DanielTChen

(For my contact and background info, please see the trailing vertical half of this page)

My vision for audio in the supported "main" component of post-6.06 LTS releases (a.k.a. "What I plan to do in 'main'")

During the 5.04, 5.10, and 6.06 LTS development cycles, the [https://launchpad.net/people/ubuntu-audio Ubuntu Audio Team] spent a significant amount of time triaging Linux audio issues and providing community support in various Internet chat rooms. From my perspective, user frustration arises from the following points:

1. No intuitive tool is included to assist troubleshooting

2. Documentation is scattered and confusing

Point one, particularly in an "immediately usable in one's native language regardless of disability" Linux distribution like Ubuntu and its derivatives, is rather damning. One need only trawl results from a Web search for "Linux audio" to find frustration at the relative difficulty in using older and newer audio devices alike. Many distributions still include the alsaconf(1) utility that suffices for many legacy sound cards, but it is unreasonable to expect Ubuntu's newer users to use such a tool. Additionally, nearly all distributions include the speaker-test(1) utility that verifies audible volume for different speaker configurations.

Ubuntu needs a graphical troubleshooter with default "simple" and available "advanced" user paths that combine the functionality -- likely invoking both a rewritten alsaconf(1) and speaker-test(1) -- of the aforementioned utilities. Initial packaging will be targetted for 'universe' to be promoted to 'main'.

alsaconf(1) should be rewritten in Python to serve as a backend similar to how asoundconf(1) is invoked from gnome-sound-properties, allowing Ubuntu derivatives to hook into the utility. This graphical troubleshooter is yet to be formalised as a specification due to time constraints.

Point two is addressed more readily by systematic refactoring of existing scattered Web and mailing list documentation. To accomplish such a feat, a team must provide a straightforward guide (cf. Ubuntu Documentation Team's Packaging Guide) that succinctly explains resolutions to common issues and that references existing suggestions in an appendix.

Human assistance, while invaluable, does not scale easily to address hundreds (conceivably thousands) of issues that can be resolved initially, for the most part, by a user-invoked graphical troubleshooter. Similar to the Ubuntu Kernel Team's post-6.06 LTS approach of using "tiered" escalation, only critical audio issues need be addressed by human support, which will free developer resources.

Ubuntu involvement

Since the migration to Launchpad cannot represent prior activity, I will summarise:

An active, assistive presence in various Ubuntu (and derivatives) support channels

Work to resolve the bugs listed [https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bugs?search=Search&field.assignee=crimsun here], among numerous others

Assistance with ALSA support for the [https://launchpad.net/people/ubuntu-kernel-team kernel team]

As a member of the Ubuntu [http://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU Masters of the Universe] team, work in numerous "transitions"

Installability/Usability tests on a Canonical-provided [http://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/ThinkpadX41-2527 IBM ThinkPad X41, model 2527]

Contact info

Name: Daniel T. Chen

Location: Rochester, Minnesota, USA (CDT -0500 GMT) or Greensboro, North Carolina, USA (EDT -0400 GMT)

Electronic mail: crimsun at ubuntu dot com (PGP-signed correspondence preferred)

GnuPG public key: [http://sh.nu/~crimsun/pubkey.gpg.asc 0xC88ABDA3]

Presence: 'crimsun' (and any appended underscore variants) on irc.freenode.net

Bio sketch

A stalwart [http://www.debian.org/ Debian] user since 1997, I am involved in the [http://www.alsa-project.org/ ALSA] software project ranging from enhancing device drivers to packaging new revisions and am a commuting member of the [http://www.trilug.org/ Triangle Linux Users Group] (#trilug on irc.freenode.net). On the Debian side of things, I assist with ALSA, ROX, and wpasupplicant maintenance.

I worked at IBM Rochester in UI design. Currently I am a faculty member at [http://www.ncat.edu/ North Carolina A&T State University] and teach Programming Language Concepts to upperclassmen computer science students. My primary research area is remote compilation tools ([http://www.globus.org/ Grid services]) in Grid environments; other interests include protocol optimisations for multiagent coordination and adaptive operating systems. I use Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) extensively in research and instructive methods.

I am intent on reforming educational methods so that they are realigned with current technological trends. My time as a lecturer at NC A&T has exposed me to a severe lack in adequate input and response to student stimulation. Furthermore, creation of the Edubuntu derivative has led me to investigate changes to elementary, middle, and secondary school curricula that assist students and teachers alike in visualising traditionally difficult concepts. Unless posterity harnesses the tools created by the Open Source movement, we will continue to "dumb down" expectations and performance in all environments. Any positive global change should be driven by philanthropic contributions to peer groups in every sector.

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