1 [16:02] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/05/06/%23ubuntu-classroom.html following the conclusion of the session.
   2 [16:03] <ScottL> Hello everyone, this is Intro to Ubuntu Studio and I'm Scott Lavender, Ubuntu Studio project lead
   3 [16:03] <ScottL> before i launch into my shtick, is there anyone here with questions?
   4 [16:04] <ScottL> if not, i'll move swiftly into it
   5 [16:04] <ScottL> and i'll cover some commonly asked questions as well
   6 [16:05] <ScottL> right, Ubuntu Studio is an officially recognized derivative of Ubuntu
   7 [16:05] <ScottL> and as such shares the same code base as Ubuntu, specifically it uses the same repositories
   8 [16:05] <ScottL> this means that any package available in Ubuntu is available in Ubuntu Studio, the inverse is true as well
   9 [16:06] <ScottL> Ubuntu Studio has some definitive differences however in it's settings to help people use multimedia applications
  10 [16:06] <ScottL> as well as some cosmetic changes, like a different theme and colors
  11 [16:07] <ScottL> i would like to mention that another big change coming up is our push to get the -lowlatency kernel into the universe repository
  12 [16:08] <ScottL> recent tests have shown that the -lowlatency kernel can half latencies (the time it takes for sound to be created, travel through your computer, and then be recorded/heard)
  13 [16:09] <ScottL> and once the -lowlatency kernel is in the repositories it can be included as the default kernel in Ubuntu Studio
  14 [16:09] <ScottL> this will be quite a significant accomplishment for the audio folks who rely on Ubuntu Studio and Ubuntu
  15 [16:10] <ScottL> Ubuntu Studio also varies from Ubuntu in the packages that are shipped with it
  16 [16:11] <ScottL> we tend not to install social media applications (e.g. gwibber) because this is not the focus of Ubuntu Studio
  17 [16:11] <ScottL> this does not mean that it cannot be installed however
  18 [16:11] <ScottL> apt-get install is still your friend
  19 [16:12] <ScottL> we do ship numerous audio, video, and graphical applications for our users
  20 [16:12] <ScottL> the choice of which applications to be install was based on developing "work flows" :  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/Workflows
  21 [16:13] <ScottL> during the last cycle we decided to review what packages are shipped and take a "top down" approach
  22 [16:14] <ScottL> we explored what "tasks" or "goals" our users might want to accomplish, developed work flows on the available tool chains that supported these tasks/goals
  23 [16:15] <ScottL> i should point out that not all of the work flows on that link are supported in the release, we need to do some administrative work to that page to parse them as such still
  24 [16:16] <ScottL> the result was that we ended up shipping fewer applications, having a smaller ISO image, but yielded a more effective distro
  25 [16:16] <ScottL> any questions at this point?
  26 [16:17] <ScottL> one of the common questions that is asked is about installing Ubuntu Studio
  27 [16:18] <ScottL> many times (for various reasons) people would prefer to install vanilla Ubuntu first, and then install the Ubuntu Studio packages and people want to know if this is possible
  28 [16:18] <ScottL> the answer is absolutely!
  29 [16:19] <ScottL> however, there is a little more to it than simply adding the packages
  30 [16:19] <ScottL> there are a few settings that need to be adjusted in order to make sure your system is configured the best to run JACK and other audio applications
  31 [16:20] <ScottL> this is a good page for users to visit:  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio
  32 [16:21] <ScottL> and if you look for "upgrade from Ubuntu" under installation you will find more information about that
  33 [16:21] <ScottL> !q
  34 [16:21] <ScottL> ClassBot, !q
  35 [16:22] <ClassBot> josker asked: when you said that ubuntu studio will ship lowlatency kernel, the changes will be made only into the sound driver ?
  36 [16:22] <ScottL> josker, good question!
  37 [16:23] <ScottL> the primary reasons for doing this (from a Ubuntu Studio perspective) is for the reason you stated, it helps improve performance for audio
  38 [16:23] <ScottL> however...
  39 [16:23] <ScottL> some people have reported that their desktop feels "snappier" as well
  40 [16:24] <ScottL> unfortunately, no one has provided data to support that report
  41 [16:25] <ScottL> i hope that answered your question josker, if not let me know
  42 [16:26] <ScottL> another question asked is about networking and wifi
  43 [16:27] <ScottL> historically we have shipped gnome-network-manager and our laptop users have reported significant trouble getting their wifi configured and running
  44 [16:27] <ScottL> this is especially true for new users
  45 [16:28] <ScottL> during Natty we made a decision to move to network-manager, which I believe is what ships with vanilla Ubuntu
  46 [16:29] <ScottL> another question (from last year's open week) was regarding wallpapers, GDM backgrounds, and text colors
  47 [16:30] <ScottL> the questions regarded how busy the wallpaper/background was and also how the text color was similar to the text box color in some cases
  48 [16:30] <ScottL> while we didn't make any progress on this during Natty I do expect some rather large changes in Ocelot
  49 [16:31] <ScottL> we have recently added an Art Lead to the team who will be focusing on these issues along with others
  50 [16:31] <ScottL> we also have a few other improvements scheduled for Ocelot
  51 [16:32] <ScottL> i've mentioned our goals for the -lowlatency kernel and theming/artwork issues
  52 [16:33] <ScottL> we are planning our timeline for Ocelot and tentatively have plans to do the following:
  53 [16:33] <ScottL>  * update the website
  54 [16:33] <ScottL> the website hasn't seen any updates in years and is seeing some bit rot
  55 [16:34] <ScottL> additionally we are revisiting the purpose and scope of the website and most likely will be added additional functionality to is as well
  56 [16:34] <ScottL>  * update ubuntustudio-controls
  57 [16:35] <ScottL> the -controls applcations allows user to change some of the system settings to help them tune their machine for audio work
  58 [16:35] <ScottL> some of the functionality has been deprecated by changes in the kernel and firewire stack
  59 [16:35] <ScottL> additionally, some of the functionality has changed due to upstream changes in JACK
  60 [16:35] <ScottL> so we will be updating -controls for those reasons
  61 [16:36] <ScottL> but we would like to introduce additional functionalities as well
  62 [16:36] <ScottL> which should further help users with their work
  63 [16:36] <ScottL>  * documentation
  64 [16:37] <ScottL> this is a huge (and hugely importatant) under taking
  65 [16:37] <ScottL> Ubuntu Studio has changed significantly over the years and the documentation hasn't quite kept up
  66 [16:38] <ScottL> our tentative plan is to overhaul the entire documentation system in help.ubuntu.com to reflect the current state of Ubuntu Studio and the changes within the kernel and other applications
  67 [16:38] <ScottL> it's a large, large job and we (possibly optimistally) expect it to take a year, especially given the size of the team and the other responsibilities
  68 [16:39] <ScottL> of course, if anyone is interested in helping the Ubuntu Studio team they are most welcomed to contact us
  69 [16:40] <ScottL> the developer mailing list can be found at:  https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
  70 [16:40] <ScottL> if you need help as a user, you can find the user mailing list at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-users
  71 [16:40] <ScottL> as mentioned before, users can find help documentation at:  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio
  72 [16:41] <ScottL> our current website can be found at: http://ubuntustudio.org/
  73 [16:42] <ScottL> if anyone has suggestions or comments about what they would like in the new website or about a new applications they would like to see in Ubuntu Studio, please contact us at the developer mailing list and let us know
  74 [16:43] <ScottL> additionally, we have several IRC channels for support
  75 [16:43] <ScottL> users can join #ubuntustudio here on freenode.net for help with Ubuntu Studio
  76 [16:44] <ScottL> anyone wanted to speak to the developers directly can join #ubuntustudio-devel
  77 [16:45] <ScottL> any questions at this time?
  78 [16:46] <ScottL> another common question that is asked pertains to getting new packages into Ubuntu Studio
  79 [16:47] <ScottL> one thing that the Ubuntu Studio team doesn't actively do is package applications
  80 [16:47] <ScottL> this isn't a philosophical stance, it's more of a pragmatic, logistical issue
  81 [16:47] <ScottL> we simple don't have experience packagers active on the team
  82 [16:47] <ScottL> however, we do have a mechanism for effecting this
  83 [16:48] <ScottL> i believe that most of the new audio applications (and even updates) tend to come from the Debian Multimedia Team
  84 [16:48] <ScottL> they are a robust, experienced, and active group :)   for which i am very appreciative
  85 [16:49] <ScottL> these packages see their way into the Ubuntu repositories at the beginning of each Ubuntu release cycle
  86 [16:50] <ScottL> so if you want to see about getting a package into Ubuntu Studio, we still welcome your suggestions or nominations
  87 [16:50] <ScottL> as we have cross team communications and can pass the request onto the Debian Multimedia Team
  88 [16:51] <ScottL> there are some new and exciting LV2 plugins that i expect to see in Ocelot that are now in our repositories
  89 [16:52] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
  90 [16:53] <ScottL> another question that is posted with some frequency pertains to applications included in derivative distributions of Ubuntu Studio
  91 [16:53] <ScottL> many times users explore other multimedia distributions that are derivatives of Ubuntu Studio
  92 [16:54] <ScottL> and these distros include certain packages that are not in Ubuntu Studio and users ask why
  93 [16:54] <ScottL> Ubuntu Studio can only ship packages that are hosting in the official archives (repositories)
  94 [16:55] <ScottL> the build system (buildd) will only include packages from these archives
  95 [16:55] <ScottL> if the package can not be included in the repositories, it can not ship with Ubuntu Studio
  96 [16:55] <ScottL> and I should note that PPA's are not the official archives
  97 [16:56] <ScottL> even though someone built Linux Sampler in a PPA, it can not be shipped on an Ubuntu Studio image
  98 [16:57] <ScottL> if there is an application that users would like to see in Ubuntu Studio then we (meaning developers and users) bend our energies to getting it included in the repositories
  99 [16:57] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
 100 [16:59] <ScottL> I'm pretty much done, so if anyone doesn't have questions, i'll close with a reqeust
 101 [16:59] <ScottL> a request even
 102 [16:59] <ScottL> hi htcGuitarman and holstein  :)
 103 [16:59] <ScottL> please give us your suggestions on how to improve Ubuntu Studio
 104 [17:00] <ScottL> we welcome all suggestions and comments
 105 [17:00] <ScottL> but please be aware there are limitations (e.g. licensing issues or logistics) to what we can accomplish
 106 [17:00] <ScottL> thank you