Wow, I’ve always heard of it. There was some noise being used as a deterrent to keep teenagers from loitering around malls, shopping centers, etc. Then I saw this post over on Planet Ubuntu and had to give it a shot. At 18, I thought surely I would be able to hear it.
Well, I was right, I could hear it. AND IT WAS ANNOYING!
So, here’s my badge of honor:
Created by Train Horns
The Ubuntu Developer Network idea over in Brainstorm has been chugging along (thanks everyone!). However, two ammendments were proposed. One called for the service to be subscription-based with a low monthly fee, and the other, calling for it to be completely free. Since their writing, the “Keep it free!” suggestion has had overwhelming support. Perhaps it is my fault for not explicitly stating that the Ubuntu Developer Network is not so much of a service but a resource, and would be completely free along the lines of Ubuntu’s free to recieve, free to modify, and free to pass on mentality. It would be great for everyone — not just corporations, but individuals as well, building the critical community around the project. If there’s one thing holding Ubuntu back — it’s application compatibility. Why try to hinder that by requiring a monthly fee for something some people will not use for that long? Why should we limit the information that is available to individual who is interested in creating applications for a free and open system? It’s like creating a catch for the free Linux world. It just would not make sense. Do not get me wrong, I love capitalism, but there are other ways to make money in Open Source, just as Canonical has modeled in it’s paid support for it’s server offering. They also make money from the computers that companies are selling with Ubuntu preinstalled. If anything, with greater application compatibility, it would make Ubuntu more favorable for both computer companies and users.
Karmic Koala, or Ubuntu 9.10, will be the next version of Ubuntu after Ubuntu 9.04… perhaps it may seem a little early to announce a system that is two releases away, but the planning has already begun. You can see the announcement here: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/1831
Thanks everyone for all the votes – Brainstorm Idea 18100 as it is known numerically, now has over 90 votes!
Recently, a quiet deal was made between Red Hat and Microsoft that many would have thought impossible. Red Hat made a deal with Microsoft covering virtualization (e.g. their system can run on the other system and vice versa) — that didn’t include patents.
This deal is very different from that signed with Novell, and far less controversial. I find it amazing that Red Hat was able to pull it off! The only money being shifted around seems to cover training employees. Not bad if I say so myself. Really, this can be a good strategy, and really shows that agreements can be made without including patents. Looks to me like patents may not carry as much weight as they used to.
My idea has been uploaded to the Ubuntu Brainstorm! It is an idea to create an Ubuntu Developer Network. Microsoft has it’s own network called MSDN, and Sun Microsystems has its own, SDN. So, why not have one for Ubuntu!?
I have felt this was one weak spot in the Ubuntu community for a while now. A page devoted to the development of Ubuntu applications (and Ubuntu itself) could be really beneficial to the project. Just picture this: a beginning programmer, just like one who would come to Windows, would come to the developer’s site from a link of the main Ubuntu page (or alternatively the “Get Involved” page). The beginning developer would find the track devoted to showing a beginner how to develop for Ubuntu, going from the available programming languages to the process of building a simple package. For more experienced developers, there could be a track for getting involved with uploading the packages to REVU, and running through the steps necessary to build and upload a program for Ubuntu. Beyond this, the Ubuntu Developer Channel videos from YouTube could be embedded into the site. Also, the Ubuntu Developer News could be hosted on the site. The main idea here is building a community around Ubuntu development, not just on the OS, but on applications for the system.
So, if you like this idea, help promote it (you can get to it via the link I posted above)! You have to register for the Ubuntu Brainstorm site if you have not done so already.
UPDATE: Here’s a mockup:
The mockup is only a basic idea, and stretches the limits of my skills with the GIMP. 
Launchpad has a tool to set up blueprints to track both proposed features for an application, as well as the feature’s implementation. For OpenAdvance, I have started adding blueprints for the project, in the form of a GUI requirement and a main-features requirement. Now, since I am the only one currently doing the development on the project, I have added these more as a place for people to look at my future plans and see how they are being implemented. These features provide a nice place for me to check on my own progress as well. Think of it like a project management application; you have a given set of tasks that must be completed to reach a goal, and you have the ability to update those tasks, often with shared projects, so that others can see how the task is coming along. It’s the same with a program being developed. In the case of OpenAdvance, I have a given set of features that I need to have implemented before I can call out a .1 release. That’s the base features and a nice GUI to go along with the application. Ubuntu specific packaging? That comes later. All I am after now is creating a useful, working python script that will run the main application. Additional features and the “dh-make” utilities will come later.
Before I begin any “real” development on the project, I went ahead and set up a Launchpad project page and a team that people can join to help out, in the spirit of open-sourciness (new word! 
). Launchpad has some really nice features, and while I could have used Sourceforge, I like using Launchpad since I am so familiar with it. Bug tracking, code, questions/answers, translations — yup, they’re all there!
There are many applications for Ubuntu, well, thousands really. Still, there are some applications that still do not make an appearance in the repositories, or hardly anywhere else for that matter. So, it is today that I will begin work on a new project called “OpenAdvance.” This program is an advancement tracker for Boy Scout troops. Very often, software programs cost money, and at times even come with a yearly fee (SAAS). So, to help fill this gap both in the scouting arena and the Ubuntu/Linux repositories, I am going to begin work on development of this application. While the exact framework for the GUI has yet to be determined, I will be using Python for the code development. This program will be a learning experience for me, as I am by no means an “expert” at application programming. This application will give me a chance to hone my skills and bring some useful software to the Linux community. More information on this will come soon!
I just got back from the Winter Jam 09 concert at the Gwinnett Arena, and for those who may not have heard of it before, Winter Jam is a tour of major Christian artists… who happened to pack out the Gwinnett Arena tonight. There were a bunch of great bands all leading up to the main performance, TobyMac! It was awesome… that’s about the only way I know how to sum it up. 
