Ubuntu Wiki

Open Week -- Getting Started with Social from the Start -- Ken Van Dine -- Mon, May 3

EDT -5

(01:01:30 PM) jcastro: Ok hello everyone!
(01:01:46 PM) jcastro: Ken won't be able to make his session so I am going to take over his session and talk about Social from the Start
(01:02:22 PM) jcastro: here's an overall intro with screenshots: http://www.jonobacon.org/2010/02/09/social-from-the-start/
(01:02:28 PM) jcastro: so what exactly is "Social From the Start"
(01:02:42 PM) jcastro: basically, the idea is that people are using all sorts of social websites these days
(01:02:57 PM) jcastro: things like facebook, twitter, identica, qaiku, etc.
(01:03:32 PM) jcastro: so the idea is that since one of the main reasons for using a computer for a large group of people is to talk to their friends, so why not have that built into the OS!
(01:03:52 PM) jcastro: most of the work done for this feature is handled by a program called gwibber
(01:04:06 PM) jcastro: which you can find at http://gwibber.com/
(01:04:19 PM) jcastro: (or if you're running lucid we include it out of the box)
(01:04:35 PM) jcastro: gwibber is the actual tool that integrates with all sorts of social networks
(01:04:41 PM) jcastro: so it does all the heavy lifting for us
(01:04:53 PM) jcastro: we added a bit of ui into what we call the "me menu"
(01:04:59 PM) jcastro: which is the menu in your panel with your name on it
(01:05:17 PM) jcastro: after you've configured gwibber (and your IM), you can use the menu to post to these networks
(01:05:22 PM) jcastro: and also to set your IM status
(01:05:50 PM) jcastro: since we're using the APIs for these services this let's us do cool things, like the ability to "Like" things in facebook right from gwibber
(01:06:10 PM) jcastro: and it lets us integrate things like direct messages in twitter into the messaging menu
(01:06:40 PM) jcastro: so that when someone tweets you a message and you're not around it will queue it up for you in the little messaging menu so that when you return you see the envelope is green and you know you have a message
(01:06:52 PM) jcastro: any questions so far?
(01:06:59 PM) jcastro: !q
(01:07:33 PM) jcastro: ok
(01:07:57 PM) jcastro: so, I want to talk about some of the things the team is working on for Maverick that will improve this feature
(01:08:41 PM) jcastro: https://blueprints.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/desktop-maverick-social-api
(01:09:01 PM) jcastro: for maverick we will look at exposing an API for desktop apps with a library
(01:09:16 PM) jcastro: this will mean that it will be possible for us to tie in existing desktop apps into your social networks
(01:09:29 PM) jcastro: so for example if you want to share your photos with your friends you can do that
(01:09:36 PM) dpm is now known as dpm-afk
(01:09:54 PM) jcastro: or something I would look to do, is automatically have the people I care about's photos shared with me in f-spot (or whatever)
(01:10:22 PM) jcastro: whatever neat things application authors want to integrate with social networks will be possible
(01:10:41 PM) ClassBot: daengbo asked: I understand that Ubuntu (or Canonical) uses a StatusNet server. Is there any way that Gwibber could be automatically hooked up to that serrver to receive Ubuntu announcements  (e.g. major bugs, UbuntuOne service outages, etc.)?
(01:11:09 PM) jcastro: We have an account that the platform team uses to announce outages
(01:11:30 PM) jcastro: you want to follow @ubuntustatus and @ubuntuone
(01:11:41 PM) jcastro: and many other teams in ubuntu use social networks to get the word out
(01:11:57 PM) ClassBot: JR0cket asked: can you hide/delete messages in Gwibber once you've read them?  So you know which ones you've seen if following a tag, etc
(01:12:04 PM) jcastro: currently no
(01:12:21 PM) jcastro: however I know Ryan is looking at making it more obvious of where you were when you were reading last
(01:12:46 PM) jcastro: for example seesmic on android has this cool feature that has the scrollbar remember where you were when you last loaded the application
(01:12:49 PM) jcastro: so you have context
(01:12:57 PM) jcastro: I am keen on getting a feature like that in gwibber
(01:13:20 PM) ClassBot: daengbo asked: I follow those already. I meant pre-set on  first installation so that users automatically get important announcemanets
(01:13:26 PM) jcastro: oh
(01:13:36 PM) jcastro: I am not sure if there are plans for default accounts.
(01:13:41 PM) jcastro: However I will bring that up at UDS
(01:13:49 PM) jcastro: it might make sense to have something like that as a feature!
(01:14:10 PM) ClassBot: toros asked: Will gwibber support identi.ca groups?
(01:14:31 PM) jcastro: I know it supports the !group thing
(01:14:54 PM) jcastro: if it's missing some functionality with groups please file a bug on launchpad.net/gwibber
(01:15:07 PM) jcastro: and also one on the ability to hide posts
(01:15:21 PM) jcastro: ok so let me show you some other cool gwibber plans
(01:15:40 PM) jcastro: ryan has written a status report on his ideas for gwibber
(01:15:46 PM) jcastro: http://gwibber.com/blog/
(01:16:17 PM) jcastro: one of the (unfortunately) non obvious features is the multicolumn view in gwibber
(01:16:28 PM) jcastro: so you can follow different tags, etc in one UI
(01:16:50 PM) jcastro: there is also a roadmap of bugs for gwibber 3.0 here: https://edge.launchpad.net/gwibber/+milestone/3.0
(01:17:05 PM) jcastro: (including future support for google buzz when that API is ready)
(01:17:44 PM) jcastro: any other questions on gwibber before I move on?
(01:18:30 PM) jcastro: in case you didn't notice
(01:18:40 PM) jcastro: we themed gwibber to match the empathy theme
(01:18:54 PM) jcastro: which was written by the Renkoo theme author and adapted for gwibber
(01:19:01 PM) jcastro: so that's where the cool looking bubbles come from
(01:19:49 PM) jcastro: and since the UI is based on webkit (the same HTML engine that powers Chromium and Safari) it let's us do cool UI bits
(01:20:12 PM) jcastro: so if you for example add a flickr account we embed little pictures in the UI when the people you follow post a picture on flickr.com
(01:20:50 PM) jcastro: also, another nifty feature is
(01:21:05 PM) jcastro: if you set up different accounts you can click on the button of the service at the bottom of the UI
(01:21:12 PM) jcastro: so you can post to different services at the same time
(01:21:15 PM) jcastro: or individually
(01:21:21 PM) jcastro: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MeMenu
(01:21:42 PM) jcastro: ^^ there are some mockups there that show how we will integrate this kind of service selection into the me-menu itself
(01:22:15 PM) jcastro: any more questions? I was hoping to get more feedback on how people are using gwibber
(01:23:19 PM) mode (+o ClassBot) by ChanServ
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(01:23:22 PM) mode (-o ClassBot) by ChanServ
(01:23:24 PM) jcastro: ok
(01:23:29 PM) jcastro: so I've unmoderated the channel for a bit
(01:23:44 PM) jcastro: so we can have more of a 2 way discussion on how you all are using gwibber and other social services in ubuntu
(01:23:56 PM) ClassBot: brobostigon82 asked: will gwibber handle facebook comments better in the future?
(01:24:08 PM) jcastro: yeah this is something that definately needs to be improved
(01:24:33 PM) jcastro: the gwibber author will be attending UDS in brussels, and we usually have multiple sessions on how to improve gwibber
(01:24:42 PM) ClassBot: dieresys asked: Is there any plan to optimize Gwibber a little? I found it painfully slow to run it on my netbook
(01:24:50 PM) jcastro: yes absolutely
(01:25:01 PM) jcastro: especially when it comes to start up time, which isn't as fast as it should be
(01:25:35 PM) ClassBot: aquarius asked: when I get more than one reply in Gwibber, all the replies show up separately in the Me Menu, but clicking one of them only removes that one -- so if I get lots of replies, I have to click on them all. What's the plan for improving this?
(01:25:52 PM) jcastro: ok so there's a few ways to fix this
(01:26:00 PM) jcastro: one would be to have less friends (just kidding)
(01:26:28 PM) jcastro: interaction with messaging menu in general needs to be more granular, so this is more of a messaging indicator problem
(01:26:35 PM) jcastro: but it's pretty high on the list to discuss
(01:26:49 PM) jcastro: (the same problem shows up with mail too, which gets confusing)
(01:27:09 PM) jcastro: so does anyone want to chime in on how they use gwibber?
(01:27:15 PM) jcastro: or give other recommendations?
(01:27:23 PM) jcastro: I've un moderated the channel so we can have a group discussion
(01:27:32 PM) aquarius: I love the multi-column thing.
(01:27:45 PM) jcastro: The problem is that it's hard to find
(01:27:51 PM) jcastro: but apparently that's how tweetdeck does it
(01:28:11 PM) jcastro: also, I forgot to mention like my favorite feature
(01:28:13 PM) oppl_ is now known as oppl
(01:28:27 PM) kyubutsu: everything should be done by 'buttons' !
(01:28:28 PM) jcastro: if someone tweets something really useful you can click on the little gear icon in their tweet
(01:28:31 PM) daengbo: I've got no complaints. The memory is mostly under control now, so things have gotten much better
(01:28:40 PM) jcastro: and save it directly to your tomboy notes!
(01:28:42 PM) aquarius: yeah; the issue is knowing that it's doable. Tweetdeck, out of the box, has more than one column, so you know that it can do that. Gwibber only has one, and up until recently it didn't support multiple columns, so no-one thinks to check
(01:28:50 PM) jcastro: this is useful when people post their favorite tips on stuff
(01:29:00 PM) toros: jcastro: what I really miss that the group tags (like !gwibber) in identi.ca are not converted to links like hashtags (like #gwibber). So I need a web browser when I want to read the messages in a group.
(01:29:35 PM) jcastro: toros: please see launchpad.net/gwibber to see if someone has filed a bug report on that. If not please file one and I'll triage it appropriately
(01:29:57 PM) jcastro: what do you all think about what services we need to add?
(01:30:00 PM) jcastro: (or remove)
(01:30:32 PM) toros: jcastro: okay, I will do that :)
(01:30:40 PM) kyubutsu: i, counterintuitively look for 'broadcast' in the me menu
(01:30:48 PM) kyubutsu: :-/
(01:31:24 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: Picasa feeds would be a nice companion to FLickr feeds
(01:31:38 PM) jcastro: yep, on the list
(01:31:39 PM) daengbo: I think SocialNet should be promoted more. As I mentioned earlier, setting up Gwibber to give the user an Identi.ca or other StatusNet account by default and using that for Ubuntu announcements.
(01:32:01 PM) jcastro: and as soon as buzz finishes their api. Pubsubhubhubhubhubhub or something. :)
(01:32:08 PM) daengbo: +1 for PicasaWeb integration
(01:32:14 PM) ClassBot: brobostigon82 asked: how about google wave support?
(01:32:23 PM) jcastro: that one sounds complicated
(01:32:34 PM) jcastro: clearly one would have to design how that interaction would work
(01:32:52 PM) jcastro: it would be nice to have things like wave document updates and stuff in there
(01:33:42 PM) jcastro: I personally am looking forward to more integration with location
(01:33:59 PM) jcastro: like, if I'm travelling have my laptop know where I am so I can post that information to my friends, etc.
(01:34:37 PM) jcastro: are there any other services people are using that we should be looking at?
(01:35:04 PM) jcastro: (RSS feeds should return by 3.0 too)
(01:35:19 PM) jcastro: oh, so let me also say
(01:35:20 PM) yofel_ is now known as yofel
(01:35:34 PM) jcastro: that though gwibber is a huge important role in "Social from the Start" it's not the only place we can improve
(01:36:05 PM) jcastro: for example it would be nice have f-spot be able to have your friend's photos in there if you want, and also make it easier to push your photos to those kind of services
(01:36:26 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: jcastro: can you follow/subscribe from Gwibber's interface yet?
(01:36:33 PM) jcastro: yes
(01:36:47 PM) jcastro: that is probably my most annoying bug, but yes, that's for sure on the list of things to fix
(01:36:58 PM) ClassBot: ubuntoogle asked: Have you thought about putting some of this functionality in by way of Chromium or Firefox Addons?
(01:37:19 PM) jcastro: I don't think we have looked at that
(01:37:21 PM) ***jcastro notes that down
(01:38:25 PM) jcastro: any other ideas on things we should look at?
(01:39:47 PM) kyubutsu: better wording and/or more visibility of options into me menu
(01:39:59 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: how about a desktlet widget for Gwibber?
(01:40:11 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: I'd like to be able to define the equivilent of IRC highlights, so that I get notifications on more than just replies
(01:40:14 PM) jcastro: ok
(01:40:23 PM) jcastro: so, I am not familiar with what a desklet is
(01:40:37 PM) jcastro: but you can file that as a wishlist bug on launchpad.net/gwibber
(01:40:37 PM) mhall119: like plasma desktop widgets
(01:40:49 PM) jcastro: ah right
(01:40:53 PM) ***jcastro notes that one down
(01:41:06 PM) jcastro: ok so you'd like to just be able to define a term
(01:41:09 PM) jcastro: and then get a notification on it
(01:41:14 PM) jcastro: just like xchat basically?
(01:41:24 PM) mhall119: yes
(01:41:29 PM) jcastro: ah, good idea
(01:41:42 PM) jcastro: on the flip side, I know ryan is keen on adding the ability to ignore tags as well
(01:41:48 PM) jcastro: so if you follow @sil for example
(01:42:03 PM) jcastro: and then he starts hashtagging english politics for 5 hours you can shut him off temporarily
(01:42:40 PM) jcastro: and also the ability to ignore a person in a group
(01:42:53 PM) ClassBot: brobostigon82 asked: and something like a /me in empathy/telepathy aswell, ?
(01:43:07 PM) jcastro: well when you post it's the equivalent of a /me
(01:43:13 PM) jcastro: it says "@yourname blah blah"
(01:43:49 PM) jcastro: we seem to be running out of questions.
(01:44:07 PM) jcastro: aquarius: do you have any comments on how apps can integrate with gwibber via DC and dbus?
(01:44:13 PM) jcastro: ken normally covers that kind of thing
(01:44:44 PM) qense: There is a DBus API for that!
(01:44:55 PM) jcastro: have you used it?
(01:45:10 PM) qense: Actually, the Gwibber client is using that same API as well; the real logic gets done by gwibber-service.
(01:45:12 PM) jcastro: it would be nice if app authors can just add social interaction to their new quickly app!
(01:45:14 PM) qense: I haven't used it.
(01:45:39 PM) aquarius: http://www.kryogenix.org/code/RBMicroBlog/ is a tiny Rhythmbox plugin that tweets the song you're listening to by using the Gwibber API
(01:45:44 PM) aquarius: as one example
(01:46:11 PM) qense: Integrating Gwibber in your application should be very easy since you can use the same DBus APi as the client does (which, again, does not contain the logic)
(01:47:05 PM) jcastro: oh, this is a way cool app aquarius
(01:47:09 PM) daengbo: Any other specific ideas for applications to use the API?
(01:47:57 PM) qense: There was an idea for Software Center to use Gwibber. When I first proposed it the designers didn't seem to like it very much, but iirc it did show up in some Software Center design documents lately. Not sure on that though.
(01:48:10 PM) jcastro: rick spencer made a little photobombing app
(01:48:14 PM) mistrynitesh: what kind of social networking features integrated into kubuntu edition?
(01:48:17 PM) daengbo: Do you hjave a link?
(01:48:26 PM) jcastro: that let's you connect and import your friend's photos so you can draw mustaches on them, etc.
(01:48:41 PM) daengbo: qense: do you have a link?
(01:49:24 PM) jcastro: http://theravingrick.blogspot.com/search/label/photobomb <-- information on the photobomb app if people are interested
(01:50:13 PM) qense: daengbo: This is not what I was thinking of, but Twitter is mentioned at <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#Ratings%20and%20reviews>
(01:50:28 PM) qense: as a way of sharing your thought on a certain application from the Software Center
(01:50:36 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: Is there a Quickly Widget for Gwibber posting?
(01:50:39 PM) daengbo: qense: Thanks
(01:50:58 PM) jcastro: qense: do you know if there's a quickly widget?D
(01:51:40 PM) qense: There isn't any yet, iirc. But I do think that could potentially be a part or a consequence of the planned UDS session on 'Social from the Start' in Maverick.
(01:52:16 PM) qense: If anyone here would like to write a widget, please do so and submit it for review! We'd be glad to help you out with it.
(01:52:24 PM) jcastro: that is a good idea
(01:52:31 PM) ClassBot: mhall119|lernid asked: can you use the API from an ubuntu-server install?  Like if we want loco-directory to tweet about upcoming events?
(01:52:52 PM) jcastro: ok I had never thought of that before, also a good idea
(01:52:55 PM) mistrynitesh left the room.
(01:53:04 PM) jcastro: gwibber-service should run headless right aquarius?
(01:53:18 PM) jcastro: mhall119: you are full of good ideas today!
(01:53:36 PM) mhall119: it's that or do actual work ;)
(01:53:45 PM) qense: It does but its code is still entangled with the UI's at the moment.
(01:53:52 PM) jcastro: you could make it so each team can tweet events, etc. that would be awesome
(01:54:09 PM) mhall119: jcastro: that's what I want to do, especially with the new status.net domain for locoteams
(01:54:14 PM) qense: It could be that the service depends on GTK, but it doesn't require a graphical interface.
(01:54:38 PM) aquarius: jcastro, um....um. It might do, but then it might not. it uses D-Bus, and desktopcouch also uses D-Bus.
(01:54:39 PM) qense: It would be even better if the service would be separated even further so you don't have to run the whole listeners stuff in order to just post messages.
(01:54:50 PM) aquarius: I'm not sure if you can do D-Bus out of the box on headless installs.
(01:55:24 PM) jcastro: I will ask ken about that, that would be useful for locos
(01:55:32 PM) jcastro: then you can have it send out reminders, etc.
(01:55:57 PM) jcastro: any other questions?
(01:55:59 PM) mhall119: aquarius: if not dbus, is there a python library we can use to post?
(01:56:09 PM) qense: aquarius: What about NetworkManager, APTDaemon and other DBus users?
(01:56:30 PM) jcastro: (thanks so much everyone for contributing even though the presenter couldn't be here, I've got a nice list of cool ideas I can bring to UDS)
(01:56:42 PM) aquarius: mhall119: the gwibber.lib library is Python, but I thnk it's a wrapper *around* D-Bus.
(01:56:44 PM) aquarius: qu
(01:57:18 PM) aquarius: qense, I don't know. Does NM work headless? the applet isn't there in that sort of environment. Also, NM probably uses the system D-Bus rather than the session D-Bus.
(01:57:20 PM) mhall119: jcastro: jcastro
(01:57:38 PM) jcastro: yep, that is me!
(01:57:51 PM) mhall119: sorry, network hickup
(01:58:17 PM) mhall119: jcastro: give the presenter the list of ideas, and tell him he agreed to implement them all for Maverick
(01:58:18 PM) qense: I haven't seen if the version of NetworkManager on the server is using DBus.
(01:58:32 PM) qense: We should test DBus on the server! :)
(01:58:44 PM) jcastro: I see pain and suffering going down this road, hah
(01:58:58 PM) jcastro: ok, so next up we're going to have Dustin Kirkland talking about byobu
(01:59:12 PM) jcastro: byobu sessions are always fun