help.ubuntu.com landing page

Headers Testing

ISO vs PPA

Numerous people have argued for using the vanilla Ubuntu LiveCD to install Ubuntu and then add the appropriate packages from PPA rather than releasing an ISO image.

It has been argued that "most" people use the LiveCD/PPA method for installation it is not backed up by any data. Furthermore, creating and releasing an ISO image does not preclude others from using the LiveCD and PPA's to install. It is important to note that all applications included on the ISO are in the archives.

Currently we will continue to build and release ISO images.

Building an ISO image:

• allows us to control what is *not* installed - good example is the use of gnome-network-admin in lieu of network manager (which was found to degrade recording performance) or the MeMenu

• a single Ubuntu Studio disc can be installed on multiple machines
• allows installation on a studio machine that may not have internet
• the disc can be downloaded outside the studio - perhaps the studio has dial up internet connection, but the ISO can be downloaded somewhere else that has a much faster connection
• gives respect from Canonical as a distrobution
• allows for system level configuration (e.g. user in the audio group)

Notes from IRC Logs

These are excerts from an extended IRC discussion about the direction of the project and website development for ubuntustudio.org.

You can find the originals at:
http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/04/19/%23ubuntustudio-devel.txt
http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/04/20/%23ubuntustudio-devel.txt

Core Issues

[23:59] <troy_s> detrate: What in essence is required is ultimately greater numbers. Plain and simple. How to do that when dealing with a very specific audience (perhaps could be more specific and more greatly deliver to that audience's needs is another question entirely) with already limited numbers.
[00:04] <troy_s> detrate: We could do well to attract say, a hot independent band to push things along (greater numbers for uptake) or a brilliant independent artist (again greater numbers via halo) etc.
[00:41] <persia> I've no real opinion on that then, but I agree we have to better define the goals before how we implement stuff matters
[00:42] <persia> And *which* system (drupal, wrodpress, etc.) makes no difference at all.
[00:42] <persia> detrate: It's an implementation detail.
[00:43] <persia> rlameiro: It's not worth us arguing about which is the right tool: the right tool is the tool that makes the work *by the person doing the work* easiest.
[00:46] <troy_s> detrate: Ubuntu Studio has an implied audience of people that (hopefully lol) rely on the software to achieve their goals / meet their needs / etc.
[00:47] <troy_s> detrate: And in the end, it is _that_ audience that the design _must_ cater to. Not the other way around. The other side is _certainly_ important, but basing every design decision on the developer(?) core is likely faulty.
[00:48] <troy_s> detrate: The website is clearly important. I'm not disagreeing with you. But when you suggest that 'people who want to help the project grow', that's a HUGE selection of people there. And each one has a pretty significant role.
[00:49] <troy_s> rlameiro: Agree. The issue I see though is that all the development in the world isn't going to provide salvation if the tools aren't uptaken by the proper audience and demonstrated to be effective. It's a strange cyclical issue here.
[00:51] <troy_s> detrate: I guess I'd start by suggesting what is the _core goal_ of the project.
[00:51] <troy_s> If the core goal is to provide a service, what is it? To whom?
[00:51] <troy_s> And likely the answer to _that_ important question, is precisely who the audience for the primary website touch point is.
[00:54] <troy_s> detrate: The bigger problem seems to stem from figuring out _just_ what to do and why.
[01:05] <persia> My concern is that if we're solving the not-enough-users problem, and we don't have other solutions in place for the not-enough-support-folks, not-enough-testers, and not-enough-developers, we end up with lots of annoyed users.
[01:09] <persia> Let's ask some fundamental questions. What do we do? Are we building a flavour? Supporting multimedia software? Writing integration tools?
[01:11] <troy_s> rlameiro: I think he is asking that someone step up and frame the problem. What exactly is the _goal_ of the project.
[01:12] <rlameiro> A flavour of PRO software for Multimedia/artistic purposes
[01:13] <persia> So, to frame my questions: we currently do all of that. We currently do most of it in a fairly weak manner, for complex reasons.
[01:13] <troy_s> ScottL: Ok. That's a big scope. And rlameiro's question begs a further question. For whom?
[01:13] <persia> I think if we remind ourselves of the goals, we can probably identify what needs doing better.
[01:13] <persia> And once we know what needs doing, we can better determine what roles exist, and develop a strategy to staff them.
[01:14] <persia> And once we have staffed roles, we can handle lots of publicity. Right not, publicity is only likely to lead to questionable reviews.
[01:14] <troy_s> ScottL: I think that persia's question is precisely the issue in _much_ of what we do, well beyond Ubuntu Studio.
[01:16] <persia> troy_s: It's the same question for any domain. What do we do? Why? Why does it matter? How shall we do it? But really, let's narrow the focus to the current area of discussion
[01:17] <troy_s> persia: Because _delivery_ is pretty important _and_ diverse depending on who that audience is.
[01:17] <troy_s> persia: Explaining what an ISO is for example, versus not needing to (if you are borrowing from other distribution audiences for example)
[01:18] <troy_s> persia: I say this because I know a GOOD number of earn-their-living professional audio types that would be UTTERLY lost in the current incarnation.
[01:19] <persia> troy_s: Reasonable critique, although I'm unsure if we want that many of that audience in testing: they need post-release stable to do their work, and any testing would have to be *separate*.
[01:19] <troy_s> persia: Totally agree with you. Each audience brings a certain set of design constraints and some are likely ... unattainable?
[01:19] <persia> troy_s: I prefer to think not. Let's call it "hard to arrange".
[01:21] <troy_s> persia: Ok. I know in terms of image processing for example, the faults in GIMP are unarrangeable.
[01:23] <troy_s> persia: Hell no. But you follow me when I say that certain things might not be attainable if you blindly profess to be appealing to audience x.
[01:24] <troy_s> persia: I mean, I know in terms of imaging, Linux is laughable. I can't speak for audio, and likely neither can anyone in this forum.
[01:28] <persia> rlameiro: The key isn't how much we know, it's what we do. Until we find studios saying "Yeah, that's good" and e.g. accepting ardour session files for mastering, it's too soon to say that we're really doing professional audio. Note that I know folks who *use* Ubuntu to generate income-producing audio (and we have some in this conversation), but that's not quite the same thing.
[01:31] <scott_> it sounds like Ubuntu Studio is going through a "rebranding"
[01:39] <troy_s> scott_: Rebranding or actually addressing the core issues (perhaps finally)
[01:43] <troy_s> scott_: The part about that 'pro' label - it doesn't work for pro (likely and there are likely many concrete examples)
[01:43] <troy_s> scott_: But say, university uptake (as rlameiro suggests with the multimedia arts) is certainly viable.
[01:44] <troy_s> scott_: So it seems that figuring out that _who_ helps to define exactly _what_ needs to be done / solved / negotiated.
[01:44] <ScottL> well, yeah, that's kinda why i mentioned what the website says, it's kinda bothered me for a while that something "pro" takes so much knowledge and investment to get the base system functional, troy_s
[01:45] <troy_s> scott_: MANY of the points of bikeshed evaporate and the direction for MANY complicated questions are almost automatically solved simply by specifying 'who'.

• bikeshed = arguing over trivial points because you want your view heard - http://bikeshed.com/
  

[01:46] <ScottL> most of my feeling wouldn't be hurt if Studio was an audio distro
[01:46] <troy_s> scott_: I couldn't agree more.
[01:47] <troy_s> scott_: Look at the vast breadth of ability here, and pull a percentage. That clarity might help it out?
[01:50] <troy_s> rlameiro: If there is a singular point that Ubuntu Studio can leverage, it isn't in the software (any old Ubuntu works) and it isn't in a custom CD with preinstalls (again, any old package list pumped into synaptic works.)
[01:52] <troy_s> rlameiro / ScottL - So figuring out exactly what _value_ Ubuntu Studio can bring to the table (and obviously that is moored in _for whom_) is about the most tricky question that faces the survival of the project.
[01:52] <persia> troy_s: That statement assumes that we only care about the flavour. That any old Ubuntu works is in large part because of the work to ensure that Ubuntu Studio works with that software set.
[01:52] <troy_s> Not easy questions. Not a chance. But I dare say the sort of meandering death that has befallen it has little to do with leadership or such. Rather _vision_.
[01:53] <troy_s> persia: I agree, there are very real dividends that Ubuntu Studio does that people outside of it don't care about but may... for example getting updated multi-media packages done, getting jack up to date, etc.
[01:53] <persia> Or having a realtime kernel
[01:54] <troy_s> persia: But in terms of a 'project vision', supplementing Ubuntu proper seems... maybe a position of weakness?
[01:54] <troy_s> persia: Agree 100%
[01:55] <troy_s> It does seem the project has been sputtering for a long while.
[01:56] <persia> troy_s: That's why I ask the question What do we do?: flavour is important. Software quality is important. Neither works without the other. I think we hurt ourselves if we define any vision that doesn't have Ubuntu Studio as part of Ubuntu very clearly.
[01:56] <troy_s> persia: Not going to disagree with you at all.
[01:56] <troy_s> persia: I'll be blunt. I see a numbers game. I see the need for people and as a result, _greater_ participation.
[01:57] <troy_s> persia: That is NOT an easy issue though. You need _real_ musicians using the setup to comment etc. Full time deployments at a University maybe. Etc.
[01:58] <troy_s> ScottL: I think you maybe see why everything puffs up in smoke. Since Cory was here, the inevitable questioning of the vision has come to the surface and many have bowed out.
[01:59] <troy_s> ScottL: It is too many things to too many people based on assumptions, and the net sum result is... well... 10-15 people in a channel.
[01:59] <troy_s> rlameiro: Because their vision is questionable at times. If you value having talented musicians involved in Ubuntu, it SHOULD be important simply for the RT kernel.
[01:59] <ScottL> troy_s, lol at channel comment
[02:04] <ScottL> can we agree that we need more community involvement?
[02:05] <ScottL> this might also mean remove functionality from Studio then
[02:05] <ScottL> if the community doesn't use something they are not going to test or comment about it
[02:07] <troy_s> ScottL: Ubuntu Studio doesn't (as a disk iso) bring anything to the table for visual work in my mind. Unless I am missing something.
[02:14] <detrate> providing applications is only half the battle, you need to explain how to use the product you're distributing
[02:15] <detrate> not having a live version I believe is a huge oversight as well
[02:15] <troy_s> detrate: There has always been a relatively good set of reasons behind the project's choices... much of it is effort obviously.
[02:16] <detrate> troy_s: I don't see why a light version of each version wouldn't be possible
[02:16] <detrate> assuming you make meta packages for "art", "music" "video" or whatever the separations are
[02:16] <rlameiro> troy_s: what was the reason to dont have a live version?
[02:16] <troy_s> ScottL: Yep. As long as you make decisions that are based on growth. Makes me think we don't document our conditions for failure in projects and we certainly don't evaluate them enough / document them so that others that follow can at least reference and learn from them.
[02:17] <ScottL> i had actually thought about wiki pages about applications and decisions we had made and why
[02:18] <rlameiro> troy_s: i believe, but has the networkmanager decision, maybe now threr is no reason anymore
[02:19] <troy_s> rlameiro / ScottL - You guys could likely do much to help this along simply by documenting what the thinking is on the wiki. Maybe involve the mailing list? Try to not fall into the 'everyone' trap etc.
[02:21] <persia> No live version is because performance on live inherently sucks because of the way live systems work. No network manager was because early versions used extra resources and didn't work well with static IPs (which we expected to be common for studio installs).
[02:24] <rlameiro> persia: 2gb would be enough for a minimal live system and having some ram for software?
[02:25] <persia> rlameiro: All-in-RAM means 1) not enough RAM for other things, and 2) there's still the poor filesystem performance inherent in stacked filesystems.
[02:25] <persia> You could make a livecd. Some folks wouldn't complain. Those folks would be uninformed.
[02:28] <detrate> I think another solution could be to provide videos of the OS in action
[02:29] <troy_s> detrate: I'd say many don't likely start there though. If you are looking to Ubuntu Studio, you likely have some idea what it will provide for you.
[02:29] <persia> Making a liveCD is fairly trivial. Getting it tested it a bit harder. Justifying it is the hardest part.
[02:30] <troy_s> detrate: It isn't like (at least having studied god knows how much analytics data) that people randomly out in the ether and stumble across say, Ubuntu Studio and take it for a whirl on a spare box they have sitting around.
[02:30] <troy_s> detrate: If they do, they are already likely savvy enough to know what an ISO is, know how to craft one, know how to partition a drive and know how to get it on there.
[02:32] <rlameiro> troy_s: lol, do you know who made the ubuntustudio theme?
[02:34] <troy_s> rlameiro: But it was agreed ages ago that the darkness met a few things - 1) It worked well as a starting point for visual work. 2) It paired well with industrial grade applications.
[02:34] <troy_s> rlameiro: Think about going through visual, motion picture, then audio, then... ?
[02:39] <troy_s> detrate: I'd say that given free reign of a silly magical poof wand wave, I'd make Ubuntu Studio give up on everything except audio
[02:39] <troy_s> detrate: And I'd make it entirely about a perfectly turnkey Jack setup everything type of scenario for an independent band to record an album end to end.
[02:39] <troy_s> detrate: With a secondary class of audience that would be university audio lab deployments.
[02:40] <troy_s> detrate: From my totally subjective vantage, between those two audiences, I can see a clear area for Ubuntu Studio to deliver some serious value and meet an audience need.
[02:44] <troy_s> detrate: You _can_ please a particular audience. That's my point. You can engage them. You can emotionally move them. You can _greatly_ fulfil a need.
[02:46] <troy_s> detrate: No... I am _totally_ aware of that new audience member. I am saying _embrace_ their current situation. They aren't us. They come from OSX or Windows, etc. They have a given set of expectations etc.
[02:49] <rlameiro> well so the issue is wether we need to narrow the scope or not, at least on troy_s poit of view, isnt that?
[02:50] <troy_s> rlameiro: I don't think there is the time / people currently to warrant anything but a reduction in scope. Perhaps that is skepticism on my part.
[02:50] <detrate> maybe focus on the best tools to include, offer the others available as meta packages.
[02:54] <rlameiro> So, is it reasonable to send a request for a poll to vote on narrowing US??? to the mailing lists ?
[02:54] <troy_s> rlameiro: I think the project is in the hands of those that are passionate about it. That likely includes ScottL, yourself, and others that have shown the willingness to linger for extended periods of time.
[02:55] <rlameiro> troy_s: true, but the user have a word in it
[02:55] <troy_s> rlameiro: If your goal is to simply fulfill the needs of the current, then perhaps votes work wonders.
[03:00] <troy_s> rlameiro: I totally disagree. Bugger the current audience. Figure out who the audience is, and listen to _them_.
[03:02] <troy_s> rlameiro: The _audience_ that is deemed fitting. Not the current.
[03:08] <scott_> if we are talking about minimizing scope, I think that should include the audio apps as well, clean out some cruft that no one uses
[03:11] <troy_s> rlameiro: Which is why I was fond of say, University audio labs - you might be able to get one and test like hell. Or an independent band to test and work with. Approach them.
[03:20] <troy_s> rlameiro: As a masters in music, you should have university connections. If you can get lab space, that's a win. There's the start of a very useful audience.
[03:21] <troy_s> rlameiro: There is a good chance that some of the diligent folks in here could see some sort of monetary reward via support contracts.
[03:55] <ScottL> persia, another argument to downsize the project scope is losing a tech lead
[03:57] <persia> That said, I'd accept downsizing the project because we have a less capable tech lead, but we need a tech lead.
[03:57] <persia> And although I know in advance I don't have time to do it, I'm very much up for advising someone.
[03:58] <detrate> I think you should offer meta packages for people that want to fiddle with such focused programs you decide to cut from the scope
[10:40] <astraljava> But I must agree with Troy, uS needs to focus.
[10:40] <astraljava> Audio only... sounds scary, but might be the thing.
[10:41] <astraljava> If uS cannot offer any value to the graphics or video side, then they must go.
[10:42] <astraljava> On the other hand, if uS is to let go the 'pro' audience, then does it matter if those areas are still represented?
[10:49] <persia> astraljava: The issue is that were struggling for good application suites for video/graphics.
[11:00] <persia> Seed maintenance is trivial, and comes down to the "if someone cares" model. If someone cares, then we can have a seed and a task.
[11:01] <persia> It's meaninglessly easy to have that included on the DVD.
[11:01] <astraljava> persia: I think so.
[11:02] <astraljava> persia: Labels, and the groups of artists we want to market our product.
[11:04] <persia> Sure. Audience. If there exists a set of video/graphics artists who find ubuntustudio useful, and there is a common set of tools that meet their needs, then it can be supplied.
[11:04] <persia> The trick is identification of that set of folks and that common set of tools.
[11:04] <persia> And assuring that there is overlap between that group and the set of folks willing to do testing, etc.

Website

[23:17] <detrate> in any case I'd reccomend using wordpress if possible. It's a great way to collaborate with other maintainers with limited to no knowledge of HTML code but also just as easy for php gurus to code for. You can get some amazing plugins that will provide you with out of the box SEO advantages, not that you need that specifically for your project as you're under the wing of ubuntu but using a sitemap plugin you can help google
[23:17] <detrate> index content of all pages properly and return more relevant results to the user.
[23:17] <detrate> drupal I found confusing for both developers and end users
[23:18] <detrate> workflows, I think it's important to document from basic to more advanced methods for creation that you'd find in a similar windows or OS X environment
[23:19] <detrate> if you give a few good examples for specific programs, you can get users to begin contributing articles of ~equal value
[23:20] <detrate> the website itself doesn't seem to highlight the key features that ubuntu studio offers, it says "download, install, create" but doesn't really elaborate on the create, there is audio, graphics and video listed below... but they don't really clarify either
[23:21] <detrate> you don't even need to start off with videos made by ubuntu studio dev team, you can find tutorials on youtube/vimeo that will assist new users in getting aquainted
[23:22] <detrate> you may want to create a filtration system for incoming users based on their expertise and direct them to proper resources to get started
[23:22] <detrate> even as an experience ubuntu user I felt lost on a fresh install
[23:23] <detrate> the overall look of the website does not make ubuntu studio appear to be serious but rather hint at what is ahead (this is not a compliment). You need to begin building trust with your future users from the first second they arrive at your site
[23:25] <detrate> 'logo' in the top right, the logo having little to no contrast as it overlays the menu, no hover effects on the menu, too much information below the fold and only 1 call to action, "download now"
[23:25] <detrate> I haven't read a clear mission statment either
[23:25] <detrate> the closest thing is a blurb next to download no but that doesn't give me the confidence I'd expect as a user.
[23:25] <ScottL> "too much informatio below the fold" has bothered me considerably as well
[23:26] <detrate> you want to be flashy, hip and productive in the process
[23:26] <detrate> you can condense a lot of information with a slider or a similar javascript widget
[23:26] <detrate> unless you have qualms about using javascript (with 99% of users having it turned on, you shouldn't)
[23:26] <detrate> the people turning it off either have a good reason or they are paranoid nerds
[23:27] <detrate> Think of the questions a user might ask when arriving to your site
[23:27] <ScottL> i really had not considered that wordpress was CMS, but rather just for blogs
[23:27] <detrate> "Where am I? What is this? How can I benefit? What should I check out next?"
[23:28] <detrate> it's a very flexible system that was first built for bloggers but it's most definitely a CMS and one I've been recommending and using for the greater time of the last half year
[23:30] <detrate> your front page doesn't have to be a blog and wordpress is very keen to helping you change it to a static page and redirect it to another page
[23:31] <detrate> their documentation is pretty solid, they provided (default) user roles (levels) and there are plugins to extend them.
[23:31] <detrate> again the available plugins are quite impressive and I can advise you on a handful to kick it off with.
[23:32] <detrate> My only complaint is that many of the themes are created by amatures hacking together HTML and CSS/JS from other templates so the markup could be more sound out of the box but this is a view level issue that can easily be solved by creating a template from scratch (which isn't as daunting a task as it sounds)
[23:39] <detrate> areas in which most help would be appreciated are 1) website design / slicing into WP template 2) Creating copy 3) Collecting content
[23:40] <detrate> You'll also want to start building a team of website maintainers if you do not have one already.
[23:40] <detrate> by this I mean updating content, writing news, interacting with social media sites
[23:40] <detrate> with wordpress, we can tie into social networks like facebook and twitter to automaticall post to these sites
[23:42] <detrate> being the #2 most popular websites on the internet it's iimportant to have good representation on facebook, especially given that some users in your target audience would never even consider going to the website to check for updates, let alone subscribing to RSS or twitter feeds
[23:44] <ScottL> have social media integration was a important consideration to many who voiced opinions
[23:44] <detrate> yes but you need a team to be active on them
[00:43] <rlameiro> well, what i would love ist to forward articles from blogs that mention ubuntustudio, i would love that
[00:44] <troy_s> rlameiro: With regards to the overall showing how 'alive' Ubuntu Studio is (arguably a pretty compelling factor to a casual audience member) I think it is a pretty astute point.
[00:44] <persia> Can we all just agree that once there is a plan for a website, whoever accepts responsibility to ensure the website is in good condition gets to select the tools used to drive the website?
[00:45] <TheMuso> persia: Yeah I agree
[00:48] <troy_s> detrate: The website is clearly important. I'm not disagreeing with you. But when you suggest that 'people who want to help the project grow', that's a HUGE selection of people there. And each one has a pretty significant role.
[00:49] <troy_s> rlameiro: Agree. The issue I see though is that all the development in the world isn't going to provide salvation if the tools aren't uptaken by the proper audience and demonstrated to be effective. It's a strange cyclical issue here.
[00:51] <troy_s> detrate: I guess I'd start by suggesting what is the _core goal_ of the project.
[00:51] <troy_s> If the core goal is to provide a service, what is it? To whom?
[00:51] <troy_s> And likely the answer to _that_ important question, is precisely who the audience for the primary website touch point is.
[00:54] <ScottL> i would suggest the website is the nexus for users, it should include news, updates, links to tutorials, user work
[00:54] <ScottL> user work = music, videos, graphics
[00:55] <ScottL> polling would be nice to involve the user base so they can be involved in development
[00:55] <rlameiro> what social media to have?
[00:55] <detrate> there are some great plugins for polls, some medicore free ones for surveys
[00:55] <ScottL> place for suggestions would also be nice
[00:56] <ScottL> all the social media as well
[00:56] <troy_s> rlameiro: I think that that would be a HELLUVA good choice at this critical time for Ubuntu Studio.
[00:56] <troy_s> rlameiro: Damn good choice. Because otherwise it could end up with a LOT of energy that yields no dividends. Or worse, a lot of energy that gets trumped by the next 'why' (however poorly explained) to come along.
[00:56] <rlameiro> detrate, is it possible to parse the identica and tweeter streams to search for ubuntustudio tags?
[00:57] <detrate> yes
[00:57] <detrate> and digg
[00:57] <detrate> and google blogs
[00:57] <ScottL> yes, place for developer blogs and well as an aggregator for user blogs that center around Studio
[00:57] <detrate> I want to give you a stronger foundation to evolve from
[01:09] <ScottL> the news section needs to have RSS so users can subsribe to get new news
[02:36] <ScottL> an updated website with a newbie "course" or introduction would be great...big red button "Learn about Ubuntu Studio" or similar
[04:33] <detrate> also gathering a list of recommended hardware would be nice if one doesn't already exist

New Website Vision

Introduction

The current website is a bottleneck in getting people interested and involved in Ubuntu Studio. I propose redesigning the website on the wordpress platform to be more connected with social networks, inform more users and inspire new minds.

Requirements

• Web Designer (I can slice / make wordpress template if need)
• New Content, (Better Copy, Tutorial / Demonstration Videos, Better / More screenshots, Better overview of what's offered, better idea of what is needed)
• A Team that can keep the website up-to-date and monitor twitter / facebook, encourage people to follow and join

detrate offers

Building the inital site in wordpress all set up for SEO, social network integration and advice on how to layout content, promote the site.

Ubuntu Studio - Core Issues

Project Goals

• provide a flavor of Ubuntu (meaning we must working within the Ubuntu/Canonical ethos/environment)
• provide multimedia software to an audience
  • primarily audio centric applications
  • include supporting graphic/video applications
• expand the user base
• expand the developer base

Audience

Music focused, do-it-yourself type person who either is dedicated enough or experienced enough to use Linux and setup audio for their hardware. The archetype would be indie band or musician, university music major, home recording enthusiast, or even DJs. (could podcast creators be included?)

Why this Audience?

• until Ubuntu Studio is actually used in recording studios it's not "professional" - and let's be honest, the base system not as assessable as Pro Tools or Garage Band on a Mac
• the "whiny kid in their bedroom with daddy's computer" is probably not dedicated enough to learn Linux, learn Ubuntu (Studio), and then learn JACK
• graphic/video applications not a focus because they are either lacking in quantity or quality
• indie musician/home enthusiasts/university music student probably would be curious/devoted enough to invest the time to setup their system
• university music student would also be curious/have the time/need a research project and might help out with developer activities

Audience Requirements

The defined audience above would require a strong audio distribution, probably requiring:

• a robust DAW for multitracking (Ardour)
• a less robust sound editor for quick edits (Audacity)
• low latency kernel (-rt, -lowlatency, or -preempt kernel)
• low latency sound server (JACK)
• software effects (LADSPA, LV2)
• drum machine (Hydrogen)
• tone generator (?)
• sequencer (seq24, Muse, Rosegarden)
• DJ apps (Mixxx, TerminatorX)
• podcasting ? (icecast)

Additionally, the semi-professional musician/band/dj would require some minimal video or graphical support:

• flyer creation (Inkskape)

• low production video creation (PiTiVi, Open Shot?)

Mission Statement

Providing an audio-centric multimedia operating system to the dedicated semi-professional musician, home recording enthusiast, university music student, or DJ.

Video Editing Reviews

Kino

Kino is a video editing application targeted to the same audience as iMovie, the home user who would like to edit their home movies. It is meant to be as simple as possible to use, using a vertical storyboard layout approach. Video is imported as clips, in the form of tiles or frames of a storyboard, that are then arranged into the desired order and then trimmed. Effects such as transitions and video overlay effects and filters can be easily.

Benefits

• Can do all basic editing functions.
  • Trim video
  • Can select instances of clips ans insert them
  • Can do effects and transitions
• Kino has a very clean, simple to use interface.
  • All main functions of program are listed on right-hand side.
• Can export an EDL (editing decision list) for on-line editing.
• Can handle many video formats (must be converted to DV first)
• Supports the ability capture and encode video from Firewire enabled cameras
• Is a single window program (could be moot).

Limitations

• Is a single track editing program
• Not a very powerful platform for larger productions
  • Does not use OpenGL for rendering, puts increased load on CPU
• Lacks an effective way to organize large amounts of video files
• Lacks effective project management functions.

Conclusion

Kino addresses it's target audience, the home user, very well but is not suitable for a professional production environment. As such, it would be unlikely to include Kino in Ubuntu Studio by default.

Seeds Update

This is the process to update Ubuntu Studio to move away from a single -audio metapackage/task to more distinct packages to separate between tone generation and recording real instruments.

audio
The current audio seeds file will need to be removed from the seeds. Additionally, reference to audio will need to be removed from the STRUCTURE file.

Furthermore, we will need to moderate the /debian/control file for ubuntustudio-meta to label ubuntustudio-audio as a transitional package and make it depend ONLY on ubuntustudio-generation and ubuntustudio-recording. The file will not build but if a user tries to install it then it will pull in ubuntustudio-generation and ubuntustudio-recording, which effectively performs as before, albeit with additional and new package names.

Finally, the audio seed will need to be removed from the ubuntustudio-meta update.cfg file.

audio-common, generation, and recording
The following new seeds files will also be create: audio-common, generation, and recording. Only generation and recording will also be tasks, and therefore have the task header in their seeds file.

The generation and recording seeds will be added to the STRUCTURE file with the audio-common seeds being necessary or required for each of them.

Additionally, all three will need to be added to the ubuntustudio-meta /debian/control file. The ubuntustudio-generation and ubuntustudio-recording entries will need to Depend: audio-common. Note, ubuntustudio-audio-common will be required as a package if a user installs ubuntustudio-generation or ubuntustudio-recording.

Lastly, audio-common, generation, and recording will need to be added to the ubuntustudio-meta update.cfg file. It is assumed that updating to the current release is automatic.

Preparation

• launchpad account
• DSA ssh registered in Launchpad (ssh-keygen -t dsa, look for ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub, Import SSH key in Launchpad)
• sudo apt-get install:
  • bzr
  • debootstrap
  • germinate
  • devscripts #FOR DEBUILD
  • build-essential #DIFF
  • debhelper

• bzr whoami 'Scott Lavender <scottalavender@gmail.com>'

• bzr launchpad-login slavender

Modifying Seeds

Get Code

• mkdir bzr && cd bzr

• mkdir nattyseeds && cd nattyseeds

• bzr branch lp:~ubuntustudio-dev/ubuntu-seeds/ubuntustudio.natty

Change Seeds

• create new seeds including task headers
  • audio-common
  • recording
  • generation
• modify existing seeds
  • audio-plugins - Task-Description: LADSPA, LV2, and DSSI audio plugins (added LV2)

  • graphics - update per https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/PackageSelectionDevelopment

  • video - update per https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/PackageSelectionDevelopment

• update STRUCTURE file
  • add
    • audio-common: desktop
    • generation: audio-common
    • recording: audio-common
  • remove
    • audio: desktop

Update Bzr

• bzr add
• bzr remove ubuntustudio-audio #VERIFY
• bzr diff #LOOK AT DIFFS FOR SANITY CHECK
• bzr commit -m "USEFUL COMMIT MESSAGE"
• bzr push lp:~ubuntustudio-dev/ubuntu-seeds/ubuntustudio.natt

Update ubuntustudio-meta

Get Source

• cd /bzr

• mkdir us-meta && cd usmeta

• apt-get source ubuntustudio-meta

Update /debian/control

• moderate ubuntustudio-audio package to be transitional package
  • remove Depends: ${germinate:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
  • remove Recommends: ${germinate:Recommends}
  • add Depends: ubuntustudio-generation ubuntustudio-recording
  • edit description to say "Transition package"
• ubuntustudio-generation/ubuntustudio-recording
  • same as previous ubuntustudio-audio
  • moderate description for separate audio purposes

Modify update.cfg

• moderate version, i.e. replace maverick with natty
• remove audio
• add audio-common, generation, recording

./update

• move to ubuntustudio-meta-0.* directory
• run ./update
• --wait long time--
• verify /debian/changelog after ./update is done
  • is release correct?
  • everything else look sane?
• debuild -S -us -uc
• debdiff
• attach debdiff to bug
• subscribe persia to bug
• give persia bug number in IRC

Limit List

• email Colin Watson
  • add generation
  • add recording
  • remove audio

Update ubuntustudio-menu

• update menu entries for:
  • zynjacku
  • lv2rack
  • guitarix
  • lashd (?)
  • qtractor
  • specimen
  • yoshimi
  • whysynth

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