[Thinking Loudly] The Future of Ubuntu GNOME and The VV Cycle

Wed Oct 29 07:33:01 UTC 2014

On 29/10/14 16:20, Jackson Doak wrote:
> No. 4, We used to have the current gnome release in each ubuntu release, but to get it working this time we need to get multiple transitions
> done before the release, and stage most of the 3.15 releases in PPA to make sure everything is handled as soo as 3.16 releases
I don't think its realistic to land 3.16 in Vivid. It probably needs to be planned and executed over a number of cycles. Things will become
easier once Canonical diverge with convergance plan, but that is still some way off.

Roughly speaking:
1. We have a couple of huge complex transitions to complete this cycle. GNOME tends to jump on new components very quickly but they don't deal
with multiple DE's like Ubuntu has to, and many of the other DE's are slower to catch up. This is mainly systemd, upower and BlueZ5

2.We also need to deal with the whole GtkHeaderBar/CSD's many core GNOME apps are blocked on versions by this

3. There are few other ubuntu-isms that we need to decouple, some of these may not even be possible until Unity8/Mir lands. Updating all of
GNOME with the large amount of Ubuntu patches in many components is far to much work for our teams.

The first step towards this, and what I think should be the goal for this cycle would be to ship a complete 3.14 (rather than a mismatch of
versions).

If can we get to a point where GTK is the only major shared component, we could probably switch to current GNOME.

There is always the big issue of release cycles, GNOME 3.14.0 was pretty unstable and buggy, and 3.14.1 which was much better only landed a few
days before final freeze. This is not an isolated incident, it has more or less happened most cycles I have been involved. That would have made
it impossible to ship the largely rock-solid release we did.

I wonder if we can find a better solution to this whole thing. Perhaps using one of the milestone development releases as a "virtual" release
where we declare current GNOME mostly stable. This should be enough perhaps for developer/bleeding edge type users? Development releases are
pretty stable these days, with all the automated testing that must pass before packages make it into the archives.
>
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Will Burton <agnosticlego at gmail.com <mailto:agnosticlego at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hi all
>
>     First off just wanted to congratulate everyone on the 14.10 release, being a recent returner to the platform its great to see this branch
>     grow :)
>
>     On point 4,  I think this important but consideration would need to be made on how this would affect the release schedule ?
>
>     Skipping to points 6 and 8, this 'should' be fairly easy to do using WordPress and buddypress which will allow a user/admin structure -
>     which will give everyone the ability to post, we can also feed in the various digital channels we have and I would be happy to step up to
>     this challenge.
>
>     All the best
>
>     Will aka tenmicrons
>
>     On 29 Oct 2014 04:22, "Ali/amjjawad" <amjjawad at gnome.org <mailto:amjjawad at gnome.org>> wrote:
>
>         Hi everyone,
>
>         Now that Ubuntu GNOME 14.10 has been released and 15.04 daily builds are available, it is yet again, as usual, another cycle, another
>         challenges to poke, and the list goes on :)
>
>         I know some other communities have started already the discussion phase. For Ubuntu GNOME, we are not yet ready at this very moment.
>         But of course, very soon hopefully.
>
>         Things need to be done, at least from my side as the non-technical leader of this project:
>
>          1. Clean up the blueprints of 14.10 cycle - https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntugnome-brainstorming .
>          2. Create new ones for 15.04 cycle.
>          3. I find this very important and must-do-step: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-gnome/2014-October/002388.html .
>          4. I have started a battle (don't take it the bad/negative side) with Ubuntu and GNOME in order to have the latest GNOME version on
>             Ubuntu GNOME. This is one the top of my list for this cycle.
>          5. Doing an internal assessment - with or without #3 - for Ubuntu GNOME Sub-Teams: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/SubTeams as I
>             am NOT happy with the current structure and all the related stuff. But again, I need to think wisely about this and discuss the
>             outcome with everyone.
>          6. Ubuntu GNOME website MUST be changed this cycle. It took so long time already.
>          7. Set a list of priorities for Ubuntu GNOME: community and system wise.
>          8. As always, find a better and more effective way for recruitment.
>          9. Highlight our mistakes to avoid that next time: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/FuturePlans
>         10. Discuss other stuff like donate or not to donate to Ubuntu GNOME, find or not find a sponsor for Ubuntu GNOME (just like Kubuntu)
>             while remaining an official flavour, and so on.
>
>         You see, this is a very long list so the first thing I really need is to go through the above list and find out which must be done
>         this cycle and which to be done later.
>
>         Most if not all of these stuff will be on my shoulders and as you all know, real life comes first. I am just thinking loudly here. I
>         have other ideas in mind but I don't feel like sharing all that at this very moment in order not to confuse anyone.
>
>         Also, I see lots of positive emails on this list. I see new people are around. I see a great contributions for translations for the
>         first time maybe. I see many great initiatives .. I wish and hope to see that always within our communities.
>
>         My mind is not yet clear at the moment nor set to start any planning. So, kindly give me sometime.
>
>         To summarize all what has been written above: I do wish, hope and want to do everything differently for this cycle. Some things within
>         our communities I am not happy with. Let's see how it goes.
>
>         Sorry if this email is so long and confusing. Again, this is just thinking loudly. Nothing written on stone.
>
>
>         Thanks for reading!
>
>         P.S.
>
>         Whatever mentioned above, this is can NOT be done by one person only. This is a community project so we do need a meeting to decide
>         and discuss. Before the meeting, I need your:
>
>         Opinion
>
>         Feedback
>
>         Suggestion
>
>         Notes
>
>         So, bring it on ;)
>
>
>         Thanks!
>
>
>         -- 
>         Best Regards,
>         Ali/amjjawad <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/amjjawad>
>         *Remember: *"All of us are smarter than any one of us."
>
>         Ubuntu GNOME OneStopPage <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/OneStopPage>
>         http://torios.org - StartUbuntu <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StartUbuntu> - http://amjjawad.net
>
>
>         --
>         Ubuntu-GNOME mailing list
>         Ubuntu-GNOME at lists.ubuntu.com <mailto:Ubuntu-GNOME at lists.ubuntu.com>
>         Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-gnome
>
>
>     --
>     Ubuntu-GNOME mailing list
>     Ubuntu-GNOME at lists.ubuntu.com <mailto:Ubuntu-GNOME at lists.ubuntu.com>
>     Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-gnome
>
>
>
>