Edubuntu 7.10 - A Released Debacle and a Practice in Failure

[R. Scott Belford]

Oliver Grawert wrote:
> hi,
> On Di, 2007-12-11 at 08:14 -1000, R. Scott Belford wrote:
>> I am very disillusioned with Edubuntu, the leadership (or lack thereof) 
> how many of the weekly meetings did you attend yet ? we welcome
> everybody to participate, thats the place where we discuss all
> changes ....
> 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Edubuntu/Community/MeetingAgenda
> 
> its held every wednesday on an alternating schedule (12:00 UTC, 20:00
> UTC)

Thanks.  Now I know.

> 
>> We can't say that 7.10 built on the functionality of 7.04 - it actually 
>> regressed.  
> in which feature ? ther are two regression bugs i'm aware about, one is
> a leftover debugging line in ltspfsmounter that sets a fixed DISPLAY
> variable (easy workaround, delete the line), the other is intel cards
> wanting to run at 32bit on chipsets that cant which is a bug in the
> driver ... i`m not aware of any regression thats in any feature that was
> existing in feisty ...

Lingering Users
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edubuntu-users/2007-November/002716.html
The average teacher will not be able to fix this

Slow Open Office
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edubuntu-users/2007-November/002716.html
The average teacher will not know to look for this

Thin Client Manager does not work
It worked with 7.04, and teachers depend on it quickly.  Yes, I know 
that there is a workaround to install TT, but, if our standard is what 
can an average teacher do, this is too much.  Open a command line, and 
you lose half the potential audience.

IP-forwarding
There seems to be uncertainty, conflicting information, and a possible 
bug with sysct.conf
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/edubuntu-users/2007-December/002907.html

No lts.conf file
The LTSP has always worked with most hardware, but it often takes a 
tweaked lts.conf file.  For there not to be a lts.conf file addressing a 
common denominator of our minimally recommended hardware is buggy.  A 
default of 32 bits for color seems a mistake.  Part of the evolution of 
the K12ltsp is its well-modified lts.conf file.  Asking a teacher not 
only to modify one but also to create one is a bit intense.

Amd64 with i386 clients
Several threads have gone unresolved on this.  A few examples of success 
have been observed.  The variable seems to be the speed of the clients.

> 
> note that the edubuntu distro is mainly a one man show with a handfull
> of communiy contributors it would be great if we could enhance the
> tester team (i think i`m the only one that has a thin client with intel
> chipset in this team fo example, my chipset doesnt expose the bug above
> which could have been easily found by someone else)...
> 
> the testers team is definately the area where we lack most devlopment
> needs feedback, which we apparently only get past release

I have more hardware than I can use, in fact we turn away donations.  If 
you need something, and you can arrange for shipping, it is yours.  We 
have rack space at The University of Hawaii and at Honolulu Community 
College.  Hosting test servers is cake.

> 
>> Is there *anyone* in the Edubuntu community either a. working on a r1 
>> release for all the bugs in 7.10 or b. working on consistent 
>> documentation for the varying incompatible releases?  If so, then where, 
>> so I can help.  If not, then why not, and should we change this?  I have 
>> tried to find ways to help by starting here
> scott balneaves worked 60h weeks for getting the edubuntu handbook we
> ship in shape, you are welcome to enhance the doc team, while i disagree
> that edubuntu is any worse in automation but agree that there are bugs
> (and yes, i`m working on a fix for ltspfs that may got to gutsy-updates
> if the ubuntu release team sees there was enough testing for the
> package) 

I certainly do not mean to discredit the outstanding work that has gone 
into this project.  As a lurker on the three lists focusing on 
thin-clients and education, it has alarmed me the number of bugs that 
are not solved on this list or elsewhere.  I am bombarded by bugzilla 
emails for everything in my debianedu box, and the evolved culture of 
experts, or Eric himself, take down any showstopping bugs on the k12osn 
list.

Many are putting in tons of hours on this - it is why we love what we 
do.  It's all about the next release and insuring that available 
resources are harnessed to comb out future problems.  This starts with 
learning about, acknowledging, and thens solving current issues.

> 
>> Edubuntu is doing a tremendous disservice to the FOSS community by 
>> riding on the coattails of the K12LTSP and Debian-edu while pretending 
>> to be just as capable.  People are being fooled, drawn in, and then 
>> disappointed.  This is not honorable.
>>
>> Is there anyone around capable, willing, and prepared to keep this from 
>> happening in future releases?
> we`re greatful for every helping hand ...
> 
> ciao
> 	oli
> 

Aloha

--scott