UbuntuOne
Ubuntu Open Week - Ubuntu One - Joshua Hoover - Mon, Nov 2, 2009
1 [19:00] <joshuahoover> Hi everyone, thanks for joining this session on Ubuntu One! My name is Joshua Hoover. I'm the project administrator for Ubuntu One.
2 [19:00] <joshuahoover> I'm going to have mattgriffin (our product manager) and __lucio__ and Chipaca helping out today
3 [19:01] <joshuahoover> __lucio__ and Chipaca are lead developers on the Ubuntu One project, super smart guys who can help answer more technical questions :)
4 [19:01] <joshuahoover> For those not already familiar with Ubuntu One, here is the 2 sentence summary: Ubuntu One is your personal cloud. You can use it to back up, store, sync and share your data with other Ubuntu One users.
5 [19:01] <joshuahoover> Today we're going to go into a bit more detail on what that means for you as a user, developer and contributer. We'll cover:
6 [19:01] <joshuahoover> 1) How to setup Ubuntu One2) How to use the various features (files, contacts, notes, bookmarks)
7 [19:01] <joshuahoover> 3) Provide info on the technology we're using
8 [19:01] <joshuahoover> 4) Provide developers with resources that will help them make use of Ubuntu One
9 [19:01] <joshuahoover> 5) Highlight how you can get involved with the project
10 [19:01] <joshuahoover> We'll take questions at section 3 and then at the end.
11 [19:02] <joshuahoover> Let's start!
12 [19:02] <joshuahoover> If you're using Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic), you have Ubuntu One installed on your system already. If you are on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty), you'll need to follow the install instructions found here: https://one.ubuntu.com/support/installation/
13 [19:02] <joshuahoover> Let's launch Ubuntu One and set it up: Applications >> Internet >> Ubuntu One
14 [19:02] <joshuahoover> Your browser should open
15 [19:02] <joshuahoover> If you are not already logged into Launchpad, you will be asked to do so. If you don't have a Launchpad account, you can create one from the login screen.
16 [19:03] <joshuahoover> Once you're logged in, you'll need to add your computer to your account (and subscribe to a plan if you haven't previously subscribed to Ubuntu One)
17 [19:03] <joshuahoover> You should now see the web interface for files. Congratulations! You've got an Ubuntu One subscription and have the client setup on your computer. :-)
18 [19:04] <joshuahoover> Now we'll dive into some of the specific features and how to use them and set those up.
19 [19:04] <joshuahoover> Let's work with files first. Click on the Places >> Ubuntu One
20 [19:04] <joshuahoover> This is where you will put all your files that you want to have synchronized with Ubuntu One. You'll also notice a "Shared With Me" folder there. This is a special folder that will hold any folders other Ubuntu One users share with you.
21 [19:04] <joshuahoover> Let's copy a folder with a small file over to our ~/Ubuntu One folder so we can see it work. I'm copying my ~/Test folder with a file named "test.txt" to the ~/Ubuntu One folder now.
22 [19:05] <joshuahoover> You should see a notification telling you your files are updating.
23 [19:05] <joshuahoover> Once the folder and file are uploaded, you will see another notification telling you Ubuntu One is done updating.
24 [19:05] <joshuahoover> Now's a good time to check out the web interface by going to: https://one.ubuntu.com/files
25 [19:06] <joshuahoover> You should see your folder and file in the web interface. On the web we can upload new files, delete files and folders, and more. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/FileSharing#Web%20browser for more info on managing your files in the web interface.
26 [19:06] <joshuahoover> Since we're in the web interface, let's take a look at how to share files and folders with other people.
27 [19:06] <joshuahoover> Click on a folder under "My Files" and then click the "Sharing" link.
28 [19:06] <joshuahoover> Type in an email address, a name for this share that will appear to the person you're sending it to, and select whether you want this folder to be read-only or not.
29 [19:07] <joshuahoover> Click the "Share this Folder" button.
30 [19:07] <joshuahoover> The person you sent the share to will now receive an email. If they don't have an Ubuntu One subscription, they'll be able to subscribe to the server and then have access to your share on the web and (if they have Ubuntu One installed) on their computer under the "Shared With Me" folder.
31 [19:07] <joshuahoover> To cancel the share, click on the "Sharing" link again.
32 [19:08] <joshuahoover> Click the "Stop Sharing" button.
33 [19:08] <joshuahoover> Now that person won't be able to access that shared folder anymore.
34 [19:08] <joshuahoover> For more info on files in Ubuntu One, please check out this tutorial: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/FileSharing
35 [19:08] <joshuahoover> Contacts are next.
36 [19:08] <joshuahoover> In order to fully use contacts in Ubuntu One, you'll need to be running Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and Evolution for managing your contacts.
37 [19:09] <joshuahoover> Open Evolution, Applications >> Internet >> Evolution Mail
38 [19:09] <joshuahoover> We're going to copy our contacts from our current Evolution address book to the Ubuntu One address book first. A tutorial with screen shots that you can follow along with is at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Contacts#Copy%20Evolution%20contacts%20to%20Ubuntu%20One
39 [19:09] <joshuahoover> Click on the Contacts button in the left window pane
40 [19:09] <joshuahoover> Click on your Personal address book
41 [19:09] <joshuahoover> From the Actions menu select Copy All Contacts To...
42 [19:10] <joshuahoover> Select Ubuntu One and click OK
43 [19:10] <joshuahoover> All your contacts should now be copied to the Ubuntu One address book.
44 [19:10] <joshuahoover> For steps on how to set the Ubuntu One address book to be your default address book in Evolution, please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Contacts#Set%20Ubuntu%20One%20as%20your%20default%20address%20book
45 [19:11] <joshuahoover> If all went well, we should be able to see our contacts on the web at: https://one.ubuntu.com/contacts within 10 minutes of transferring our contacts to the Ubuntu One address book
46 [19:11] <joshuahoover> Now we can edit our contacts on the web and Evolution and they'll be in sync. :-)
47 [19:12] <joshuahoover> One important note: Syncing between the Ubuntu One cloud and your desktop occurs every 10 minutes for contacts and bookmarks.
48 [19:12] <joshuahoover> For more info on managing contacts on the web, please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Contacts#Managing%20contacts%20on%20the%20web
49 [19:12] <joshuahoover> Now on to notes.
50 [19:12] <joshuahoover> In order to fully use notes in Ubuntu One, you'll need to be running Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and Tomboy.
51 [19:13] <joshuahoover> Open Applications >> Accessories >> Tomboy Notes
52 [19:13] <joshuahoover> We're going to setup Tomboy to sync with Ubuntu One. A tutorial with screen shots that you can follow along with is at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Notes#Setup%20Tomboy%20to%20sync%20with%20Ubuntu%20One
53 [19:13] <joshuahoover> Select Preferences from the Tomboy Edit menu
54 [19:13] <joshuahoover> Click on the Synchronization tab
55 [19:14] <joshuahoover> Select Tomboy Web from the Service drop down list
56 [19:14] <joshuahoover> Set the Server text input field to https://one.ubuntu.com/notes/
57 [19:14] <joshuahoover> Click on the Connect to Server button
58 [19:14] <joshuahoover> Your browser should open, asking you to sign in to Ubuntu One
59 [19:15] <joshuahoover> Sign in and then add your computer to your Ubuntu One account with a friendly name (right now it incorrectly defaults to "none", we'll be fixing this)
60 [19:15] <joshuahoover> On success, you will receive a message: Tomboy Web Authorization Successful
61 [19:15] <joshuahoover> Let's go back to Tomboy
62 [19:16] <joshuahoover> Click the Save button in the preferences dialog
63 [19:16] <joshuahoover> When prompted if you want to synchronize your notes now, click the Yes button
64 [19:16] <joshuahoover> Click the "Close" button when you see the successful sync dialog.
65 [19:16] <joshuahoover> Now, if you go to https://one.ubuntu.com/notes/ you should see your notes there. For more information on how to manage your notes on the web, please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Notes#Managing%20notes%20on%20the%20web
66 [19:16] <joshuahoover> Last, but not least, we have bookmarks, which is still in beta
67 [19:17] <joshuahoover> You must be using Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and Firefox 3.5.x to use bookmarks.
68 [19:17] <joshuahoover> First, please close all your Firefox windows.
69 [19:17] <joshuahoover> Now let's install The Ubuntu One bookmarks extension, which is called "bindwood".
70 [19:17] <joshuahoover> A graphical tutorial for installing Bindwood, can be found here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/Bookmarks
71 [19:17] <joshuahoover> To keep things short, let's install from a terminal session: $ sudo apt-get bindwood
72 [19:18] <joshuahoover> Now open Firefox
73 [19:18] <joshuahoover> When prompted to allow Bindwood access to the keyring click Always Allow
74 [19:19] <joshuahoover> dutchie made a good catch on the install: $ sudo apt-get install bindwood
75 [19:19] <joshuahoover> sorry if that tripped people up
76 [19:20] <joshuahoover> Firefox may not be responsive for a bit as it adds existing bookmarks to the underlying CouchDB database. This is normal. It is not normal if Firefox is continually not responding with Bindwood installed.
77 [19:21] <joshuahoover> Those are the core features of Ubuntu One: Storing, syncing and sharing files, contacts, notes, and bookmarks
78 [19:21] <joshuahoover> So what's the tech behind all this?
79 [19:22] <joshuahoover> Here's the ultra quick overview of the technology for Ubuntu One:
80 [19:22] <joshuahoover> Languages - PythonDatabases - Postgres, CouchDB
81 [19:22] <joshuahoover> Messaging - RabbitMQ
82 [19:22] <joshuahoover> Misc. - Amazon EC2 & S3, Django
83 [19:22] <joshuahoover> Rather than go into details, does anyone have any questions about the tech we're using?
84 [19:23] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: What is couch data?
85 [19:24] <joshuahoover> When we refer to "couch data" we mean the data stored in CouchDB, which is used as the database for contacts and bookmarks
86 [19:24] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: What is RabbitMQ?
87 [19:24] <joshuahoover> __lucio__ or Chipaca: care to answer that one?
88 [19:25] <Chipaca> RabbitMQ is an erlang server that implements AMQP, a message queue
89 [19:25] <joshuahoover> Chipaca: maybe tell people what we use it for
90 [19:25] <Chipaca> we use it to let the different bits talk to each other
91 [19:25] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: why use couchdb rather than a more traditional database?
92 [19:26] <joshuahoover> __lucio__ or Chipaca: care to answer this one as well? ^^
93 [19:26] <Chipaca> as __lucio__ said, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Message_Queuing_Protocol
94 [19:27] <joshuahoover> Are there any other questions about the Ubuntu One technology? We'll take other questions at the end.
95 [19:28] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: how does the synchronization in U1 work? could it be be used to say... synchronize all my facebook contacts on my laptop with my desktop?
96 [19:29] <Chipaca> in theory, yes; somebody would have to write the bits to plug the facebook addressbook (or whatever it is) into Ubuntu One
97 [19:30] <mattgriffin> yitsrc: dev plans info coming up
98 [19:30] <joshuahoover> OK, if we don't have anymore tech specific questions, let's go over some developer info
99 [19:30] <joshuahoover> Now that Karmic is released, we're going to show developers some more love.
100 [19:30] <__lucio__> re why couch? http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/24/1744227 theres lots more info
101 [19:30] <joshuahoover> We have plans to create more docs and how-to's that explain how a Developer can make use of Ubuntu One.
102 [19:31] <joshuahoover> And, of course, we want to keep collaborating with all of you out there that have projects that might be interested in Ubuntu One and vice versa!
103 [19:31] <joshuahoover> OK, now onto some Ubuntu One resources for developers:
104 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Desktop Couch is all about CouchDB on the desktop, which is now standard in Karmic.
105 [19:31] <joshuahoover> By using Desktop Couch in your project, you'll get automatic replication and synchronization right out of the box in addition to libraries that make using CouchDB easier in your Python and C based applications.
106 [19:31] <mattgriffin> A4Tech: we just increased the storage for the paid plan to 50 GB. we will probably offer higher capacity plans in the future but nothing to announce today.
107 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Developer related links for Desktop Couch include:
108 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Desktop Couch Launchpad project - https://edge.launchpad.net/desktopcouch
109 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Specifications - http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktopcouch
110 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Desktop Couch Google Group - http://groups.google.com/group/desktop-couchdb
111 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Desktop Couch specification - http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktopcouch
112 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Stuart Langridge's Desktop Couch IRC talk - http://www.kryogenix.org/days/2009/09/03/desktop-couch-irc-talk
113 [19:31] <joshuahoover> Stuart Langridge's presentation, Building applications with Ubuntu One - http://www.kryogenix.org/code/building-applications-with-ubuntu-one/
114 [19:32] <joshuahoover> One project using Desktop Couch is Quickly, which rickspencer3 gave a session on just before this one.
115 [19:32] <mattgriffin> A4Tech: API info coming up
116 [19:32] <joshuahoover> Quickly helps you create software programs (and other things) quickly. It's like the Django or Rails for Ubuntu development. Very cool.
117 [19:32] <joshuahoover> Links for Quickly include:
118 [19:32] <joshuahoover> Quickly Launchpad project - https://edge.launchpad.net/quickly
119 [19:32] <joshuahoover> Quickly wiki page - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Quickly
120 [19:33] <joshuahoover> If you're interested in building a file sync client for Ubuntu One, your best bet currently is to look at the code for the Ubuntu One client and the Ubuntu One storage protocol:
121 [19:33] <joshuahoover> Ubuntu One client code Launchpad page - https://code.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntuone-client
122 [19:33] <joshuahoover> Ubuntu One storage protocol code Launchpad page - https://code.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntuone-storage-protocol
123 [19:33] <joshuahoover> We'd like to see other file sync clients built for Ubuntu One. If you're interested making a client, please contact myself, Chipaca, or __lucio__ on the #ubuntuone IRC channel at any time.
124 [19:33] <__lucio__> yltsrc, symlink support will be ready for lucid.
125 [19:34] <__lucio__> if anyone wants to build a client, ill do my best to help. i really want to see that happen and im interested in seeing how it goes.
126 [19:35] <joshuahoover> So that's what we have right now for developers. Like I said earlier, we are going to increase developer resources going forward so that some of you can build truly great apps that make the most of Ubuntu and the Ubuntu One cloud!
127 [19:35] <joshuahoover> Now on to how you can contribute to Ubuntu One
128 [19:35] <joshuahoover> There are a variety of ways that anyone can contribute to the Ubuntu One project. Here are just a few:
129 [19:36] <joshuahoover> Bug triage - Help us triage bugs. Some Ubuntu One specific guidelines can be found here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne#Bug%20Triage
130 [19:36] <joshuahoover> Join #ubuntuone on freenode - Help other users or chat with the development team. Tell us how Ubuntu One is working for you and how you're using it each day.
131 [19:36] <joshuahoover> Participate on LP Answers and Ubuntu Forums to help get the right answers out to users with questions.
132 [19:36] <joshuahoover> For developers who also work in a multi-platform world, we would be happy to help you port the client software over so more users on other OSs can enjoy Ubuntu One.
133 [19:36] <mattgriffin> yltsrc: ^^^
134 [19:36] <joshuahoover> Please keep passing along your great suggestions. For now, just file a bug and mention that it's a feature suggestion. We review them daily and are always interested in what our users want out of the service.
135 [19:36] <joshuahoover> Promote Ubuntu One - Tell your friends and family. Ubuntu One simplifies many of the tasks that are frequently complex in Ubuntu so helping them to switch from other platforms should be easier.
136 [19:37] <joshuahoover> We're very excited about Ubuntu One and hope you are too. Here are a few links about Ubuntu One that you may find helpful:
137 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Website - https://one.ubuntu.com
138 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Blog - http://voices.canonical.com/ubuntuone/
139 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Identi.ca - http://identi.ca/ubuntuone
140 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Twitter - http://twitter.com/ubuntuone
141 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Tutorials - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Tutorials/
142 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Release notes - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/ReleaseNotes
143 [19:37] <joshuahoover> Lauchpad project - https://edge.launchpad.net/ubuntuone
144 [19:38] <joshuahoover> Now, we would be happy to answer questions you may have. :-)
145 [19:39] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: Will there be a Windows client?
146 [19:39] <__lucio__> yes
147 [19:39] <__lucio__> but far away in the future :)
148 [19:39] <joshuahoover> heh, thanks __lucio__!
149 [19:39] <__lucio__> porting is not that hard, but maintaining a whole new build environment is
150 [19:40] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: When will ubuntu one be available for other ubuntu versions?
151 [19:40] <mattgriffin> ScottK: we realize many work in a multi-platform world, but windows development is not where our strengths lie. this is where we need the community's help.
152 [19:40] <__lucio__> on 10.4, 10.10, 11.04
153 [19:40] <__lucio__> etc :)
154 [19:41] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: Can Ubuntu One be based on our disk space: meaning that we can share files as big as we want as long as there is disk space available on the other computer?
155 [19:41] <__lucio__> i dont think that we will backport to 8.10 or earlier
156 [19:41] <Chipaca> ah!
157 [19:41] <mattgriffin> dhillon-v10: interesting idea but i don't anticipate us moving in that direction in the future
158 [19:41] <Chipaca> we have considered doing local syncing
159 [19:42] <Chipaca> so if we get round to that, then yes, over a local network
160 [19:42] <__lucio__> MenZa, thats also your answer re opening the server. we will allow for p2p sync in the future, without servers.
161 [19:42] <Chipaca> also, if the file is too big, it won't download
162 [19:43] <joshuahoover> Any other questions about Ubuntu One?
163 [19:44] <joshuahoover> Remember, mattgriffin is the Product Manager for Ubuntu One and __lucio__ and Chipaca are two of the lead developers. Take advantage of the next 15 minutes while you can. :)
164 [19:44] <mattgriffin> MenZa: did we answer your questions regarding APIs for 3rd party apps usage?
165 [19:44] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: Are their any clients for other platforms yet?
166 [19:45] <joshuahoover> No, no other clients right now for other platforms.
167 [19:45] <__lucio__> right now the client is only for linux/gtk, packaged for ubuntu (as far as i know)
168 [19:45] <__lucio__> we will do headless clients (no gui, can be run on servers), then maybe kde,
169 [19:45] <__lucio__> then maybe some packaging will occur
170 [19:45] <__lucio__> and we want to get to mac and windows
171 [19:45] <joshuahoover> Kubuntu users can use Ubuntu One, but they have to install GNOME dependencies...but it does work.
172 [19:46] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: What about mobile devices?
173 [19:46] <joshuahoover> mattgriffin: ^^
174 [19:47] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: when will a home server version be available, for those of us with our own servers?
175 [19:47] <mattgriffin> Ibrinkma: we realize the benefits of mobile (browser-based and/or apps) so we will work on those in the future.
176 [19:47] <joshuahoover> We do not intend on making the server portion of our code available in the near future, but we are considering sync across your local LAN between computers
177 [19:48] <joshuahoover> Question - is the data encrypted on the server? If no, why not?
178 [19:48] <Chipaca> Also, a headless client might be what you want for a home server
179 [19:48] <Chipaca> it is not encrypted, but will be in the future
180 [19:48] <joshuahoover> Data on the server is not encrypted unless you encrypt it locally right now
181 [19:48] <joshuahoover> Please see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOne/Security for more info on our security and privacy
182 [19:49] <Chipaca> we didn't encrypt it because it makes sharing a lot harder, and it's already fairly hard
183 [19:49] <mattgriffin> furicle: server encryption causes problems with syncing and sharing... two features that are really important to ubuntu one
184 [19:49] <joshuahoover> QUeSTION: how about family plans?
185 [19:49] <joshuahoover> mattgriffin: ^^
186 [19:49] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: is Canonical expected to work together with Mozilla's Weave? They seem complementary.
187 [19:50] <mattgriffin> Solarion: there will be a family plan for multiple users (user management) and enhanced sharing abilities
188 [19:50] <joshuahoover> We've talked to people at Mozilla and we definitely have some things that are complimentary, but we have no details on future plans there.
189 [19:51] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: So now we can sync contacts. How about subscribing to another Ubuntu One user contact information, so they are always up-to-date?
190 [19:51] <mattgriffin> Solarion: we don't anticipate having this ready for Lucid. many other features we're working on :)
191 [19:52] <joshuahoover> Subscribing to another Ubuntu One user's contact info isn't something we've discussed per se, but we have discussed sharing of contact information, which could include your own contact information, of course
192 [19:52] <mattgriffin> Chopinhauer: that fits into our sharing plans and sharing of contacts
193 [19:52] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: business plans as well? Do you expect to tie in to computer/server management here for enterprise (or enterprising home) situations?
194 [19:52] <joshuahoover> mattgriffin: ^^
195 [19:52] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: Why don't you release the server part?
196 [19:53] <mattgriffin> Solarion: there are many similarities between a family plan and a business (or small business) plan. those will probably be developed and released around the same time.
197 [19:53] <joshuahoover> We currently don't plan to release the file sharing server code and web UI / credit card billing code, and that code is written assuming that things are running on S3/EC2, so it couldn't be run on your own servers very easily anyway.
198 [19:54] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: how about sharing feature - not only via email, but via http url also? (just like in dropbox, when you can just use direct link for giving access to your data). Did you think about this?
199 [19:54] <Chipaca> that is already done
200 [19:54] <joshuahoover> We will be providing public sharing of files/folders with just a URL
201 [19:54] <Chipaca> however, right now the other person needs to have an account as well
202 [19:54] <mattgriffin> ukev: we want ubuntu one to make money and enable us to fund future development.. most of the service is open... see joshuahoover's reply ^^^
203 [19:54] <Chipaca> public urls are for lucid afaik
204 [19:54] <joshuahoover> Chipaca: correct, we'll be doing those as part of lucid
205 [19:55] <joshuahoover> QUESTION: There was a Akonadi and Couchdb demo done at GCDS. Is anything coming of that.
206 [19:56] <joshuahoover> We're still working with Akonadi and will continue making progress there in regards to Akonadi and Desktop Couch
207 [19:58] <joshuahoover> Alright, thanks everyone for your time and great questions! we'll be on #ubuntuone, so feel free to ping me there.
MeetingLogs/openweekKarmic/UbuntuOne (last edited 2009-11-03 02:09:11 by 99-21-107-94)