Ubuntu Friendly Hardware
If Canonical had its way, OEMs would make sure Ubuntu ran well on their hardware before shipping it. But most OEMs don’t, so Ubuntu developers have resorted to the next best thing: crowd-sourcing hardware validation to users via the Ubuntu Friendly program, which is almost ready for prime time. Ubuntu Friendly is an open hardware validation programme for desktops, netbooks and laptops that will be developed during the Oneiric cycle and that will allow to validate as “Ubuntu Friendly” those systems that are known to work well with a particular release of Ubuntu, based on test results sent by Ubuntu users.
The project, envisioned as a community-based complement to the certification program Canonical already maintains, stood to broaden the hardware profiles on which Ubuntu was known to run well and make the lives of users easier.
Ubuntu Friendly is pretty user-friendly itself. Running it on an Ubuntu 11.10 system is as easy as following these instructions.
- Add our PPA to your software sources
- Run “System Testing” on your system and submit to Launchpad
- Install the latest version of checkbox
The program also demands some basic geek skills on the part of the user, since it asks questions that require knowing how much RAM is installed in the system or whether it has VGA and HDMI ports. My mom wouldn’t know what those words mean, but they should be familiar enough to many people.
Making Ubuntu Friendlier
The Ubuntu Friendly project itself won’t revolutionize Ubuntu, but it does represent a smart investment on Canonical’s part.
With minimal effort, Canonical now has a way to see how well Ubuntu works on many more systems and types of hardware than the company’s employees could ever test personally. At the same time, users are exposed to a novel means of engaging with Ubuntu and feeling like part of the community by offering valuable contributions to Ubuntu developers.
Participate in Ubuntu Friendly
Test your system and submit the results. It won’t take more than 15 minutes.
Get prepared for the ride
You will need to be running Ubuntu 11.10 or newer.
There is some equipment that you will need for the testing: a usb stick, a SD card, a external monitor, media and blank CDs and DVDs, a headset, and firewire and pcmcia devices.
Don’t worry if you don’t have some of these, you will be able to skip those tests. Of course, the more you test, the better.
Run System Testing
It is in Ubuntu by default. Just search by Ubuntu Friendly or System Testing in the Dash.
Save your work
System Testing encourages you to save your work before starting testing. Please, do so, as some of the tests might suspend your system and you may lose your work if your system is unable to recover.
Data collection
System testing will collect some data about your system. Don’t worry, no personal data will be collected.
Test selection
The list that appears in this screen is the default list for Ubuntu Friendly.
We require all these categories are selected for your submission to be included in Ubuntu Friendly, so please leave all the categories selected.
You will be able to skip tests you don’t have hardware for (for example, writable media or bluetooth devices).
Test!
This is how a test in System Testing looks like:
- A small description explains what to do in that particular test and a question that needs to be answered.
- Some of the tests, like this one, asks you to click on “Test” to run a task, in this case, clicking “Test” will play a sound.
- The possible replies of a test are: “Yes”, “No”, or “Skip”, if we want to skip a particular test that you don’t have hardware for (such as a bluetooth device or writable media).
We can add a comment if we want, but this step is optional.
Submit your results!
All done! Just enter your email address and click on “Next”.
Your system will appear in the Ubuntu Friendly site in the next few hours.
Want to do more? Join us in the Ubuntu Friendly Squad!
