I don’t consider myself to be psychic and yet, somehow, miraculously, I happen to know what you’re going to be doing later.
You’re going to help test the Ubuntu 17.10 daily builds on real hardware to uncover unwanted behaviour in user-facing features.
And there are plenty of those to grapple with as GDM is now the default login manager, GNOME Shell is now the default desktop, and a Wayland session is included out of the box (though is not currently default).
Canonical’s Alan Pope is spearheading the call for this ‘July shakedown’, and urges users like yourself to “…download the ISO, test it out on your own hardware, and file bugs where appropriate”.
A short list of suggested things kick the tyres on:
- Use the ‘Ubuntu on Wayland’ session
- Check suspend/resume
- Switch between network connections
- Connect bluetooth devices to check they work
- Attach external monitors to check they work
Help Test Ubuntu 17.10
The first (and only) Ubuntu 17.10 beta is not due until late September. The stable Ubuntu 17.10 release date is October 19, 2017.
With a new desktop shell, a new login manager, a new display server session, and a stack of updated packages and libraries (including a not-insignificant bluetooth update) it’s super important that hardware issues and incompatibilities are detected as soon as possible, well ahead of the final release.
And, as mentioned, at this stage in development, you can be of help by testing the latest Ubuntu daily builds on your machine(s).
Keep in mind that you will encounter bugs, find rough edges and come across broken bits. But this is precisely why people like you need to test: so you can point to the broken bits and tell someone they’re broken.
Download Ubuntu 17.10 Daily Build
You can download an architecturally compatible Ubuntu daily build from the URL below. Then slap it on a USB stick using a tool like Etcher, and proceed to install it on real world™ hardware to do some real world™ testing.
Report any bugs you find over on Launchpad, tagging them with the ‘julyshakedown’ label so that devs can quickly filter through to find them.
Don’t fret if you’re not feeling brave enough to grapple with daily builds on your actual hardware as Alan says this July test spring is “…the first of what will be a bunch of ways new people can easily contribute ahead of the 18.04 LTS.”
Bon voyage, brave bug hunters!