Ubuntu Wiki

Ubuntu Open Week - Xubuntu QA - CharlieKravetz - Thu, Apr 30th, 2009

(02:00:31 PM) charlie-tca: I'm Charlie Kravetz, known as charlie-tca on irc and the mailing lists. I am Xubuntu Quality Assurance Lead.
(02:01:34 PM) charlie-tca: We are going to talk a bit about Marketing, Testing, and Bugs in Xubuntu. We will take your questions in #ubuntu-classroom-chat, and
(02:02:10 PM) charlie-tca: will have a few minutes at the end to answer questions you hold on to. Feel free to ask questions at any time, but start them with QUESTION:
(02:02:20 PM) charlie-tca: so they easy to spot
(02:03:04 PM) charlie-tca: For example, QUESTION: What is Xubuntu?
(02:03:18 PM) charlie-tca: The answer would then be
(02:03:28 PM) charlie-tca: ubuntu is Ubuntu with the Xfce desktop. Xfce emphasizes conservation of system resources, which makes Xubuntu an excellent choice for any system, new or old.
(02:03:58 PM) knome: *Xubuntu is
(02:04:38 PM) charlie-tca: Yeah, that too. Missed that X
(02:05:26 PM) charlie-tca: As a ubuntu derivative, Xubuntu maintains the same high standards and quality that Ubuntu has. We still have bugs to track down and resolve, and we do help with the bugs in Ubuntu also. Testing is a combined effort, since the releases are on the same schedule.
(02:06:03 PM) charlie-tca: Xubuntu is an ideal candidate for older hardware or low-end machines, thin-client networks, or those who would like to get more performance out of their hardware.
(02:06:27 PM) charlie-tca: Also, Xubuntu is the Xfce-based distribution with a native 64-bit architecture. We produce both a 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and ports for the Mac PowerPC and Sony PlayStation 3.
(02:07:15 PM) charlie-tca: And, since Xubuntu is a dirivative of Ubuntu, we use the same repositories, and many of the same applications
(02:07:33 PM) charlie-tca: Along with producing those versions comes testing to make sure the distribution actually works. The goal is to have each image tested thoroughly before release. Being a small group, that becomes difficult at times.
(02:07:41 PM) knome: *derivative
(02:08:25 PM) charlie-tca: To accomplish this testing, almost any hardware will work. If you don't have spare hardware, you can test in a virtual machine. VMware, VirtualBox, and KVM can all be used to test software.
(02:08:48 PM) charlie-tca: Some of the testing must also be done on hardware. I personnally favor a PIII myself. I do not use any restricted drivers, and normally get 1400x900 resolution out of these machines. The cpu is only 866MHz.
(02:09:10 PM) charlie-tca: To help insure Xubuntu is lightweight and functional, testing is done using a PII, also. It is a 400MHz cpu with 256MB ram. This system insures the latest version still works using minumum hardware.
(02:09:35 PM) charlie-tca: Tests are run using both the desktop/live cd and the alternate cd with both systems, and even with 128MB and 192MB ram in the PII. This helps let the developers know what the minumums are that actually work.
(02:10:06 PM) charlie-tca: I am one of those people that really believe the stated minimums should be real! If I can't run what the minumums say, I question it. Granted, I don't expect perfect performance from it, but I should be able to use the system.
(02:10:40 PM) charlie-tca: Using Xubuntu, I expect to be able to run the applications provided, one at a time with the minumum hardware. As the hardware increases, I would expect the performance to increase.
(02:10:52 PM) knome: That's what the what the complete Xubuntu team thinks.
(02:10:53 PM) charlie-tca: Thanks to the hard work by Ubuntu, the startup times have decreased remarkably, even with low-end hardware.
(02:11:23 PM) charlie-tca: We have information on the xubuntu developers wiki at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Testing/TestingInfo for testing Xubuntu. Since it is Xfce-based, many of the tests are unique to Xubuntu.
(02:12:04 PM) charlie-tca: Xubuntu testing team is https://launchpad.net/~xubuntu-testers on launchpad. As testing and QA lead, I try to keep the test cases up to date on both QA and Xubuntu wikis.
(02:12:25 PM) charlie-tca: I do send out notices to the the xubuntu-testers launchpad team when a milestone is ready to be tested. More testers are always welcome.
(02:13:04 PM) charlie-tca: We maintain a test case for daily images, to allow a quick test to be done. There is a test used for the liveCD testing and neither test should take more than 5-10 minutes to complete.
(02:13:27 PM) charlie-tca: Admittedly, it does take a little more time on the PII then on more modern equipment.
(02:13:49 PM) charlie-tca: We also maintain a longer, more involved test for milestone releases. This allows more thorough testing before the users get the image.
(02:14:22 PM) charlie-tca: This test is just as important as the short tests, since it does test all the applications and settings
(02:15:09 PM) charlie-tca: When testing the images, results are reported on the qa tracker. This allows the Ubuntu QA team to know the images are good or bad, also. Any bugs found in testing need to be reported so that the developers know what the current issues are.
(02:15:42 PM) charlie-tca: At this time, I think we will let knome step in and say a few words
(02:16:03 PM) knome: OK, so quality assurance is more than just making sure that applications work
(02:16:29 PM) knome: It's also about letting out the best artwork for our users
(02:16:51 PM) knome: In Xubuntu, we have some guidelines for artwork which can be found in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/Artwork/Guidelines
(02:17:33 PM) knome: For every release. we also make some kind of general directions, which we try to follow as good as we can in the time we have
(02:18:18 PM) knome: Anyway, since I began the Xubuntu Marketing Lead, I've been keen on keeping consistency around the Xubuntu artwork
(02:18:49 PM) knome: That means we use the latest logo everywhere and try to get any page with the old logo updated, even if we don't have the permissions ourselves.
(02:19:08 PM) knome: A developer reported to me that he has become a great distunguished between the new and old logo ;)
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