Automated Testing Hackfest

By José Antonio Rey | Published: 2013-01-31

We all want more quality. We all wasted too many hours trying to fix broken software and we all know that new users struggle the most when facing crashes or other unexpected results. We probably all also agree that testing is a good idea and if it’s automated, then that’s even better.

Automatically exercising large parts of some software’s functionality helps a lot in guaranteeing that things still work, even if the code or some underlying foundations change. The idea is to write the test-case once and have it do its work whenever bits change and let us know if things break unexpectedly – especially before users run into bugs.

Tomorrow, 1st February 2013, we are going to hang out in #ubuntu-quality on irc.freenode.net to have a Hackfest about Automated Testing

So what’s going to happen there?

  • We are going to have seasoned Ubuntu developers who will introduce you to autopilot (for UI testing) and autopkgtest (for integrating tests with the package in a more general sense).
  • We have a list of tests we want to work on together (but you can work on your own tests if you like as well).
  • We are going to have lots of fun and make Ubuntu a better place.

If you are interested, that’s great, because this is one of the coolest contributions to Ubuntu you can make. For autopkgtest it might be good to have at least a bit experience with scripting or programming, for autopilot less so. Be curious, be there, make Ubuntu better!

Check out our docs here and see you tomorrow!

Originally posted here on Thu Jan 31 15:23 UTC 2013 by Daniel Holbach

Smart Scopes

By pleia2 | Published: 2013-01-30

In the Ubuntu 13.04 cycle the development team have been working on making a series of improvements to the dash to improve search quality as well as the breadth of areas, software, and services that the dash can search. This will result in a significantly greater number of scopes (potentially 100) shipped by default and a better search experience that is smarter in the way scopes are searched for terms, thus delivering better results and higher performance.

Some of the planning that went into this work happened after UDS, and unfortunately missed the opportunity to discuss this at the event. To get as close as possible to the normal UDS experience, a full specification for the feature] as well as the blueprint] are online and a retroactive UDS-style session happened today on a Google+ hangout that included Canonical engineers (Stuart Langridge, Roberto Alsina), community team members (Jono Bacon, Michael Hall), and community members who have taken an interest in the dash (Alan Bell, David Calle, and Christophe Sauthier who was invited, but didn’t join the hangout).

The hangout is below:

Can’t see the video? See it here

This feature should land in the Ubuntu 13.04 development branch in the next few weeks and then we will see the usual polish and refinement until we release Ubuntu 13.04 in April.

The Community Team will also be launching a project over the coming few weeks to grow the range of scopes ready for 13.04 and ease the development process. Stay tuned!

Written by Jono Bacon

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 301

By pleia2 | Published: 2013-01-28

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter. This is issue #301 for the week January 21 – 27, 2013, and the full version is available here.

In this issue we cover:

The issue of The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

  • Elizabeth Krumbach
  • Jasna Bencic
  • Howard Chan
  • Nathan Dyer
  • Matt Rudge
  • And many others

If you have a story idea for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki!

Except where otherwise noted, content in this issue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License BY SA Creative Commons License

Tomorrow: Ubuntu Developer Week

By dholbach | Published: 2013-01-28

Tomorrow, 29th January, will see the start of Ubuntu Developer Week, the best opportunity this cycle to get involved in Ubuntu Development. We will have a variety of sessions around, all having to do with how Ubuntu is put together and how you can help out and get involved. Here a few examples of topics covered:

  • Ubuntu Development and Packaging (introduction, get set up, working with upstreams, patch systems, cross-building, and many more)
  • Automated Testing strategies
  • Fixing memory leaks, using u1db, Unity Integration and App development

Join in and ask all the questions you have, get to know some of Ubuntu’s developers and make new friends.

Check out our timetable – there will surely be something of interest for you too! Join in tomorrow!

Here are some of the fine people who are going to take you on a tour through Ubuntu Development:

Alex Chiang

Alex Chiang

Nicholas Skaggs

Nicholas Skaggs

Benjamin Drung

Benjamin Drung

Bhavani Shankar

Bhavani Shankar

David Planella

David Planella

Michael Hall

Michael Hall

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

Oliver Grawert

Oliver Grawert

Martin Pitt

Martin Pitt

Stefano Rivera

Stefano Rivera

Ubuntu Developer Week – 29th-31st Jan

By pleia2 | Published: 2013-01-24

We are delighted to announce the next Ubuntu Developer Week. From 29th to 31st January 2013 we will have a great selection of sessions all about Ubuntu Development, which not only showcase the great work which goes into Ubuntu, but should also help you get involved.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek

Among the topics this time: general development and packaging, working with projects outside Ubuntu, apps in Ubuntu, fixing memleaks, automated testing, u1db, Ubuntu images, and many may more.

I talked to a number of speakers, here’s what they have to say about their sessions:

The majority of sessions will happen on IRC, some will be hangouts on air though. Simply review the UDW wiki page for more information.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuDeveloperWeek

This is a great opportunity to get involved, so be there, ask your questions and get started! We hope to see you all there. It’s going to be a great event. 🙂

Originally posted to the ubuntu-devel-announce mailing list on Thu Jan 24 16:52:58 UTC 2013 by Daniel Holbach