UDS-Q Day Two

Catching up on the blogging for the second day of the Ubuntu Develop Summit for Quantal Qeutzal in Oakland, California.

Backports

My first session on Tuesday was the Backports BoF (Bird of a Feather) session for which I was very interested so that we can better support Ubuntu Studio 12.04 LTS. Backports are an important way to get versions of software with new features released to users for released versions of Ubuntu.  This is in contrast to regular updates which will only handle bug fixes and security.

I believe the Long Term Release (LTS) is an important part of Ubuntu Studio for our users and I want to demonstrate this with developing an active and robust backports program.

Therefore I was very impressed and encouraged to learn about many new tools (available commands at page bottom) and the updated wiki and help pages.  Great work by Evan Broder and others.

I am very excited about this.

Ubuntu Studio Plenary Presentation

I enjoyed the chance to talk about Ubuntu Studio in a "Ubuntu Derivative" [0] UDS Plenary and I chose some very specific goals for my presentation.

The first goal was about public awareness and sharing the vision of Ubuntu Studio.  I find it a little disheartening that even within the Ubuntu ecosystem that many people are unaware that Ubuntu Studio exists.  But also that even when people are aware of it, they don't know what it really is.  So, hopefully I made progress in making people aware that Ubuntu Studio exists as a platform for content creation.

My second goal was to display the activity, both recent and planned, within Ubuntu Studio.  I feel very proud about the improvements in Ubuntu Studio 12.04 LTS and excited about the vision for the future.  Hopefully, I conveyed both emotions.

Hopefully, it accomplished all that I wanted and more, but to be honest, the entire presentation was a bit of a blur and I remember very, very little of it.  Several members of the audience have given me compliments on my presentation but I still fear that I was a bit derpy.  I believe it was all recorded and I wonder if any video is available.  I might watch it to see what I looked like...but then I might not :P

And if anyone was confused how I greeted Allison, hopefully this G+ post will explain the circumstance. I should mention that I'm not really that nervous or shy ;)

Desktop JuJu

While I was originally not attracted to the Ubuntu HUD, I am beginning to find a new appreciation for it while using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, which is installed currently on my non-production laptop.

As I previously mentioned (see JuJu Studio section), I think it would an awesome and powerful accomplishment to make work flows more directly accessible to users without the need for manually starting many applications, changing settings, and making any audio connections.

In a follow up conversation on another topic, Ben Howard strongly suggested I make a blueprint, get it approved, and on the schedule as he felt this had incredible potential for helping with common desktop usage, problem solving, and improving the user experience.  So I did.

I think it would provide an amazingly helpful tool if users were able to open the HUD, ask a question (e.g. why isn't my wireless working?), and have solutions presented with a heuristically determined most probable solution suggested first.

It is possible that this could be extended to include starting and running many complex processes and then managing them in a similar fashion as JuJu and Charms with web deployment.

I concede the fact that JuJu and Charms are not developed for desktop deployment. But could a similar framework be adapted or developed for the desktop?

If so, this could provide a potentially powerful tool for Ubuntu Studio to help users quickly access their work flows and minimize distractions when they have inspiration. I have found that starting five applications, loading template, and making connections is NOT conducive to the creative process when I find a new riff and want to record and develop it. In many cases that inspirational spark can be either neutered or completely lost.

Google Party

This night ended up with a weird party hosted by Google. Some said they enjoyed it, others said it was weird and strange but stayed.

I left shortly after I arrived and chose to eat a nice chicken Caesar salad in the hotel restaurant away from the strangeness.  I learned later that I was not alone in my choice.

I believe a majority of people did not attend the Google party because there were involved in Canonical-centric meetings (with dinner and drinks presumably) at this time.

finis

The evening winded down for me with a call with the family, some reading, and other busy work.

And thus ended day two.


[0] I believe the proper term is flavor rather than derivatives.  I view Linux Mint as a derivative while Kubuntu, Xubuntu, et al are flavors of Ubuntu as were officially recognized within Ubuntu.