“Support” includes of course going through help requests we get over the phone or via Landscape, escalating bugs and working with developers to deliver fixes for our customers (and to Ubuntu public updates), but also helping other colleagues within Canonical (a benefit for all staff), review and write technical documentation, help with training, playing with some awesome hardware I can’t quite blog about and more… including coming to UDS and raise our issues while catching up with what’s going on in the Ubuntu galaxy.

We’re extremely lucky we are at freedom to chose how and where we participate in UDS. I personally consider it to be 50% social, 50% technical. There are some obvious places where it’s easy to jump in (such as Tools for better X.org bug triaging and diagnosis), because they are closely related to our troubleshooting process and how we approach problems. Others are not as easy to spot. Going together to a shooting range sure beats many bonding exercises I’ve attended before. You learn a thing or two about the great community folks and about your colleagues in-between shots As a side note, I have to say although I don’t particularly understand the reason fire arms exist, this is one of those things I wanted to try.

Another interesting, unique experience is meeting our actual customers at support! You know who you are! It’s a bit crazy and it feels like it’s the Academy Awards – an expression Jono used this morning much to our enjoyment – and we’ve won a prize consisting of meeting face-to-face. I also see quite a bit of Québécois here which I am very proud of, as I am a Colombian living in Québec for 20 years now. And of course sabdfl is still very much part of UDS, not only for the obvious reasons but because you’ll actually see him busy at his keyboard and getting into many sessions giving his opinion and participating in lively discussions.

My first day at UDS started with the plenary, where Jono presented the seven tracks UDS follows, giving the opportunity to all ~300 participants to know the differents team leads and what their people do. Mark Shuttleworth also spoke about Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and how those three letters make it special in its very own way. We all have a lot of work ahead. I liked it a lot when Jono said this event consisted of one-hour chunks and we needed to make the most of every single one of those chunks. And stealing everyones’ hearts or something to that effect!

Then started the actual meat of this event. Here are the sessions and activities I was part of today:

• Ubuntu Foundations team roundtable, where I learned a bit more about services and their management
• Meeting with a few customers and gathering their goals and objectives for the week
• Catching up on all the free, open source community fun & positive gossip
• Sharing mneptok‘s hilarious and irreverent jokes
• How to Run a Good Session, Software Center Roadmap and Opportunistic Programmer plenaries
• Server usability papercuts
• Requirements for Update and Upgrade Experiences
• Landscape for Lucid

Back to back, it’s lots of talking, listening, agreeing and disagreeing, documenting, chatting, introductions, translating and catching up to do. It’s also useful to keep up with regular email. All incredibly useful & productive, if a bit intense. I tried to leave a trail of it on my micro-blogging backyard like others at http://identi.ca/tag/uds.

The day ended at the firing range as I mentioned before, followed by some relaxing time at the lobby and watching some TV while preparing this post. I hear we’ll have interesting visitors tomorrow, can’t wait! Until then, I can’t repeat enough – Thank You Canonical !

If you know someone that uses a Mini 9, remember there is official documentation for the Ubuntu version (8.04) that ships in it at http://help.ubuntu.com . That may sound obvious but many experienced Ubuntu users don’t refer much to those docs and as a result don’t know it even exists

I also wanted to share a lot of tips, tricks and known issues as well as useful links (such as where to ask a question in Launchpad Answers) that have been put together at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DellMini9

If you have a Mini 9 and know your way around Ubuntu, you may also want to make yourself available as a contact for Launchpad Answers:
https://answers.launchpad.net/dell-mini

That’s particularly useful if you know about things that are specific to your geographic location (like ISP-specific settings, broadband access with USB keys, etc.).

Dell’s new Inspiron Mini 9 is now available for pre-order in the US.

From my seat on the support side of things, I used to worry about such exposure – how can you give tech support to so many new Ubuntu users ? Granted, this is only but a small fraction of Dell’s business, but it is growing fast in many ways (and countries, as seen below). Many vendors understand the need to build their own support infrastructure and knowledge, not much new in that area. But being able to do so in your local language, in different markets, taking advantage of all the freedom LInux and in general Ubuntu offers is a huge new bonus. You get to decide if/when you need professional services (from Canonical or else) and you set the speed for that.

This ranges from pre-installing and supporting Ubuntu on certified servers to selling and supporting a boxed edition that includes 60 days support for $19.99 at Best Buy.

In Dell’s case, having part of their Linux wiki dedicated to Ubuntu and even forums and mailing lists means such initiatives have all the chances to success as Ubuntu’s strong community can complement all efforts from Dell and give traction to them. I also see how Ubuntu’s philosophy slowly infiltrates such offerings

From the blog post (emphasis mine):

Today we’re rolling out two new laptops and desktops that are designed to meet the specific needs of small businesses, government and educational facilities operating on a limited budget in the worlds top emerging markets. Take a look at either Steve Felice’s post or Kara Krautter’s post on the Small Business blog for a bit more context on that front.

Note: Click on any of the images in these post to see larger versions of them. You can also see these photos and more by viewing this photo set at the main Dell Flickr page.

One thing of interest to a lot of our readers is that we will offer Ubuntu Linux as an option on all four of these machines worldwide. Regular readers of Direct2Dell know that we already support Ubuntu on select systems several countries.

These new Vostro systems will be introduced in more than 20 countries over the coming months—including Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They will be available primarily through authorized channel partners worldwide and also directly from Dell. Pricing for the products will vary by configuration, region and country. Additional Vostro products designed for emerging markets and high-growth economies will be introduced in the coming months.

Open the terminal window in the Accessories > Applications menu and type:
sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number

dmidecode will work on any system, not just Dell systems. A similar, Dell-specific command is getSystemId, part of the libsmbios-bin package, I will probably exlore that one in another post.

From dmidecode‘s man page:

dmidecode is a tool for dumping a computer’s DMI (some say SMBIOS) table contents in a human-readable format. This table contains a description of the system’s hardware components, as well as other useful pieces of information such as serial numbers and BIOS revision. Thanks to this table, you can retrieve this information without having to probe for the actual hardware. While this is a good point in terms of report speed and safeness, this also makes the presented information possibly unreliable.

The DMI table doesn’t only describe what the system is currently made of, it also can report the possible evolutions (such as the fastest supported CPU or the maximal amount of memory supported).

SMBIOS stands for System Management BIOS, while DMI stands for Desktop Management Interface. Both standards are tightly related and developed by the DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force).

sudo dmidecode by itself will give all the information in your BIOS, other arguments bring back specific data or formats it for readability. Here is the output of sudo dmidecode -q on a system I have access to (service tag and serial intentionally obfuscated):

BIOS Information
	Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
	Version: A08
	Release Date: 09/27/2004
	Address: 0xF0000
	Runtime Size: 64 kB
	ROM Size: 512 kB
	Characteristics:
		PCI is supported
		PNP is supported
		APM is supported
		BIOS is upgradeable
		BIOS shadowing is allowed
		ESCD support is available
		Boot from CD is supported
		Selectable boot is supported
		EDD is supported
		Japanese floppy for Toshiba 1.2 MB is supported (int 13h)
		Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
		8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
		Serial services are supported (int 14h)
		Printer services are supported (int 17h)
		ACPI is supported
		USB legacy is supported
		AGP is supported
		LS-120 boot is supported
		BIOS boot specification is supported
		Function key-initiated network boot is supported

System Information
	Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
	Product Name: Precision WorkStation XXX
	Version: Not Specified
	Serial Number: X9XX999
	UUID: 99999X9X-9999-9999-9999-X9X99X999999
	Wake-up Type: Power Switch

Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corp.
	Product Name: 9X9999
	Version:
	Serial Number: ..XX999999X99XX.

Chassis Information
	Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
	Type: Mini Tower
	Lock: Not Present
	Version: Not Specified
	Serial Number: X9XX999
	Asset Tag:
	Boot-up State: Safe
	Power Supply State: Safe
	Thermal State: Safe
	Security Status: None

Processor Information
	Socket Designation: Microprocessor
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Pentium 4
	Manufacturer: Intel
	ID: FF FF FF FF FF FF FB EB BF
	Signature: Type 0, Family 15, Model 2, Stepping 9
	Flags:
		FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
		VME (Virtual mode extension)
		DE (Debugging extension)
		PSE (Page size extension)
		TSC (Time stamp counter)
		MSR (Model specific registers)
		PAE (Physical address extension)
		MCE (Machine check exception)
		CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
		APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
		SEP (Fast system call)
		MTRR (Memory type range registers)
		PGE (Page global enable)
		MCA (Machine check architecture)
		CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
		PAT (Page attribute table)
		PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
		CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
		DS (Debug store)
		ACPI (ACPI supported)
		MMX (MMX technology supported)
		FXSR (Fast floating-point save and restore)
		SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
		SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
		SS (Self-snoop)
		HTT (Hyper-threading technology)
		TM (Thermal monitor supported)
		PBE (Pending break enabled)
	Version: Not Specified
	Voltage: 1.5 V
	External Clock: 800 MHz
	Max Speed: 3600 MHz
	Current Speed: 2400 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: ZIF Socket

Cache Information
	Socket Designation: Not Specified
	Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 1
	Operational Mode: Write Back
	Location: Internal
	Installed Size: 8 KB
	Maximum Size: 16 KB
	Supported SRAM Types:
		Other
	Installed SRAM Type: Other
	Speed: Unknown
	Error Correction Type: None
	System Type: Data
	Associativity: 4-way Set-associative

Cache Information
	Socket Designation: Not Specified
	Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 2
	Operational Mode: Varies With Memory Address
	Location: Internal
	Installed Size: 512 KB
	Maximum Size: 512 KB
	Supported SRAM Types:
		Other
	Installed SRAM Type: Other
	Speed: Unknown
	Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
	System Type: Unified
	Associativity: Other

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: PARALLEL
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: DB-25 female
	Port Type: Parallel Port PS/2

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: SERIAL1
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: DB-9 male
	Port Type: Serial Port 16550A Compatible

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: SERIAL2
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: DB-9 male
	Port Type: Serial Port 16550A Compatible

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: KYBD
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: PS/2
	Port Type: Keyboard Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: MOUSE
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: PS/2
	Port Type: Mouse Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB1
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB2
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB3
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB4
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB5
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB6
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB7
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: USB8
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Access Bus (USB)
	Port Type: USB

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: ENET
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: RJ-45
	Port Type: Network Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: MIC
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Mini Jack (headphones)
	Port Type: Audio Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: LINE-OUT
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Mini Jack (headphones)
	Port Type: Audio Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: LINE-IN
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Mini Jack (headphones)
	Port Type: Audio Port

Port Connector Information
	Internal Reference Designator: HP-OUT
	Internal Connector Type: None
	External Reference Designator: Not Specified
	External Connector Type: Mini Jack (headphones)
	Port Type: Audio Port

System Slot Information
	Designation: PCI1
	Type: 32-bit PCI
	Current Usage: Available
	Length: Long
	ID: 1
	Characteristics:
		5.0 V is provided
		3.3 V is provided
		PME signal is supported

System Slot Information
	Designation: PCI2
	Type: 32-bit PCI
	Current Usage: Available
	Length: Long
	ID: 2
	Characteristics:
		5.0 V is provided
		3.3 V is provided
		PME signal is supported

System Slot Information
	Designation: PCI3
	Type: 32-bit PCI
	Current Usage: Available
	Length: Long
	ID: 3
	Characteristics:
		5.0 V is provided
		3.3 V is provided
		PME signal is supported

System Slot Information
	Designation: PCI4
	Type: 32-bit PCI
	Current Usage: Available
	Length: Long
	ID: 4
	Characteristics:
		5.0 V is provided
		3.3 V is provided
		PME signal is supported

System Slot Information
	Designation: AGP1
	Type: 32-bit AGP 8x
	Current Usage: In Use
	Length: Long
	ID: 0
	Characteristics:
		3.3 V is provided
		PME signal is supported

On Board Device Information
	Type: Ethernet
	Status: Enabled
	Description: Intel Pro 1000 MT Network Connection

On Board Device Information
	Type: Sound
	Status: Enabled
	Description: AC'97 Audio Controller

OEM Strings
	String 1: www.dell.com

BIOS Language Information
	Installable Languages: 1
		en|US|iso8859-1
	Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1

System Event Log
	Area Length: 2049 bytes
	Header Start Offset: 0x0000
	Header Length: 16 bytes
	Data Start Offset: 0x0010
	Access Method: Memory-mapped physical 32-bit address
	Access Address: 0xFFF82000
	Status: Valid, Not Full
	Change Token: 0x0000003F
	Header Format: Type 1
	Supported Log Type Descriptors: 4
	Descriptor 1: POST error
	Data Format 1: POST results bitmap
	Descriptor 2: System limit exceeded
	Data Format 2: System management
	Descriptor 3: Log area reset/cleared
	Data Format 3: None
	Descriptor 4: Multi-bit ECC memory error
	Data Format 4: Handle

Physical Memory Array
	Location: System Board Or Motherboard
	Use: System Memory
	Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
	Maximum Capacity: 4 GB
	Number Of Devices: 4

Memory Device
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 512 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL A DIMM 0
	Bank Locator: Not Specified
	Type: SDRAM
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 333 MHz (3.0 ns)

Memory Device
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 512 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL B DIMM 0
	Bank Locator: Not Specified
	Type: SDRAM
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 333 MHz (3.0 ns)

Memory Device
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: No Module Installed
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL A DIMM 1
	Bank Locator: Not Specified
	Type: SDRAM
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 333 MHz (3.0 ns)

Memory Device
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: No Module Installed
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL B DIMM 1
	Bank Locator: Not Specified
	Type: SDRAM
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 333 MHz (3.0 ns)

Memory Array Mapped Address
	Starting Address: 0x00000000000
	Ending Address: 0x0003FFFFFFF
	Range Size: 1 GB
	Partition Width: 0

Memory Device Mapped Address
	Starting Address: 0x00000000000
	Ending Address: 0x0001FFFFFFF
	Range Size: 512 MB
	Partition Row Position: 1

Memory Device Mapped Address
	Starting Address: 0x00020000000
	Ending Address: 0x0003FFFFFFF
	Range Size: 512 MB
	Partition Row Position: 1

Hardware Security
	Power-On Password Status: Enabled
	Keyboard Password Status: Not Implemented
	Administrator Password Status: Enabled
	Front Panel Reset Status: Not Implemented

	System Power Controls
	Next Scheduled Power-on: *-* 00:00:00

Voltage Probe
	Description: +1.5V
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 3.327 V
	Minimum Value: 0.003 V
	Resolution: 12.9 mV
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: 2.00%
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC00

Voltage Probe
	Description: CPU Voltage
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 2.997 V
	Minimum Value: 0.003 V
	Resolution: 11.4 mV
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: 2.00%
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC01

Voltage Probe
	Description: +3.3V Aux
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 4.396 V
	Minimum Value: 0.004 V
	Resolution: 17.1 mV
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: 2.00%
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC02

Voltage Probe
	Description: +5V
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 6.663 V
	Minimum Value: 0.007 V
	Resolution: 26.0 mV
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: 2.00%
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC03

Voltage Probe
	Description: +12V
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 15.984 V
	Minimum Value: 0.016 V
	Resolution: 60.0 mV
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: 2.00%
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC04

Cooling Device
	Type: Fan
	Status: OK
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DD05

Temperature Probe
	Description: CPU0
	Location: Processor
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 127.0 deg C
	Minimum Value -127.0 deg C
	Resolution: 1.000 deg C
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: Unknown
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC11

Temperature Probe
	Description: System Board
	Location: Motherboard
	Status: OK
	Maximum Value: 127.0 deg C
	Minimum Value -127.0 deg C
	Resolution: 1.000 deg C
	Tolerance: Unknown
	Accuracy: Unknown
	OEM-specific Information: 0x0000DC15

Boot Integrity Services Entry Point

System Boot Information
	Status: No errors detected

So… can anyone of those lucky enough to have ordered one report their experience somewhere public ? Or just point my incompetent searching skills to any existing blog posts or reviews ? I can’t seem to find any! Thanks!

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!!!

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

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

If I apply the closed, non-free business models around proprietary software, I really think Ubuntu PCs should be much more expensive (like U$1000 more) than any Windows comparable machine. After explaining all you would need to add to a Windows install in order to make it comparable to Gnu/Linux, we actually agreed… I was then wondering what would happen if a tiny portion of Ubuntu users would contribute a portion of the U$1000 saved towards local development and advocacy efforts. Well, “finders, keepers” also works for me.

Think about it, I am sure you can come with more than this short list but… since being an Ubuntu user at home and at work,

1. I don’t need antivirus, firewall, cleanup, anti-spyware or other such ” security” software. This may require a bit more explanation, but what can I say. I my personal experience, I really don’t need any of this.
2. As a result of #1, I don’t actually need to waste a dual-core’s machine power so I can be “running a virus scan and management agent in the background“. I’d rather put that to good video transcoding use
3. As a result of #1, current sub U$500 cheap Celeron based laptops run just fine with only 512MB of RAM – they’re not ” useless” as I was told at the store
4. I can choose and download a healthy few thousands applications (including many servers like web, voip, etc.) from one central package/repository management application. Like, say, Windows update but for all applications. Multi-lingual, and including security updates, unlike Windows Marketplace. I do happen to work in spanish and french too.
5. I can have my systems (and all included applications) available in several languages at once.
6. I don’t worry about manual security updates, except for software I have decided to manually download and install from other sites (a rarity, but happens)
7. I don’t reinstall! Well, my work consists of advocacy and consulting / coaching / providing tech support so my main laptop does get reinstalled often. Home PC hasn’t had a reinstall for 3 years though.
8. I can keep using the oldest, crapiest hardware I love, like that PCMCIA reader or the “Windows 98-only” webcam, along the newer one
9. When I come across a missing feature / problem / documentation omission or translation problem I take the opportunity to contribute back and learn in the process
10. I can copy all this to any amount of people around me, without restrictions or underground illegal activities – the only limit being my bandwidth, and ability to give out CDs or other media. In fact I am often asked if the software I used is legal, as I seem to have a little or big app for most any use.

So how much is that worth to you ? I was thinking I would need to talk about the freedom, the formats, the licences, patent problems, etc., I guess that’s for another afternoon when I chat again with my friend.