg - what image to use to start development on?01:35
NoskcajI run xubuntu vivid (15.04), but you can develop from any ubuntu image really01:36
aeorilNoskcaj how did you get it to run?  The only images I see on the website are source images, except for the daily builds, for that version01:36
Noskcaj14.04.2 is going to come out in a week, so maybe the daily for it, see if there's anything you can help with, although it's mostly testing that late in the cycle01:36
aeorilNoskcaj did you load from the daily build image?01:37
Noskcaji upgraded from 14.10, but you can install with the daily01:37
Noskcajyou get the same result01:37
aeorilNoskcaj I am wondering if I should stick with 14.04.1 for now because I fear the dailies may not be as stable - I do not think I need the absolute latest to just get started with - I am in learning mode right now, going through some textbooks to learn some theory and stuff for kernel/driver/module development01:38
Noskcaj14.04.2 dailies are pretty much as stable as 14.04.1 now, but like i said, you can use whatever version of ubuntu you want01:39
aeorilNoskcaj oh, that is good to know - so just because it is a daily does not mean it is necessarily unstable?01:39
Noskcajno01:40
Noskcajdaily means it's built using whatever is current for that release01:40
aeorilI was thinking of using 14.04.1 LTS as my base, then using virtual machines under it to run other versions for development and learning - does that sound reasonable?01:41
Noskcajyep01:41
aeorilDoes Ubuntu come natively with VM support?01:42
Noskcajyou need to install something like qemu or virtualbox from the repositories for VMs01:42
aeorilI have not really looked that far yet01:42
aeoriloh, ok - any preference for most developers which VM software they use?01:42
NoskcajI think kvm/qemu is slightly better most of the time from a devel perspective, but a lot of people like each option01:43
Noskcajvmware is pretty good if you don't need an opensource VM too01:44
aeorilIs vmware free as well?  I thought it was pay01:44
darkxstaeoril, vmware player is free for non-commercial use01:45
darkxstand despite the name, it can create VM's01:45
aeorilok, thanks, darkst01:45
aeorilUnfortunately, there is noone answering my query on #ubuntu-kernel - it just does not seem to get much traffic, from what I have seen01:46
darkxstaeoril, vmware has the best 3D support, but if you don't need that kvm/qemu are good01:46
Noskcajaeoril, a few of the devs are probably asleep in -kernal. What timezone are you?01:47
darkxstNoskcaj, except the HWE stack has not landed01:47
darkxst(for 14.04.2)01:47
aeorilI am in Central time USA (Chicago)01:47
Noskcajdarkxst, In that case, slightly less stable01:47
aeorilLast time anyone posted to #ubuntu-kernel was 10 hours ago ...01:48
Noskcajaeoril, Just be aware that this is a global community, so not all questions can be answered at any time01:48
Noskcajalthough -kernel isn't a super active channel01:48
aeorilNoskcaj ok, I will keep that in mind01:49
aeorilWell, I guess I will use that plan for now - 14.04.1 with VMs for newer or older versions01:50
Noskcaj:)01:50
NoskcajDepending on how much you have setup, maybe start by finding a bug or build failure you can reproduce yourself and try and fix that01:51
aeorilRight now, I am doing theory.  I am reading Tannenbaum's "Modern Operating Systems," and need low level source code to be able to follow along with the theory in that textbook by looking at actual working code in Linux to see how things are really done in live production01:55
aeorilSo, I will be viewing the kernel source and headers and doing builds and stuff, and building low-level hacking stuff to learn as I follow along in my books01:56
aeorilOnce I have a sufficient basic understanding of theory (e.g., along the lines of what I would get at Univesity) I will delve into trying to help with Ubuntu - the kernel site says their biggest need is bug triage, so I figure maybe that would be a good place to start actually helping the Ubuntu community?01:57
aeorilI am active a lot on #osdev here on freenode - they are very active, and have been very helpful to me as I learn01:58
Noskcajaeoril, bug triage helps us at lot, but really anything you are willing to help with helps01:58
aeorilThey also have a great book list01:58
NoskcajFor example, i'm pretty bad at coding, but do a lot of packaging and triage work01:58
aeorilNoskcaj what is the best way to learn?  To get my feet wet?  I like to do things in a very organized fashion, building on basics first then going up from there.  I have a long history of coding under my belt, but just not a whole lot on Linux (but a fair amount on Unix)01:59
NoskcajFind a bug that affects you or you can reproduce, do something to make it closer to being fixed02:00
Noskcajbugs with the "bitesize" tag are often easier to start with02:01
aeorilYes, that makes sense02:01
NoskcajIf there's a program that you use regularly, i could run you though the steps of fixing a bug in it.02:02
Noskcajbrb, need lunch02:02
aeorilok, thanks02:02
aeorilNoskcaj I am really getting into this book right now - I am working on learning about all kinds of low-level stuff, and I kind of want to stick with hacking the kernel source right now02:05
aeorilFor instance, the thing I am working on right now is understanding and implementing spinlocks in the kernel in assembler because that is where I am in the book02:06
aeorilNoskcaj I need to get my development machine up and running, then get the kernel development environment all set up with the appropriate source code, etc.02:07
Noskcajok, just ping me if you get stuck02:08
aeorilNoskcaj cool!  Thanks!  I really appreciate the help!02:09
Noskcajno problem02:09
NoskcajIt's great to see someone new around02:09
aeorilIt's great to be here!  I have a background in doing some Linux (and Ubuntu) development, but mainly Solaris and real-time variant Unix systems and embedded OSes and even some firmware development and hardware integration for embedded systems and simulations02:14
aeorilI was fairly active in the Ubuntu development community some years ago but only for a few months - I took a detour into Web development because it seemed very interesting (and it is) but I finally felt I wanted to get back to my low-level roots.  I think I can be of more service there and will like it better, I hope02:16
* aeoril likes bit-twiddling02:17
hillmais this bug, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mit-scheme/+bug/373018 , fixable now as debian already have amd64 for mit-scheme ?07:21
ubottuLaunchpad bug 373018 in mit-scheme (Ubuntu) "There does not exist a 64-bit version of mit-scheme. A deb of mit-scheme-c (portable) would fix this." [Undecided,Confirmed]07:21
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Noskcajhappyaron, ping21:55
NoskcajAny chance you could fix https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=776694 ? It should be a pretty minor patch21:56
ubottuDebian bug 776694 in libxml2-dev "libxml2-dev: dependency to libicu-dev missing" [Normal,Open]21:56
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