Progress

It turns out to be a difficult thing to keep up a blog. I haven’t posted in a while but I sure have done some cool stuff!

First, I got three patches accepted for apt in intrepid ibex. APT! The core, heart, soul of Ubuntu and Debian! My patches! ^_^ to be fair, they where simple patches but here is the changelog entry.

apt (0.7.14ubuntu4) intrepid; urgency=low

  [ Michael Vogt ]
  * apt-pkg/deb/dpkgpm.cc:
    - fix uninitialized variable that caused no apport reports
      to be written sometimes (thanks to Matt Zimmerman)
  * merge patch that enforces stricter https server certificate
    checking (thanks to Arnaud Ebalard, closes: #485960)
  * allow per-mirror specific https settings
    (thanks to Arnaud Ebalard, closes: #485965)
  * add doc/examples/apt-https-method-example.cof
    (thanks to Arnaud Ebalard, closes: #485964)
  * add DPkg::NoTriggers option so that applications that call
    apt/aptitude (like the installer) defer trigger processing
    (thanks to Joey Hess)
  * document --install-recommends and --no-install-recommends
    (thanks to Dereck Wonnacott, LP: #126180)

 [ Dereck Wonnacott ]
  * apt-ftparchive might write corrupt Release files (LP: #46439)
  * Apply --important option to apt-cache depends (LP: #16947)

Two other patches were denied for good reasons. Yet two more await review before they will go anywhere. It’s a really good feeling to submit that debdiff and even better to get a response to it.

I have been recruiting for the Global Bug Jam as well and have a number of people in ##club-Ubuntu that have stepped up to contribute. About 12 or more people at the time seem interested, and that rocks! I hope they use the GBJ to jump start their way to full Ubuntu Members! I have given them the task of assigning packages to bugs, a fairly simple task with little commitment, and to help them I have redone almost all of the BugSquad wiki pages to make sure the documentation is clear. I know I had to struggle to figure out how to get rolling, I hope this lowers the barrier for entry. I even made a screen cast on just what to do and that was fun!

Even though I have been busy on Thursdays and haven’t made a strong appearance for HugDays, I have been silently running them in the background. I hope tomorrow I’ll be around enough to hug a bug or 5.   Although I started all those patches for Apt because I wanted to make up for missing the HugDay.

Back to work I go!

First Patch Accepted

http://svn.gnome.org/viewvc/rhythmbox/trunk/shell/rb-tray-icon.c?limit_changes=100&revision=5806&view=markup&pathrev=5806

It’s so simple and dumb… but I’m so happy. ^_^

~Dereck

First Patch!

I have to say, a first post is awkward to say the least, I mean if someone starts a blog they obviously think they have something to say, right? I’m just documenting my own experience with the Linux community in hopes that later, reading back in my own blog after I’m rich and powerful, I might be able to use my own experiences to make changes so that there is less of a barrier for other newcomers to the Linux community. That is the mindset right now, I wonder what I’ll be thinking a few months from now…

What has led me to start a blog today? What is different today from yesterday or the day before that? I finally decided to use my free time this summer to do something of worth and submitted my first patch for Rhythmbox.

Index: shell/rb-tray-icon.c
===================================================================
— shell/rb-tray-icon.c (revision 5715)
+++ shell/rb-tray-icon.c (working copy)
@@ -552,10 +552,10 @@

switch (event->scroll.direction) {
case GDK_SCROLL_UP:
- adjust = 0.1;
+ adjust = 0.02;
break;
case GDK_SCROLL_DOWN:
- adjust = -0.1;
+ adjust = -0.02;
break;
default:
return;

I know, two whole BIG CHANGES! :p It is something that has annoyed me to no end in Rythmbox for a long time; adjusting the volume with the mouse scroll wheel in the application and using the try icon had different levels of sensitivity…. FIXED!

The sad part is that I feel that the change is too small to be noticed or cared about by anyone that has powers to get it in the source tree for everyone to enjoy the fine-grain control, but it is a good first patch I think.

Of course, my thanks go out to seb128 and ivazquez for putting up with me in IRC today as well as I learned how things work.

~Dereck