Forging a new path.

[Steve Meiers]

"With Jaunty's impending release, the dev team has given thought to
Karmic and the projects future. I will attempt to form cohesive thoughts
for us all to consider. :) ...."

I'm a bit wordy here, so skim as you like.

First, why I'm here...
Audio. That's it for me. If I have to run a dual boot to do text, internet, graphics, no problem. Video may cross over, because as others have noted, more and more audio projects have to sync with video. It may not be easy to separate these. I think Gimp will run on anything though, so at that point, you already have probably the most popular graphic tool on Linux, probably a non-issue. Which puts us back at "Multimedia". But I don't need Open Office or skype, etc. Browser and Internet would be nice as an option though, for viewing help and other docs. No games though. I can do that on another boot to standard Ubuntu just fine, if I need to veg out on a game.

Cory's frustration is clear, understood and acknowledged by most or all on this list I think. As mainly a lurker here so far and newcomer to Ubuntu Studio with early 8.4, please pardon my ignorance if I make some errors and foolish assumptions in the following.

I think a good portion of the disappointment for all was the absence of a realtime kernel for 8.10. Early in the 8.10 cycle, I recall reading the discussions about even spending effort on 8.10 US for that reason, and here we are at the other end now.  

But the main disappointment for the heavy lifters here has to be the lack of co-contributors. As others here have stated, I'm not a programmer either and a lot of the dialog often reads like voodoo spells, despite being a tekie. I am tech savvy and can be taught. I don't like being treated like an idiot either when I ask questions and go elsewhere when taunted, but I'm still here so I must not have been too abused yet. 

Accepting Cory's challenge, I just signed up with the developers groupI would love to learn more about Linux, testing and creating builds, programming, etc. I too have a day job, technical writing coincidentally. I would be glad to work documenting UbuStu or the main Ubuntu in any way that  would help, as my schedule permits. With 15 years technical documentation experience, most in software documentation for network communications on Unix/Linux based network routers and appliances, I think I can rate what I use and read with some authority. From a user perspective, the Ubuntu documentation looks nice, but adds little value as is. The reason anyone goes to the documentation is to solve problems, no one reads it for fun.  When I get to the page on configuring the Wifi or sound device and it says go to this menu, set this field, that's great - but it seldom fixed my problem. The real helpful information has been in the forums. The online help is very
 generic, telling users what the software is supposed to do, usually a screenshot with text mimicking the software and not providing additional information like troubleshooting or where else to look. In other words, it's very light. This is not a critique of the generous work done so far, only to state that more information would help many users. This applies doubly for UbuStu, which needs extra attention because of the more complex configurations, we usually have better or high-end soundcards, etc.

In my case, I spent a whole lot of time just trying to get 8.10 to run on my HP tx2510us with Wacom touchscreen. I want to use the touchscreen with my finger to control mixer sliders and softsynth controls in real time for example. I paid a lot more for a touchscreen and I really want it to work, which it has not  yet consistently in 8.10. Through the forums, I found out about two weeks ago that Suse 11.1 supports my hardware, I installed it and it worked instantly, no xconf workouts etc. Getting audio apps to work in Suse looks like another challenge though. Seems like some good knowledge is at Suse and other distros that could be ported to Ubuntu if someone knew how. This is probably typical Linux frustration though. 

Anyway, I spent months trying to get UbuStu to do what Suse did straight off. That is worked at all was thanks to some other generous Ubuntu User group members, experimentation and sharing knowledge, etc. I had my HP tx2510us working well with 8.10 on several ocasions, only to have it stop after updating the OS, kernel, or other component. Very frustrating. I'm going to burn the 9.04 Ubuntu Studio DVD and go for it though. Count me in.

I feel like I owe UbuStu some effort and time. It was the first Linux that I could easily install at home and in my music studio. I have this nagging and selfish demand that it work on my hardware though. I can't do much with it otherwise. I also want to spend some hours each week making and playing music and away from troublshooting my Linux installation. I can donate at least a few hours a week, but I need to know how to get started and where best to apply and leverage my current skills and knowledge. So, what to do. Joining a list is great, but... 

How do I learn enough Linux/Ubuntu to become a real contributor? 

What's the progression? Is the knowledge path documented and if so where?

How can I learn how to create and test builds? 



Where do documentation folks hang here? (I could probably jump right into this.)

Is there a link that I can bookmark with links for this kind info?

Finally, I remember my Wikipedia experience. I posted a few articles only to chastized by the over-inflated hyper-academics there to the point of giving up. It was no fun. Those folks are rude, arrogant and have their own political agendas. If this club is like that, I won't last. So far I haven't seen that here (: except for Cory's occasional violent rant on top-posting :), it's a very civil place. I think bottom posting is a small sacrifice considering all the benefits.

Suggestion:
Perhaps Ubuntu needs an online "training department", to teach Ubuntu to levels that breed contributors, for it's own benefit. Something like what w3schools is for web programming, with testing and certification. Python and Perl both have nice trainers, too - for example. Maybe it exists and I just don't know about it? 




      
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