Hey Simon! Your LTS requalification application checks out so I'm fine with starting a Technical Board vote on this.
My vote is of course +1. Other TB members please vote as well! Regarding your comments and concerns: I'm sorry you had to go through these various frustrating situations before end-of-year. I agree: we all need to communicate more, communicate better. It's certainly something we need to get better at - especially all the Ubuntu teams at Canonical. That being said, I don't think this is anything the technical board can help per-se. With my release team and archive admin hats on the only thing I can say is that I'll try improving my throughput regarding reviews this cycle. Around EOY is a very disruptive time, especially after such a busy year as 2023. Thank you and the Lubuntu team for all your hard work! Hoping for the vote to finish soon. Cheers, On Wed, 3 Jan 2024 at 04:56, Simon Quigley <si...@tsimonq2.net> wrote: > > On behalf of the Lubuntu Team, and in my capacity as Lubuntu Release > Manager, this is our application for Long-Term Support requalification > for 24.04 (Noble Numbat). > > * The Lubuntu Team currently has five active developers[1] with upload > permissions to the Lubuntu packageset. Two of those developers are also > Ubuntu Core Developers (and one of them is a Debian Developer, who is on > the Debian Qt/KDE Team). Over several LTS cycles, we have proven that we > are willing and able to handle Stable Release Updates to `lubuntu` > packages. Our developers have also committed bug fixes upstream in LXQt, > Calamares, KDE, Qt, and core Ubuntu tooling so everyone can benefit. > Several examples include Calamares, our update notifier, and SDDM. > Therefore, we commit to providing bug fixes for 24.04, until 2027. > * Lubuntu has a Members team[2] with *ten* active members. The > difference between Ubuntu Members and Lubuntu Members are, Lubuntu > Members are only *active* contributors to Lubuntu, within the last year > (members have to explicitly renew with the Lubuntu Council, and it is > simply an activity check). These members provide support via multiple > avenues[3]. Most notably, in real-time we offer support via IRC, Matrix, > Discourse[4], and Telegram. The Lubuntu support channels are bridged to > reach a wider audience. Additionally, many of our members also assist in > other Ubuntu support avenues such as Matrix, IRC and Ask Ubuntu. > Therefore, we commit to providing support and a welcoming community for > 24.04, until 2027. > * In addition to developers, our Members also perform QA testing > throughout not only Lubuntu but all of Ubuntu. Several Lubuntu testers > are on top on the charts (the current #1 position is held by a (very > recently former) Lubuntu Member). They catch many bugs in the > development cycle before they appear in a stable release, following an > extensive checklist. After the release, our QA testers routinely test to > ensure stability. Therefore, we commit to testing for 24.04, until 2027. > * Our documentation team provides our fantastic manual which is > frequently referenced not only for Lubuntu but other distributions that > utilize LXQt. We currently provide the manual for both the current > stable interim release[5] and the LTS release[6]. We take the user from > download to installation to using every piece of software installed by > default. Therefore, we commit to providing documentation for the > upcoming LTS release for 24.04, until 2027. > * Our support lifespan is listed on every download on our downloads[7] > page and an easy to reference graph is at the bottom of the page. > Additionally, our support cycle is documented in every release > announcement posted on our blog[8] and is also linked in every Ubuntu > release note. > > Notes from the Release Manager > ------------------------------ > > Lubuntu is the strongest it has been since our transition to LXQt in the > 18.10 cycle. Besides our technical goals, we aim to set an example by > training and maintaining impactful and meaningful contributors. As the > most active flavor team, we take great pride in our work, and aspire to > do our best, not just for Lubuntu, but for the wider community. We > recognize the sometimes-controversial technical decisions we make as a > flavor, and aim to minimize their impact on others, while improving the > story for our users. We may not agree on certain elements, such as Qt > being the best UI toolkit, but let me be clear: we are still an Ubuntu > flavor, and wish to be for a long time to come. We are a part of the > same family. > > For every Thursday through Monday following a release, I specifically > instruct all Lubuntu Members to take the weekend off, and do something > they enjoy. Whether it is enjoying a nice meal for the occasion, going > to a party, reading the book they finally want to read, having a great > cup of tea, whatever "floats their boat," go do it. I will take care of > any post-release housekeeping items. It is important to me personally > that Lubuntu Members are happy, and as a leader, it is my responsibility > to ensure the Quality of Life within the Lubuntu project stays excellent. > > This past holiday season was different. I could sense a lot of tension > within the team, not because of the actions of another Lubuntu team > member, but the exclusionary feeling we have recently received from some > of our friends at Canonical. After the Security Team uploaded apparmor > right before the break (making many applications including the Plasma > Desktop and all Qt-based web browser alternatives unusable[9]), the > Mutter regression (which did not affect us but certainly made an > impression on us), our discovery of improper defaults shipped by GTK > 3[10] (which kneecapped our ability to theme GTK applications until we > caught it; we found this later), and the general inability to get > anything reviewed from *Ubuntu*'s SRU or NEW queue for over a day at a > time, I had enough. > > The reason this email is so late is because I instructed all Lubuntu > Members, from December 20th on, to take a break (with the advisement of > Lubuntu Team Lead and Ubuntu Community Council Member Thomas Ward). > People who know my leadership style understand that I very rarely put my > foot down firmly without accepting questions; I am happy to be wrong, > and am thrilled at the opportunity to accept constructive criticism. > That being said, I did not want to lose the community we have worked so > hard to build. I instructed contributors that this is not as hard of an > ask as the usual six month "take a weekend off," but they should not > feel pressured to do any significant work over that time. > > Thankfully, the team came back after the break. That being said, I would > be negligent if I did not address the reason as to *why* a break was > declared. If it isn't obvious by now, I care about my team, and I care > about both Lubuntu and Ubuntu, quite a bit. *We need to communicate and > work together better.* The Ubuntu Code of Conduct explicitly affords > **any** contributor, **regardless** of their employment status, the > right to carry out **any** part of the work with the Ubuntu name on it. > I do not plan on invoking the Community Council here, I do not plan on > being angry at anyone, and I especially do not plan on bikeshedding > about what *is* or *isn't* actually an issue (especially with the ones I > just linked). What I'm honestly asking is, please, can we do better > here? Can we actually *talk* to one another, and remember that > collaboration is the answer? > > Thank you for your time, consideration, and energy on this issue. Much > of this work is thankless, so let me be the one to say: Thank You, > Ubuntu Technical Board. We would not be here without you. > > [1] https://launchpad.net/~lubuntu-dev/+members#active > > [2] https://launchpad.net/~lubuntu-members/+members#active > > [3] https://lubuntu.me/links/ > > [4] https://discourse.lubuntu.me/ > > [5] https://manual.lubuntu.me/stable/ > > [6] https://manual.lubuntu.me/lts/ > > [7] https://lubuntu.me/downloads/ > > [8] https://lubuntu.me/blog/ > > [9] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apparmor/+bug/2046844 > > [10] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gtk+3.0/+bug/2047705 > > Warm regards, > -- > Simon Quigley > si...@tsimonq2.net > tsimonq2 on LiberaChat and OFTC > @tsimonq2:ubuntu.com on Matrix > 5C7A BEA2 0F86 3045 9CC8 > C8B5 E27F 2CF8 458C 2FA4 > -- > technical-board mailing list > technical-board@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/technical-board -- Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak Foundations Team Tools Squad Engineering Manager lukasz.zemc...@canonical.com www.canonical.com -- technical-board mailing list technical-board@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/technical-board
