On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 11:34 AM, Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak <mjc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On 12/07/2010 02:20 PM, Jonathan Gardner wrote: >> I've been using Linux for over 10 years, and I've been with Red Hat >> since the 7.2 days and I've been using Fedora since it was first >> announced. >> >> I've never gotten around to dealing with hardware issues seriously, >> instead content to let things be and just hope the next release fixes >> the problems I see. (It's surprising how well wait-and-upgrade works >> as a strategy in Fedora!) >> >> My question is, how can I contribute to Fedora and thus the larger >> Linux community through getting my hardware better supported? Or is it >> just not suitable for a lay-person who knows how to program but >> doesn't already have a background in these things to get involved? >> >> Do I need to set up my system so either I use it for work or I use it >> to tinker with the hardware but not both at the same time? > > File bugs, and read bugs, both in the Fedora bugzilla and upstream (for > whatever project). Often, hardware bugs will end up as "NEEDINFO" > because the developer doesn't have the right hardware. You can help fill > that gap by supplying the requested logs and running tests. > > You learn a lot just by reading bug reports in your area of interest, > even if they don't affect you directly. > I will definitely do this. > > Install lots of *-debuginfo packages, so that crashing software supplies > good backtraces. > I imagine the process is this. (1) Use some software, watch it crash. (2) Install the debuginfo packages (3) Use it again til it crashes (4) File a bug report Right? > > If you feel adventurous, install rawhide on a spare computer, so you can > file bugs early. Do not use rawhide on a must-work system. It WILL cause > grief. > The few times in the past where I did feel adventurous, it wasn't enough to get rawhide working at the time. I came really close when a particular version of Fedora didn't like my video card, but I found a way to manage. > > Buy cool hardware for developers, and for people who reply to you on > mailing lists :-) > Actually, this last idea doesn't sound too bad. With hardware so cheap nowadays, I might as well buy one for myself and three for some developers. It'd be cheaper than the time. ;-) Speaking of which, how does Fedora handle testing on hardware? Do we just rely on individual developers and testers running Rawhide, or is there a computer lab somewhere running umpteen different configurations of hardware? -- Jonathan Gardner jgardner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
