Dev Week -- How to help with Edubuntu -- JonathanCarter -- Fri, Jul 16th, 2010

(03:01:36 PM) highvoltage: Good morning / afternoon / evening depending on where you are!
(03:01:46 PM) highvoltage: This session is on Edubuntu, and how to get involved
(03:02:15 PM) highvoltage: It's not as interactive as mhall119's session from earlier, and not quite as well prepared as jcastro's session
(03:02:55 PM) highvoltage: I moved from South Africa to Canada about two weeks ago, and I'm in the process of moving to a new apartment so to say that I'm all over the place at the moment is a bit of an understatement :)
(03:03:21 PM) highvoltage: In this session, I hope to introduce you to the project and make it easy to get involved, I'll cover:
(03:03:27 PM) highvoltage: • What the Edubuntu project is,
(03:03:43 PM) highvoltage: • What we do
(03:03:50 PM) highvoltage: • Community structure
(03:03:55 PM) highvoltage: • and how you could get involved.
(03:04:48 PM) highvoltage: if there's any questions, feel free to ask at any time in #ubuntu-classroom-chat, if you append QUESTION to your question, the bot will notify my in a private message
(03:05:04 PM) highvoltage: (although at this stage in the developer week I'm sure everyone knows that by now ;) )
(03:05:36 PM) highvoltage: Let's start at the beginning, usually a very good place to start.
(03:05:57 PM) highvoltage: The Edubuntu project takes on a quite a few tasks
(03:06:34 PM) highvoltage: ons of the most important tasks is supporting, maintaining packages relating to education in Ubuntu
(03:06:39 PM) highvoltage: that also includes bug fixes
(03:07:11 PM) highvoltage: if you followed the session on adopt-an-upstream earlier, it's like the Edubuntu team adopted all of the educational packages in the Ubuntu repositories
(03:07:46 PM) highvoltage: not quite as formally though, but after that session we might actually do it :)
(03:08:35 PM) highvoltage: if you'd like to get involved with Edubuntu on a technical level, then bug fixes are a great place to start
(03:09:08 PM) highvoltage: you can find a list of current bugs in the packages that we track at the following URL:
(03:09:18 PM) highvoltage: https://bugs.launchpad.net/~edubuntu-bugs/+packagebugs
(03:09:58 PM) highvoltage: you'll notice that there are currently 356 open bugs being tracked
(03:10:40 PM) highvoltage: and that the packages range from educational software, to system management tools useful for classrooms and more
(03:11:13 PM) highvoltage: while Edubuntu tracks the bugs in these packages, most of these packages are also tracked by other teams
(03:11:25 PM) highvoltage: for example,
(03:12:18 PM) highvoltage: ltsp, ltspfs and ldm are all part of LTSP, which are maintained by the LTSP team (https://launchpad.net/ltsp)
(03:12:58 PM) highvoltage: and the kdeedu suite is also maintained by the Kubuntu team who does a great job of looking at Ubuntu's KDE packages
(03:13:35 PM) highvoltage: there are some packages which are maintained by us only
(03:13:48 PM) highvoltage: you could think of them as the packages for which we are upstream
(03:14:13 PM) highvoltage: these are usually the packages that I personally give most attention to since they're vital for being able to install an Edubuntu system
(03:14:37 PM) highvoltage: these package names typically begin with edubuntu- or ubuntu-edu
(03:14:44 PM) highvoltage: examples are:
(03:14:58 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ ubuntu-edu-preschool
(03:15:02 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ ubuntu-edu-primary
(03:15:05 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ ubuntu-edu-secondary
(03:15:09 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ ubuntu-edu-tertiary
(03:15:24 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ edubuntu-artwork
(03:15:31 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ edubuntu-live
(03:15:38 PM) highvoltage:  ∘ edubuntu-desktop
(03:16:10 PM) highvoltage: the ubuntu-edu-* packages are metapackages
(03:16:42 PM) highvoltage: metapackages are packages that don't contain any direct data, but contains information such as dependencies, so they end up just installing other software
(03:17:03 PM) highvoltage: ubuntu-edu-preschool will install an application bundle for really young kids
(03:17:31 PM) highvoltage: primary and secondary for school kids, and tertiary for post-secondary studends
(03:18:19 PM) highvoltage: we don't write any of the educational software ourselves
(03:18:47 PM) highvoltage: instead, we aim to put together the best of what the free software world has to offer together in an easily installable package
(03:19:22 PM) highvoltage: before I move on, I'd like to mention bug days
(03:20:02 PM) highvoltage: every now and again (and we should have one scheduled again soon) we have a bug day where the team joins in on #edubuntu, and we co-ordinate and fix a bunch of bugs
(03:20:30 PM) highvoltage: we like to do this before alpha and beta releases, this also provides a great opportunity to test the images that are generated
(03:21:00 PM) highvoltage: if you follow planet ubuntu (http://planet.ubuntu.com), you'll usually see a bunch of us blog about it
(03:21:23 PM) highvoltage: otherwise, joining the edubuntu development mailing list is probably the best way to keep up to date with events
(03:21:47 PM) highvoltage: I'll provide more details on that and how to get in touch a bit later
(03:22:11 PM) highvoltage: I'll already said quite a bit, any questions before we move on?
(03:23:19 PM) highvoltage: one of the more prominent Edubuntu projects is our Edubuntu installation disc
(03:23:43 PM) highvoltage: it takes all the meta-packages I mentioned earlier and installs it automatically as part of the installation process
(03:25:06 PM) highvoltage: this allows very easy installation of all the education packages. It's in part being obsoleted by the software center
(03:25:09 PM) highvoltage: or at least, so we thought :)
(03:25:43 PM) highvoltage: in previous releases, we made Edubuntu an add-on cd to Ubuntu, since the packages became really easy to install via the app installer. we had quite a few users which were outraged, a lot of people want something really simple and turn-key
(03:26:02 PM) highvoltage: that's also why we spend some energy on LTSP
(03:26:33 PM) highvoltage: LTSP is the Linux Terminal Server Project, it allows you to netboot a whole bunch of diskless machines from one machine without having to do a lot of setup work
(03:26:58 PM) highvoltage: for Edubuntu 10.04, we integrated a graphical LTSP installer as part of the installation process
(03:27:25 PM) highvoltage: it makes it really easy for even a relatively unexperienced user to install it
(03:27:41 PM) highvoltage: also, we've included an option to run LTSP live from the live CD
(03:28:09 PM) highvoltage: for improved performance, you can also use the startup disk creator to create a live USB disk to test ltsp
(03:28:30 PM) highvoltage: this is great for demoing the technology and also for users completely new to the concept to experiment with it
(03:29:58 PM) highvoltage: in addition to producing our own artwork and session packages, we also like to work with other derivatives and if possible, get their work included in the archives so that it can be easily installed on Ubuntu
(03:30:43 PM) highvoltage: our best example so far is Qimo and mhall119. We worked together to get the Qimo packages into the Ubuntu archives
(03:31:18 PM) highvoltage: now, if someone wants to install a Qimo desktop session in Ubuntu, it's as simple as installing the qimo-session meta-package
(03:32:04 PM) highvoltage: we'd like to do more things like this, although it's often very time consuming keeping contact with other projects (also ties in with adopt-an-upstream again)
(03:32:20 PM) highvoltage: but mhall119 has been really great and has been really easy to work with!
(03:33:56 PM) highvoltage: that pretty much covers what we do, in summary, we maintain a bunch of packages in Ubuntu, try to get new ones in, work with similar projects as far as we can and also produce an installable DVD that aims to make it really easy for pretty much anyone
(03:34:38 PM) highvoltage: Next I'll cover our community structure. Since we're just over half-way, are there any questions before we move on?
(03:35:43 PM) highvoltage: Edubuntu is fully integrated into the rest of the Ubuntu community
(03:36:09 PM) highvoltage: we follow all the same procedures, we use the same build infrastructure and follow all the same rules
(03:36:31 PM) highvoltage: some people prefer to think of Edubuntu as a completely seperate project than Ubuntu
(03:36:35 PM) highvoltage: but that is just wrong
(03:37:03 PM) highvoltage: all of our work happens from within Ubuntu, we report to the Ubuntu Community Council and also the Ubuntu Technical Board
(03:37:52 PM) highvoltage: we also have our own council, called the Edubuntu Council. The Edubuntu Council is a deligate to the Community Council and the Ubuntu Technical Board
(03:38:34 PM) highvoltage: if you're unfamiliar with those terms,
(03:38:43 PM) highvoltage: please refer to the ubuntu governance page on http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/governance
(03:38:59 PM) highvoltage: it's usually much easier to contribute to a project if you know how it's managed :)
(03:40:06 PM) highvoltage: being a Community Council delegate, the Edubuntu Council is allowed to grant Membership to people who have contributed good solid contributions over a period of time
(03:41:23 PM) highvoltage: Ubuntu membership is an official recognition of work done with Ubuntu (or in our case, Edubuntu). as part of this you'll get an @ubuntu.com e-mail address (and also a @edubuntu.org email address) as well as have the right to represent yourself as an Ubuntu representative by printing Ubuntu/Edubuntu business cards
(03:41:42 PM) highvoltage: more information on membership is available on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership
(03:43:08 PM) highvoltage: being a Technical Board delegate, the Edubuntu Council is allowed to grant upload rights to contributors who have shown skills and commitment to maintaining packages
(03:43:39 PM) highvoltage: applying with the Edubuntu Council, you can become an official Edubuntu Developer (edubuntu-dev on Launchpad)
(03:44:36 PM) highvoltage: Edubuntu Developers can upload any of the packages that form part of the Edubuntu, which is pretty much the bug list I mentioned earlier
(03:45:53 PM) ClassBot: mhall119 asked: https://launchpad.net/~edubuntu is a moderated team, what are the requirements for membership?
(03:46:06 PM) highvoltage: I was thinking about that just earlier today!
(03:46:33 PM) highvoltage: when Edubuntu was initially founded, that was the group for the entire team
(03:47:11 PM) highvoltage: since then we branched out and created a ton of new groups, and also later on cut back and simplified
(03:47:39 PM) highvoltage: basically that group is currently undefined, what I'm going to suggest at the next edubuntu weekly meeting,
(03:47:54 PM) highvoltage: is that we just make it an open group for anyone interested in edubuntu to join
(03:48:33 PM) highvoltage: we've had lots of people wanting to join #edubuntu-members like that, so if someone wants to show support for edubuntu and get an edubuntu badge on their profile it would be nice to have a group for that
(03:48:59 PM) highvoltage: so in short, we'll probably make it a group that anyone who wants to get involved with edubuntu can join
(03:50:35 PM) highvoltage: the Edubuntu team has weekly meetings on IRC where we do a quick status update on the activities the last week, and also discuss any problems that we might have
(03:50:53 PM) highvoltage: attending these meetings is probably the best way to keep up to date of what's happening in Edubuntu
(03:51:24 PM) highvoltage: it's also a good place to check in and find out what the current problems are, which can be useful if you want to get involved
(03:52:17 PM) highvoltage: It's every Wednesday evening  at 19:00 in #ubuntu-meeting
(03:52:51 PM) highvoltage: it's an open meeting and anyone is allowed to join
(03:53:14 PM) highvoltage: if you'd like to add a topic, feel free to add it to our agenda and add your name after the agenda item: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/Meetings/Agenda
(03:53:52 PM) highvoltage: besides the weekly meetings, we also communicate over other platforms
(03:54:01 PM) highvoltage: we use a few mailing lists:
(03:54:36 PM) highvoltage: Edubuntu users: general support list for all Edubuntu users. This includes regular Ubuntu users who happen to use educational packages or Ubuntu in an educational environment
(03:54:57 PM) highvoltage: that list is at http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users
(03:55:16 PM) highvoltage: Then there's Edubuntu Developers, that's for anyone who contributes to and works on Edubuntu:
(03:55:36 PM) highvoltage: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-devel
(03:56:06 PM) highvoltage: and there's also the Ubuntu Education list, this is a list for mostly non-technical users and educators who use Ubuntu for educational purposes
(03:56:26 PM) highvoltage: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-education
(03:56:48 PM) highvoltage: you can find us on Identica: http://identi.ca/group/edubuntu
(03:56:56 PM) highvoltage: facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edubuntu/112139832136110
(03:57:25 PM) highvoltage: as mhall119 mentioned in -chat, the IRC channel is a great place to find all of us
(03:57:36 PM) highvoltage: that's on #edubuntu on this network
(03:58:03 PM) highvoltage: we're basically out of time, but I think I managed to say everything that I intended to.
(03:58:12 PM) highvoltage: There's 2 more minutes left, any final questions?
(03:59:32 PM) highvoltage: For anyone reading either on IRC or in the logs afterwards, thanks for doing so, have a great weekend!
(03:59:48 PM) highvoltage: End of session. *GONG*