Marcin Juszkiewicz

When I bought Nexus S in January I was using stock Android for few weeks. But somewhere around FOSDEM I moved to nightly builds of Cyanogenmod which is alternative “distribution” of Android done in more open way.

Why moved? New features, out of box support for Polish language, no problems with getting root access for applications, big community behind project were main reasons. And more… I have now custom kernel (Netarchy 1.3.0.2), DPI changed to 210 (from original 240) with use of Font Changer and normal font replaced by Ubuntu one (also done in Font Changer).

I was updating my phone from one nightly build to another. From one RC to other and today moved to final version. Upgrading usually went fine, but each time I had to reinstall custom kernel or change back to 210 DPI but that’s how it works. I will probably check other alternative builds one day but today I am satisfied with Cyanogenmod7.

But as this is final version then maybe I will find some time and (after discussions with our Android magicians) will do build of it with Linaro cross compiler — who knows, maybe will give few more percent of speed extra?

Some time ago someone at Linaro got nice idea and “Linaro porting jam” got created. But what it is?

Once per week (Wednesday 14:00 — 18:00 UTC) we gather on #linaro channel (Freenode) and work on Ubuntu bugs which affects ARM architecture. This week I reviewed some bugs on Tuesday and started working on fixes.

Effects? Few new uploads into Ubuntu archive:

• lxc was lacking ARM support
• ace has silly way of finding libraries which fails on multiarch systems
• svgalib does not build all binaries on every architecture but assumes that they are present
• llvm-snapshot got preprocessed source requested by toolchain WG guys from Linaro

I also tried few other packages but failed to find a way to get them fixed. For some I left comments in their bug reports.

Fixing bugs in packages which you do not use or even never heard before can be fun. Join us next week :)

There is one good thing in 2011 year — I know when I will have to travel for company meetings and which conferences I will have to forget due to this…

So in May I will attend Ubuntu Developer Summit which is a place where we discuss what we want to have done in next release. Event is also known as Linaro@UDS-O cause Linaro people will be there for same reason. Location: Budapest, Hungary. Time: 9-13 May 2011.

Then there will be Ubuntu Platform Sprint which I may be attending but this was not yet decided. This event is Canonical internal and this time will be without Linaro people (which were present on two previous ones). Location: Dublin, Ireland. Time: 27th June - 1st July 2011.

As Linaro has grown we got own sprint — Linaro Platform Sprint where we will work for a week in one place instead of being spread all over the world. Location: near Cambridge, UK. Time: 1-5 August 2011.

And finally another Ubuntu Developer Summit will take place (again) in Orlando, Florida. This will be more interesting UDS because 12.04 will be LTS so more discussions about long term things will probably take place. Location: Orlando, Florida. Time: 24-28 October 2011.

So this year no LinuxTag for me (UDS-O time), no ELC-E (UDS-P). I was thinking about attending Desktop Summit in Berlin but I lost faith in both GNOME and KDE so looks like there is no sense in going there. Will have a look to be somewhere and meet some people from outside of Ubuntu and Linaro worlds.

Normally I use KDE 4.6 but recently Kmail started to have serious problems with fetching my email from IMAP so I decided that enough is enough and started checking other options.

As on efika smartbook I am using XFCE I installed it, logged into and configured to be more or less proper environment for me. Also tried Unity and GNOME but none of them fit me.

What is definition of “what fits me”? I use 3-4 virtual desktops:

1. terminals, editors
2. web (chromium now)
3. mailer
4. short work related apps

Jabber client (psi) is set to appear on all desktops. I switch using +[1-9] keys or by scrolling mousewheel over desktop. I move windows with +LMB and resize them with +RMB. Doubleclick on window title == roll and same for mousewheel unless there is tabbing support in WM (then it switches tabs).

So first which failed was Unity. I saw it before on other people laptops but did not took much time to play with it. Logged into session and after ~hour uninstalled everything. No application menu (I do not like “type a name” type icon launchers), no virtual desktops in old way. I felt lost - no idea how to get rid of storage icons from launcher, how to add new entries.

Next one was classic GNOME. Lot of time passed since v1.4 which was last version used by me (then switched to Windowmaker + rox-filer + gnome-panel, then kde 3 and kde 4). Indicators, settings applets split into user and admin ones, lack of Polish language by default (I thought that I installed it but visit in settings/admin/languages told different thing). Had few hard system crashes but with help of #ubuntu-x guys I found that one of mesa libraries was still from xorg-edgers ppa. After reverting to natty one compiz was stable. But I did not found a way to get +RMB for resizing window. Spent some time configuring system but I did not felt good in this system.

Went back to XFCE as this is simple, clean and fast starting. Now my set of tools is mix of KDE, XFCE, GNOME ones as I use Okular, XFCE-Terminal and Evolution ;D

But Evolution shows own problems after few days. I am unable to use Canonical LDAP for addressbook even it is properly configured. I suppose that some dependency is missing which is fulfilled in standard GNOME desktop. Lack of ability to change keyboard shortcuts is a serious limitation for me as I am used to other then default ones. There is no way (or I did not found it yet) to set same way of displaying emails for all folders (including sort order). Some confirmation requests should have “Do not ask anymore” checkboxes — for example “mark all emails in this folder as read” one. And GMail contacts addressbook is not working — but this can be work around by exporting from web interface and importing VCards.

But the most annoying thing is weird way to decide when mail is read. I set it to 0 seconds as this allows me to quickly slip though emails which I do not found interesting enough to reply but instead Evolution forgets to mark some of them as read. And there is no code to detect repeated shortcuts (as somehow I got to the point where I could change some) so I have “Ctrl-D” as “mark as read” which also deletes email (which is not listed in menu)… And why do I have to configure whole account just to add identity… Or why I can not define one SMTP server for all incoming accounts?

So far I am fine with this setup. Will have to check other email applications again (Claws maybe, definitely not Thunderbird) as Evo is not so good as people are describing it.

During Linaro/Ubuntu platform rally in Dallas I went to Best Buy and bought Nexus S as a phone which has to replace Nokia N900 which I used for over year. It was first time when I paid full price for such device — previously I took phones from operators or had some kind of discount (like DDP one for N900 year ago).

Switching from Nokia N900 to Nexus S was not easy task. First I lost calendar entries when tried to sync contacts to Google account using Mail for Exchange functionality of Maemo. Good that I had a backup… Copying of data from internal storage from one device to another was easy — microUSB cables are good to have thing. And then I took SIM card from N900, put it into Nexus and so far did not took it out yet.

Then came Market — after installing AppBrain application I had all applications, which I selected before or had on N900/Nitroid, installed properly. Then installed some more and removed some, added others etc. Common routine when you change operating system — finding which application suits best.

For Twitter I checked few and now I have official one and Plume installed. First one only to have contacts synced and do all tweeting in second one. For Facebook I use their default app — so far did not found replacement. Best situation was with e-mail client — installed K-9 Mail and added all my IMAP accounts into it. Now my phone tells me when do I have to check for new messages before my desktop one will notice ;D

Basically when it comes to applications Android shines (especially compared to Maemo). So far I found many programs for things which I did not had on N900: TV programme, public transportation guide, ATM finder and so on. And games! Dungeon Defenders, Gun bros and several others… Angry Birds has more levelpacks then Maemo version (but I never was a fan of that game anyway). Lot of things to choose from. Not to mention that installing of software is not so painful as it was on N900. You can use online Market, AppBrain and probably there are some other ways. Ok, I will probably miss APT but so far I am fine with what Android does. The most impressing thing is that during package installation device is not slowing down — it just adds one more entry to notification bar.

Notifications… I like how it is done. One place for icons on status bar which expands to whole screen list of what is going on. Nice stuff. Especially after installing some extra apps which will add there switches, weather informations etc.

Desktop looks different and has lot more customizations possible then hildon-desktop gave. And user can use other launcher then default one (I use ADW Launcher). Then just put widgets, icons, contacts, live wallpapers etc and you will be done. Business calendar which I use now can not be compared to Maemo parody of calendar (this is with most of apps anyway).

Do I miss some applications from Maemo? Yes, I do. Nokia did good job on Contacts and integration of IM/VoIP/Skype accounts. Under Android I did not yet found out how to get it in best possible way. So I have to run separate IM client (IM+ for now), Skype is also external (but contacts are synced into addressbook) and did not yet setup SIP accounts (but this is integrated). Good thing is that after first week of use I was able to use SkypeOut for calling my family in Poland.

But let’s get to hardware. Nexus S is light and small compared to N900. I like it’s look and feel. Screen works nicely for me everywhere. Before buying I was not sure how will I adapt to capacitive touchscreen after 8 years of using resistive ones but there was nothing to adapt to — it just works. Bigger problem is other direction — I need to press my TomTom harder now ;D Other issues? Lack of any kind of LED is a bit annoying. But NoLED helps a bit with it. Also WiFi reception looks worse then N900 had. But this one I need to check one day.

Overall I am satisfied about this change. I have phone which has latest version of popular operating system, have access to application market where there is a problem which app to install instead of “there is no application for this”. For some time I will have system updates provided by Google, then will switch to alternative firmware and will have current software.

When I was in USA for first time it was UDS-N in Orlando. Previous week it was Ubuntu/Linaro rally in Dallas.

In Orlando I had a problem with waking up very early (like ~4:00) but on return flight I slept for most of flight so in Frankfurt it was early morning for me and I was not sleepy. Next days were also fine.

But this time it is other way ;( In Dallas I also was waking up early but after drinking some water I was able to get back to sleep. Return flight was disaster… There were few small children crying for most of time and I forgot to take ear plugs ;(

Yesterday I nearly felt to keyboard after 15:00, today I am yawning since about same time… Argh you jetlag!

Last week I was in Dallas, TX on Ubuntu/Linaro platform sprint rally. Like previous one in Prague this one was also spent on nailing workitems to get job done.

This time I was working on backport PPA which contains current (11.04/natty) cross toolchain packages for Ubuntu 10.04 ‘lucid’ and 10.10 ‘maverick’. I got it working and populated recently. After announcement I got first bug reports so now I am trying to fix all issues.

But such events are not only work. It is also good time to meet people which you know, known but not met and others. One day I went to Andrea Gallo to say hi and was introduced to Rajeev Kapoor (also from ST-Ericsson). I was surprised that he remember me from times when I was working on NDK-15 support in Poky (around May—July 2007). I heard some forgotten stories, discussed current ST-E board work and we went to other groups.

Other day I met Jim Huang and Matt Hsu from 0xlab. It was first time when we met face to face but we were working with each other several years ago during Openmoko times. Now they work mostly on Android and shown me hibernation support for ARM. Beagleboard went to sleep and got back to running state in nearly no time.

Wednesday evening was nice. I went to Barcadia with guys from Texas Instruments where we met Texrat (Maemo community). Got some food, beers (“Arogant Bastard Ale” was interesting but even after second one I am still not worthy) and had some discussions. But what that place had was awesome: still working coin-up arcade machines from early 80’s! There were Space Invaders, Moon Patrol and several others. I lost few coins on Galaga just to notice how awful player I am ;D

On Thursday we went for a dinner to Medieval Times. It was a show with some kind of food. Next day someone nicely described it as “good bad experience” — I hope to not having to watch this kind of entertainment again.

It was good event. This time I was not so jetlagged like during UDS-N in Orlando so got sleep times better. And I do not suffer too much now.

What did 2010 brought? Again new job — this time for Canonical as part of Linaro project. Visited few events, got some new devices…

January

• created first version of my BeagleBoard extension board - there were few versions later. Cheap USB hubs are essential part of such setup. With BeagleBoard xM such boards are not needed — but I never owned such board.
• complained about age of Maemo5 developer tools but in the end I used them cause MaemoSDK virtual image was easiest way for me
• tried to create repository with updates for Maemo5 but idea failed

February

• got e-mail from Christian Robottom ‘kiko’ Reis with offer of working for Canonical — it was second time when this company wanted to hire me and this time I accepted.
• FOSDEM as usual — will be there in 2011 as well
• created interesting video showing history of OpenEmbedded — few hours of rendering but result was nice
• Nokia and Intel started MeeGo — lot of time passed and still no phones with it (and just few other devices)…

March

• BUG 2.0 prototype arrived at my desk with set of modules — I did sent it back few months later
• had long discussion with Dave ‘prpplague’ Anders about some new OMAP based developer board. I gave some suggestions based on my experience and got added to early adopters list. Some months later this board got name: PandaBoard.
• tried to migrate Sheevaplug to Debian — SD card died ;(

April

• started working for Canonical — just to get informations on first days that I will work for Linaro directly
• wrote long post about features of good developer board — too many people asked me about it before…

May

• attended Ubuntu Developers Summit for first time. Thanks to Eyjafjallajökull volcano I became more familiar with German railway system ;D Event was good but I was a bit lost there.
• existence of PandaBoard was confirmed officially by Texas Instruments developers. We went for dinner later and I got added to early adopters list for second time ;D
• bought new laptop: ASUS UL30A to replace ageing Dell D400. Works nice, 8h on battery is good thing to have. During UDS-M I was able to work all day without having to use power supply.

June

• LinuxTag 2010 — never again going to just one day… Whole event or not at all — otherwise it is waste of time.
• switched from NVidia Geforce to AMD Radeon — Twinview was not comfortable for my dual monitor setup. HD5450 was mistake — XVideo and OpenGL started working few months later in experimental releases…

July

• attended Ubuntu/Linaro Platform Sprint in Prague. Nice event, interesting discussions — especially those with Nicolas Pitre about his previous work.
• Commodore Amiga ended 25 years — I did not celebrated it specially due to weekend in Prague with wife but otherwise I would attend some Amiga fans event.
• provided my first cross toolchain packages for Ubuntu
• had a bit of thoughts which resulted in “I am old fashioned” opinion ;)

August

• holidays
• due to ISP failure I played a bit with doing Internet access by GPRS with Nokia N900. Worked fine.

September

• my work on cross toolchain for Ubuntu got into next stage — bootstrapping
• started hacking ApMeFo (menu organizer for Maemo5) — UI was disaster but I got it to behave better. Some time later I decided to abandon it. But my version is available in Extras-devel repository.
• wrote funny letter to fsck

October

• attended Ubuntu Developers Summit — this time it was much better event from my perspective as I was prepared for it.
• switched to coreboot on Alix.1c — boot time difference is huge. This machine also replaced my old Linksys WRT54GS which I got several years ago.
• got Efika MX Smartbook from Genesi — interesting ARM netbook but just 512MB ram ;(
• PandaBoard started shipping to selected people which started discussion about PB being Beagleboard killer

November

• my own PandaBoard arrived and I started discussion which got deep into Texas Instruments teams: how to detect PB version. Board got 320GB SerialATA disk and is running Ubuntu 11.04. As this was rare hardware at that time few guys from Linaro got shell accounts there to do their tests.
• debug board for Efika MX Smartbook arrived — my blog post was edited a bit and posted somewhere on Genesi website (with my permission).

December

• decided about next cellphone operating system — I am going to Android. Especially after I read that Nokia abandoned Maemo5.

In 2011 I should try to write timeline month after month (but release at end of year). It is hard to remind all things which I did not blogged about. 2011 was also year of Twitter use for me — so follow me there if you want more informations then just blog :) I also have FaceBook account but I select who I connect with.