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I've been running Alpha releases of Ubuntu for some time now. I keep running into issues - how can I get these resolved? What should I do when I encounter these problems?

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8 Answers

up vote 40 down vote

General Alpha Information

If you've been redirected here you've probably asked a question about an Alpha or Beta release of Ubuntu.

Generally speaking we don't take questions about running or using unreleased versions of Ubuntu releases here since development releases change almost by the hour and usually it's broken and alpha testers are expected to give direct feedback to the developers via the bug tracker.

It's not that we don't care, we just wouldn't be good at it and one of the main purposes of the site is to create a reusable resource for users, which would be hard if we had a bunch of questions about something that quickly became out of date!

The answers in this question will help you get started, good luck, and thanks for testing!

File bugs

You should file bugs for the relevant package that you are having problems with. Bugs are one of the main advantages of having developer releases - they provide valuable information to the developers and help them to improve the software.

How do I report a bug?

If you are unsure which package to file the bug against, please use the other resources (forums, mailing lists etc.) to ask which package you should file it against.

Debugging Information will help you file bugs.

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up vote 18 down vote

Forums

  • If your question on Ask Ubuntu was linked to this answer then this is where you should probably go to repost your problem.

The Ubuntu Forums' Development & Programming section is a good place to start. The precise subforum depends on the release, but at the moment you want the Precise Pangolin Testing and Discussion.

Take a look through the recent threads and see if anything looks like the problem you are experiencing. If it doesn't you should create a new thread detailing your experiences.

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up vote 14 down vote

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

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up vote 13 down vote

ubuntu-devel-announce mailing list

When large changes are being made usually a developer will post on the ubuntu-devel-announce list. This list doesn't get many posts (compared to some of the other Ubuntu lists!) so for pre-release testers there is no excuse not be subscribed to it.

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up vote 11 down vote

Keep an eye on package uploads

Uploads to the archive are sent to a mailing list, named after the animal nickname, for example lucid-changes, precise-changes, etc. Following this list can be useful to see when risky uploads are being uploaded so you can hopefully avoid problems before it's too late.

Also the Archive Status tool is useful for showing the status of the archive before you upgrade.

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Alternative: changelogs. Update manager will show only the relevant part (changes between the new and the current version) while Synaptic/apt(itude) will show the full changelog. – papukaija Apr 17 '11 at 19:50
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up vote 6 down vote

Before upgrade always test: sudo apt-get --simulate dist-upgrade If you get an error about broken packages, don't upgrade.

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up vote 5 down vote

Most of all you need to have patience and do daily manual updates. Things do improve but slowly.

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And you should resist from wanting the last shiny thing if you are not able to fix issues or don't want or know how to write useful bugreports. – johanvdw Sep 14 '11 at 16:48
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