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Awesome!

December 1st, 2009  |  Published in Community, Documentation, Kubuntu

docawesome_sm

AWESOME! This definitely shows that the Kubuntu community has grown over the past couple of years, even among the complaints, we seem to be succeeding, and this makes me super happy. Just over a week ago, I decided that we were going to totally wipe out the current set of Kubuntu documentation and start from scratch. My buddy Jonathan Jesse, the 2nd Kubuntu docs dude, was freaking. He was like, “that sounds like a lot of work!” Oh, it did, but our awesome community has stepped up and is taking control, writing documentation, and good documentation at that. I am really grateful to all of you who are helping, and because of you, there is no doubt in my mind that our docs will finally kick ass again!

Kubuntu DocBook/XML 101

November 23rd, 2009  |  Published in Documentation, Kubuntu, Tutorial, Ubuntu

So, you keep hearing me talk about contributing to Kubuntu documentation, and you see that I say it would be nice for you to have some DocBook/XML experience. Many people want to help, but they don’t have that experience. In most cases, the people interested at least understand HTML or some other markup language a little bit. If you can understand that, then you can easily understand DocBook/XML the way we use it for Kubuntu documentation. DocBook/XML has a lot of tags that one can use, however we only use a very small subset of those tags with our documentation. Just an idea of the main tags we use from DocBook/XML are:

  • <sect1>
  • <sect2> – sometimes
  • <title>
  • <para>
  • <ulink>
  • <example> – sometimes
  • <mediaobject> – only for screenshots
  • <imageobject> – only for screenshots
  • <imagedata> – only for screenshots
  • <acronym> – sometimes
  • <guibutton> – sometimes

There might be a few more, but these are the ones that pop into my head. For instance, when you are trying to let the reader know to open up an application via the menu, there is a tag called <menuchoice>. We have an entities file that contains all of the menu stuff, so you wouldn’t even need to use that tag, as you would call it in the document you are working in. Example: Say you are trying to tell the user how to open Amarok, you would enter &menuamarok;. Easy!

Here is an HTML example, lets say, Hello World :) 

<html>
<head>
<title>Hello, World!</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Hello, World!</p>
</body>
</html>

The html, head, and title, are already taken care for you with the template, so you just need to do the part in between the <p> and </p>. So in DocBook/XML, that would look:

<para>Hello, World!</para>

Easy. Typically with HTML, when you are trying to show a section or make a section stand out, you might use <h1> to make the title stand out. Well in DocBook/XML there are a few more lines, but still easy to do:

HTML:

<h1>This is the title of the section</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph in the section.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph in the section.</p>

DocBook/XML:

<sect1 id="intro">
<title>This is the title of the section</title>
<para>This is a paragraph in the section.</para>
<para>This is another paragraph in the section.</para>
</sect1>

If you are looking for a little bit more information concerning documentation in the Ubuntu world, take a look at the Documentation Team Wiki Page. There is also a bit of information on how we use Bazaar when working with documentation as well. To get an idea of how we use DocBook/XML with Kubuntu documentation, take a look at the old Jaunty Documentation for Kubuntu. Under the docs/ directory you will find the topics covered. And then under the topic, in the C/ folder is the XML markup for that topic. There is obviously a bit more DocBook/XML markup in our documentation, but the header portion and the layout is already completed in a template, so all one would need to do is fill in the space and create new sections.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to stop by the Ubuntu Documentation IRC channel on Freenode in #ubuntu-doc and ask away. We also have a mailing list where you can ask questions and communicate via email to other documentation people.

Kubuntu Documentation Needs Help

November 22nd, 2009  |  Published in Documentation, Kubuntu

Here is the email I sent to the Ubuntu Documenation Project’s mailing list today:

Currently we over in the Kubuntu world are completely rewriting the system
documentation. Why you ask? Because the old documentation was just that,
old. It contained information from the KDE 3.5 days. The reason for this is
because for the past 4 years, there have only been 2 of us working on the
documentation, and for the past 2 years, we both have been super busy with
our personal life. We will have a similar structure/layout as previous
releases in regards to the fake topic-based help, however the content needs
to be totally rewritten.

Because of this, we are looking for people who have the following
experiences:

1) You run Kubuntu and are familiar with its applications
2) You can read and write English
3) DocBook/XML experience would be nice
4) Understand how to use Bazaar

I have created a quick todo list [1] where we can track who is working on
what. There is no time line set in stone, however I would like to have a
solid documentation base by the end of the year. Because we are rewriting
the documentation from scratch, we need to have this solid base in place so
we can start translations. I would love to have all topics with a status of
NEEDS REVIEW by the end of the year.

If you have any questions or would like to help, please feel free to reply
to this mail or find me on IRC (#kubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-docs). Thanks!

[1] https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Kubuntu/Documentation/Lucid/Todo

Any and hell help would be greatly appreciated right now. Thanks!

Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Beta Released: Everyone Needed!

October 1st, 2009  |  Published in KDE, Kubuntu, Release

Yes, I know I stole the idea of the title from Jono Bacon, however, unlike Ubuntu who supposedly only needs testers right now, Kubuntu needs all of you! Of course, quite a bit of the work left to do is testing and fixing, we can use many of you to show your support in #kubuntu, helping those who need it. Right now, all of the 9.10 support is in #ubuntu+1, so if you have any questions, or feel like helping others, head on over and check it out.

Interested in knowing what’s new with this latest release, check this out:

  • KDE 4.3.1
  • Kubuntu Netbook Technical Preview
  • Social From the Start (no more reason to not have any friends!)
  • OpenOffice.org KDE integration created by our very own Kubuntu developers!
  • Installer bling (I don’t use the Live Desktop installer, but this is so hot I just might have to!)
  • Amarok 2.2 RC (wait, and pretty soon you can update to the new Amarok 2.2 “Sunjammer”
  • and more…

Many of you may have heard about this Kubuntu Netbook thing and for once we are officially releasing and unofficial release. Does that make sense? I didn’t think so, as I just lost myself. Anyways, it is unofficial because we have been working very closely with upstream to bring the KDE Netbook environment to Kubuntu and KDE 4.3. You see, the netbook work upstream is all geared at KDE 4.4, which isn’t do out until February. The current version of the Kubuntu Netbook preview works fairly well, however there are still some annoyances here and there. I have been using it now for a couple of months on my netbook and I absolutely love it! Do I think it is the best netbook implementation right now? No, but I do see it being the best soon. KDE developers are working hard making sure to not waste space on such a small resolution, and they are also working on some really cool things for future releases with KDE 4.4. I can’t wait!

Also during the Karmic development cycle, a group of Kubuntu developers worked with developers from OpenOffice.org in order to bring you a groovy KDE 4 infused release. There are still some quirks being worked out, but I am sure they will be worked out before release. Though I don’t use OpenOffice.org, I have to say for once it looks good in KDE!

Installer bling, better known as Ubiquity, has had one hell of a make over. Roman, aka ’shtylman’, has put some damn fine touches into the Live CD installer. I was really impressed with the work, and for once the installer was pleasing to the eye. Great job Roman and thanks for all of your great work!

Now, with all the good, there is of course a little bad yet, I mean it is still a beta release. One has to do with logging out back to KDM, which oddly enough doesn’t effect everyone. If you do get bit by this, you have to go out to the console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1. Once there simply login to the console and type sudo stop kdm, unless of course you want to shutdown, then it is just sudo shutdown -h now or sudo reboot. And yes, we know KPackageKit does not install software, which is comical yet sad at the same time. Who wants to install software anyways? Well, I am sure most of you who will give this release a try are probably pretty comfortable around the command line, so nothing an apt-get can’t fix for the time being.

We invite everyone to give the new beta a good running and help us test the release and fix the release. Yes I mean everyone, as input from people with various skill levels matter so much to us. So please, feel free to join us in any of the following IRC channels:

  • #kubuntu for support for all stable releases
  • #ubuntu+1 for support for the latest development release
  • #kubuntu-devel if you would like to contribute

Or you can visit us on our development mailing list or our support mailing list for more. Thanks everyone!

Myth of the blue-headed step children

September 26th, 2009  |  Published in KDE, Kubuntu

I have been reading quite a few blog post comments these days just to get a feel for what people think about Kubuntu, KDE, and the other KDE distros. The comment I see the most is something along the lines of “Kubuntu’s KDE is garbage while distro x’s KDE rocks!” And then there is my favorite comment, which I made as a joke one day and was forever placed in the grasps of hell for it, “Kubuntu is the blue-headed step child of Ubuntu.” Today, while reading the comments and the post of Fabio A. Locati (flocati), he brought up a valid point about the lack of publicity for Kubuntu. Instantly the fanbois of the various distros come out of the shadows on the attack. Fabio thinks it could possibly be bad for the image of Kubuntu regarding the lack of publicity, and I have to agree a bit with him. I don’t so much think it hurts the image as much as it doesn’t help create or build an image for Kubuntu.

Kubuntu’s KDE is garbage while distro x’s KDE rocks! One thing I would like the users to know is that there is a good chance that Kubuntu and distro x share patches. Quite a few of the KDE based distros have a small developer community, which makes it tough to create and operate a full-fledged flagship like Ubuntu. Because of this we tend to share patches, we tend to communicate a little with each other (this could be better of course). Typically when people make this argument, they never list examples of why we suck compared to them. And when they do list examples most have nothing to do with KDE or Kubuntu.

Kubuntu is the blue-headed step child of Ubuntu. If you look at most of the KDE distros around here, the same thing could be said about them. With the release of KDE 4.0, we scared quite a few distros, and a few of us distros immediately jumped on that KDE 4.0 bandwagon. Whether or not it was good or bad, it is the past and there is nothing we can do about it, except continue making KDE rock harder with every release. Many people complain that Canonical doesn’t support Kubuntu like they do with Ubuntu. If you are just saying Ubuntu, then you are right, because Canonical is sponsoring all kinds of crazy projects for Ubuntu, which by the way isn’t GNOME for you users. Canonical is doing some amazing server work, mobile devices, services, and more. In terms of ‘paid developers’ I think the GNOME and KDE side is close to being even. To be honest, I can’t even think of one person who is a GNOME only developer. I know at least 2 KDE only developers (right now?). A majority of the work that goes into making Kubuntu is actually completed by Canonical employees, or people many of you consider paid Ubuntu developers. One thing Kubuntu doesn’t have that Ubuntu does, or the GNOME side of Ubuntu that is, is a large developer or contributor community. If I think about it, I think the same goes with other distros as well. If you look at their developers on the KDE side, there aren’t a lot when compared to the GNOME side. This is what makes the legend of the blue-headed step child nothing more than a myth at best.

With all of that garbled mess said, the point I would love to try to make is this. Why don’t we, the KDE community and downstream or distro developers, try to work together a bit. We have pretty much the same goals. Make our distro rock and make KDE number one! Wouldn’t be easier if we worked together a bit to at least make KDE number one, and while we are at it, we can share ideas to make our distro rock. Now I know we also want to make our distros stand out from one another, and we can continue doing that, but lets do it without hurting one another. We chose to use KDE as our environment because we love it and we want others to love it as well. By some of us saying you suck and we rock, you aren’t doing your distro any justice and you aren’t doing the other distro any justice either. There are people that will take what you said at face value and laugh it off and not use your distro because they see the elitism in your comment, and then there are others that will believe it and use your distro, only to find out it isn’t for them, and the next thing you know they are blogging about Linux sucks or KDE sucks.

And on a side note, concerning Kubuntu, another comment I see is “Kubuntu is so far behind Ubuntu.” How is this so? What can you do in Ubuntu that you can’t do in Kubuntu? Seeing as I use both Ubuntu and Kubuntu, there is nothing I can’t do on one that I can do on the other. I know bluetooth sucks, so you don’t have to bring that one up, it is being worked on somewhere, and of course if you would like to work on it you are free to do so :)

Take off and land safely with KDE

August 24th, 2009  |  Published in Application, Development, Kubuntu

Oh lord that was corny. Any ways, it isn’t about taking off and landing safely, but it is about saving some of that important Lithium Ion juice while you are in flight. That’s right, I have hacked together a little system tray applet that will allow you to enable or disable the power of your wireless devices such as WiFi and Bluetooth. In the future 3G support will (hopefully) be included as well as function key support, but since we are approaching a Feature Freeze with Karmic, we had to get something in right away, and then work out the kinks before release. At first it was designed to be used with the Kubuntu Netbook Edition which we are planning on providing a preview release for Karmic. Then after working on it, it seemed to work fine for laptops just as well. D’uh, it uses Wireless Tools and BlueZ, so of course it would work.

Right now it has only been tested with Dell hardware. I know for a fact it will not work with the Asus eeePC due to their silly wireless drivers. Because of that, I will probably end up either borrowing code from eee-controls or eee-applet or just using those and porting them for use in this applet.

As this project goes on, and updates are added, I will keep you informed. It will be put in the repos just as soon as it passes its packaging review.

And now for some pics:

kairmode_tooltip_no_devices
KDE Airplane Mode with no devices (Tooltip)

kairmode_tooltip_with_devices
KDE Aiplane Mode with devices (Tooltip)

kairmode_menu_with_devices
KDE Airplane Mode with devices (Menu)

kairmode_airmode_popup
KDE Airplane Mode popup to enable/disable airplane mode

Note that this application is buggy and has been known to eat 2 children and the neighbors cat. What you see might not be what you get. There will definitely be some more changes and updates coming to the application as well as the GUI.

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