Fabián Rodríguez

This is an invitation to all who will be in or around Montreal, QC, Canada next April 24th. Full party info and details at:
http://www.ubuntu-qc.org/ubuntu-804-invitation

We’ll be partying real hard at St-Sulpice bar and I hear other parties are organizing in Quebec province.

I’d also like to challenge other party organizers, do you think you can have the biggest party out there ? Last time we had close to 200 people in Montreal, this time we are a bit better organized. One specific thing that has helped us a lot is inviting people IN ADVANCE and PERSONALLY We welcome all to copy and improve our french and english invitation.

We are also using a Facebook event for RSVPs, local mailing lists and contacting media. We’ve lined up a few sponsors too for swag (and more). Any further ideas ?

PARTY ON!

Well, it seems Brother printer drivers will make it into Hardy (Ubuntu 8.04, coming up next month), under GPL and Brother Software Open License Agreement - all driven by the community and with some help from Canonical.

Although I’d rather have 100% free Brother printer drivers, it’s still nice Brother has made their license clear about what can be done with their drivers, effectively opening the door to packaging by anyone:

This Agreement provides terms and conditions for license grant from Brother Industries, Ltd (”Broher”). Brother, who owns all copyrights to the software that is distributed with this Agreement (”Software”) to recipients thereof (”User”), for use of the Software. User shall have the right to use the Software only in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Any use by User of the Software shall be deemed as its agreement hereto.
Note:

Please click on “I Accept” while holding down “Shift” or right click on “I Accept” and select “Save Target As,,,” from the menu.

Brother retains any and all copyrights to the Software. In no case this Agreement shall be construed to assign or otherwise transfer from Brother to User any copyrights or other intellectual property rights to whole or any part of the Software.

Brother grants User a non-exclusive license: to reproduce and/or distribute (via Internet or in any other manner) the Software. Further, Brother grants User a non-exclusive license to modify, alter, translate or otherwise prepare derivative works of the Software and to reproduce and distribute (via Internet or in any other manner) such modification, alteration, translation or other derivative works for any purpose.

Even nicer is actually seeing the first mention of these drivers a bit over two years ago and the path and work leading to its final packaging and testing just hours ago by many community people and even Canonical through the bug report on Launchpad and a corresponding wiki page.

I hope this raises the importance of supporting Linux properly for Brother and, who knows, perhaps they will be more visible for scanner and PC to Fax support in Ubuntu (and generally, Linux) in the near future. I would bet increasing Ubuntu + Brother customers would already justify this.

I do own an MFC model at home and it makes me think of the same comparisons I hear about the ” readiness of the Linux Desktop “. Compare this to all Hewlett-Packard does to support its printers under Linux, there still is a lot to do before both can be compared on equal grounds. Or is it ?

It’s as if these news were specially written for me. I am originally from Colombia and have been living in Montreal, Canada for the past ~20 years.

Dell announced on their blog that their systems will now be available in Canada and Latin America (including Colombia initially!).

Check the original announcement on their english blog, as well as the spanish annoucement for Latin America. It’s nice to see they have a blog for hispanic customers.

In Canada, visit http://dell.ca/open . Phone orders only in Latin America for now.

What a week!!!

As a (relatively) long time Ubuntu user, occasional bug reporter and support analyst, I often deal with bug reporting and I feel your pain about bug reporting, Matt. This happens in many other free software projects, but I think Ubuntu’s popularity gives its problems more exposure, an opportunity to refine the process and maybe inspire others to learn from its mistakes and success.

Generally speaking it’s always nice if you can dedicate a few dozen minutes (around an hour I would say) to familiarize yourself with how bugs are reported in the project you’re participating with. In Ubuntu it’s the Bug Squad team - perhaps even join it. I view Bug Squad members as the little bee-workers that are front-line organizers and helpers in the fight against bugs.

Think about it. An hour or so is not that much to dedicate to learning and understanding how your contributions will (or not) affect Ubuntu. It will also give you tools and guidance to become helpful and efficient in any bug reporting. I am not saying everyone should join! But those of you who don’t join need to at least understand how a bug report is treated on the receiving end.

I’d like to contribute 10 things to avoid and 10 things you can do if you want to increase the chances of getting good results from bug reporting (meaning a fix or solution). Some of them come from the Best Bug Reporting Practices wiki page.

1. Look for existing bug reports that match your problem. It saves a tremendous amount of time when several people do this. It helps confirming a bug and tying loose ends Checking upstream and linking those is very nice too!
2. When filing a new bug, mention the ID’s of all bugs that sound similar. use “Bug #XXX”, this provides an automatic link. Someone can dupe them together later.
3. Add missing data (including video, YES VIDEO, screen captures, logs) to an existing bug. In some cases more is better.
4. Provide context. Consider what is unique about your system, and mention it. Is it brand new out of the assembly line ? Did it stay overnight outside at -40C ? Is your music collection that fails to import in Rhythmbox 40000 files big ? Did you just reinstall ?
5. Itemize the exact steps that result in the issue. Can you reproduce it at will? This is perhaps the single most important thing. If no one can reproduce your bug, chances are no one will be able to fix it. Providing clear steps dramatically helps.
6. Follow up on your bugs from time to time, even if they seem ignored. Kindly ask for a follow-up if/when appropriate.
7. Report if the issue goes away or remains when new Ubuntu’s come out.
8. Once you’ve reported a bug, or if you have a few that are important to you, give them visibility. Go to forums, mailing lists, or post them in your blog. Not everyone reads bug reports or knows an issue they have is being worked on.
9. Use IRC. Live chatting with developers on #ubuntu-bugs or #ubuntu-devel and asking a few questions while writing your bug report may help getting better information (like which package the bug should belong to).
10. Get confirmation (or rejection) as soon as possible. Befriend a developer, expose your bugs, use whatever means to have other people confirm or reject your bugs. Be proactive if you want your bug reports to get some “traction”.

Here are my don’ts:

1. Do not assume your bug report is more important because you’ve put several hours thouroughly detailing it. I know because I have done that. In many cases I see such reports as a documentation available to others, so they don’t repeat my own mistakes.
2. Don’t be rude. Whatever the frustration, it’s not helpful to the bug’s resolution. I personally find this is the hardest to do When in doubt, read again the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, take a few minutes before ranting.
3. Don’t cite external links with lenghty discussions - unless you summarize them in one or two sentence. - this multiplies exponentially the time required to assess a bug’s status, importance, etc.
4. Do not assume “they must already know about this” - no one does. Making assumptions only adds delays while clarifications are obtained.
5. Don’t add “me too” responses, unless you are giving more details that actually help confirming a bug in its early reporting. It wastes everyone’s time when reviewing a bug (not to mention emails generated).
6. Don’t post bugs with only a brief description of the problem. “XXXX doesn’t work” will get rejected or will expire. A model number for hardware by itself is not enough detail.
7. Don’t assume others will “just know” how the bug occurs. Sometimes non-technical details (like “the wireless connection always drop when I pickup my wireless phone”) provide important context.
8. Don’t fire and forget. Abandoned bugs rarely get fixed. If you are not willing / able to subscribe to your own bug reports and provide feedback, additional information, and even ultimately test possible solutions, make it clear in the bug report or don’t file it.
9. Don’t post bug reports in other languages than english. This may seem obvious but when you install Ubuntu for someone that will be using it in any other language than english, automatic bug reporting may kick in and give the false impression any reports can be filed in another language. Educate your non-English speaking Ubuntu “customers” about this.
10. Don’t assume every issue is critical. Between fixing a screensaver that crashes Ubuntu (easily worked around) or fixing a RAID issue that affects all server installs, what do you think should get more attention ? Importance is relative. Not everyone’s emergency is someone else’s too.
11. EXTRA: Don’t ignore guidelines and procedure. If you know a rule, don’t ask for exceptions!

Last but not least, if your bug concerns business needs and is stopping your business or your customer or any commercial activity, consider actually paying a developer or company to look into it. Part of Canonical’s support services includes bug escalation but there are many other ways to “financially speed up” a bug’s resolution. Citing business concerns in Launchpad to speed up a bug’s resolution is not what I mean here, but actually paying someone to go through the community process for you or your company / organization.

If anyone has other tips to contribute, I’d love to hear them. I am far from a bug reporting expert so I’d love to learn any new tricks and tips here

I am kind of surprised none of my colleagues has posted this to Planet Ubuntu before. There have been quite few new positions listed for working at Canonical lately.

Some of them are in Brazil, Canada (MONTREAL!), UK, Russia, India, China or Taiwan with regular travel engagements, some others are from home, remote-work. Management, sales, engineering, development… we have room for everyone

If you are on LinkedIn and think you have what it takes, contact me and I’ll introduce you - you know being referred from Planet will earn you some extra kharma, eh ?

Take a look…

1. Technical Pre Sales Engineer
2. OEM Channel Manager (China)
3. Product Manager for Mobile Internet Devices
4. Ubuntu Mobile Engineer
5. Ubuntu Mobile QA Engineer
6. Product Manager
7. Inside Sales Executive
8. Ubuntu Platform Developer
9. Senior Application Engineer
10. Ubuntu Mobile Developer
11. Ubuntu Server Developer - Virtualisation Specialist
    
12. Ubuntu Server Developer
13. Ubuntu Kernel Developer
14. Operations Mgr (Montreal)

Today I feel like a hero just making it to work.

I’ll post pics of the igloo I built in front of my home tomorrow… meanwhile if you read this and you are anywhere without snow, have a thought for the brave Ubuntu support analysts and other employees in Montreal

Of course real men use their bikes.

(version en français aussi disponible ici).

The Ubuntu-QC team would like to invite all those who have been eagerly awaiting the release of Ubuntu 7.10 “The Gutsy Gibbon” to join their fellow Ubuntu enthusiasts on October 18th at 1800h at Bar St.-Sulpice on Rue St-Denis in Montreal. Welcome the latest release of your favorite distro with your fellow travellers on the path to software freedom!

This event is open to users of any OS, distribution, or language. New users will have the opportunity to meet and speak with veterans. It’s like a free car mechanic! With beer and food!

Bar St-Sulpice offers free wifi Internet connections, so be sure to bring your laptop. There will be the chance to install Gutsy as soon as it is released. Stickers, CD’s, t-shirts, and other swag will also be dispensed.

Beer. Food. A geek to upgrade your laptop for you. Ubuswag. The only thing missing is YOU!

The St-Sulpice bar is located at 1680, Saint-Denis, Montreal, QC H2X 3K6 Telephone: (514) 844-9458

Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools. Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

On behalf of the Ubuntu-QC team,

Fabian Rodriguez
André Cotte

For more information:
FabianRodriguez - 514-812-5615

* Ubuntu official site: [WWW] http://www.ubuntu.com
* Ubuntu Quebec local community team : [WWW] http://www.ubuntu-qc.org (mostly french)
* Ubuntu 7.10 download site : [WWW] http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download starting October 18th, official release day
* For any formal press inquiries please contact: pr@canonical.com

En français

Ubuntu-QC invite tous ceux qui attendent avec impatience la sortie de la nouvelle version (7.10) de la célèbre distribution Linux Ubuntu à venir fraterniser, le 18 octobre prochain à partir de 18h, au Bar Le St-Sulpice, rue St-Denis à Montréal. Ces rencontres sont devenues une tradition au sein de l’univers des utilisateurs d’Ubuntu. On salue entre amis et utilisateurs l’arrivée des nouvelles versions de la distribution.

Pas besoin d’utiliser Ubuntu ou même Linux pour y participer, les curieux autant que les utilisateurs et les experts sont invités à fraterniser et à échanger. Le Bar St-Sulpice se prête bien à ce genre de rencontre puisqu’on peut également y manger.

Ubuntu est une distribution Linux basée sur Debian et destinée à proposer un système convivial et ergonomique. Son fondateur, Mark Shuttleworth, a promis qu’il restera libre et gratuit y compris pour les entreprises. Le mot Ubuntu est un mot bantou qui signifie « Je suis ce que je suis grâce à ce que nous sommes tous ». Une invitation à vous joindre à Ubuntu-QC pour cette petite soirée improvisée.

Le Bar St-Sulpice offre, grâce à Île sans fil, l’accès gratuit à Internet. Apportez donc vos portables. Vous en profiterez pour y installer la toute dernière version d’Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibbon. Des T-shirts, autocollants, et CD-ROMs d’Ubuntu 7.10 seront disponibles.

Pour l’équipe d’Ubuntu-QC

Fabian Rodriguez
André Cotte

Pour plus informations :
FabianRodriguez - 514-812-5615

Le Bar St-Sulpice est situé au 1680, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, QC H2X 3K6 Téléphone: (514) 844-9458

* Site officiel d’Ubuntu : http://www.ubuntu.com
* Site officiel de la communauté québécoise Ubuntu : http://www.ubuntu-qc.org
* Site francophone de ressources pour Ubuntu : http://www.ubuntu-fr.org
* Site de téléchargement de la version 7.10 d’Ubuntu : http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download à partir du 18 octobre, jour du lancement officiel
* Pour toute demande formelle d’information ou contact de presse, adressez-vous à: pr@canonical.com

Un peu dernièrne minute - appel aux volontaires!… voyez les détails à:
Software Freedom Day - Quebec Team

Last minute call for volunteers! See details at:
Software Freedom Day - Quebec Team

So Kurt just made me notice the next Ubuntu dev version won’t be called Hungry Hippo. Although I’ m a bit sad, I welcome the new name!

With
Jeff leaving and Ubuntu shipping on Dell computers in UK, France and Germany, there have been a few new positions opened in Canonical’s Montreal office (and elsewhere). Yes, we’re seeking German-speaking support analysts.

I went to Jeff’s this week and saw the mover’s packing after math - I am jealous! It’s always nice to get a new job, city and home all at once! Well, personally I hope I won’t be moving anytime soon but for the next week I am off to Cuba for some non-tech retreat and all-inclusive do-nothing time