[kde-promo] Dot article for Beta Testing

Carl Symons carlsymons at gmail.com
Tue May 29 23:41:13 UTC 2012


On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 3:20 PM, Sebastian Kügler <sebas at kde.org> wrote:
> On Friday, May 25, 2012 13:54:09 Carl Symons wrote:
>> On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 11:35 AM, Anne-Marie Mahfouf
>>
>> <annemarie.mahfouf at free.fr> wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > The Quality Team is preparing a Dot article which explains how we intend
>> > to
>> > organize a more formal beta testing for KDE 4.9 beta 1 which will be
>> > released next Wednesday.
>> >
>> > It would be quite bad if there is also another article to announce the
>> > Beta
>> > Release so I suggest we merge the 2.
>
> Yes, I thought the same.
>
>> > What the Quality Team did so far is:
>> > http://quality.notes.kde.org/1
>> > (open to everyone)
>> >
>> > Suggestions?
>
> I think some textual work is needed to make it less static, and more engaging,
> but all the content is there for the wordsmithes to brush it over.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> sebas
>

An edited version of the Dot story is attached. sebas, this can be
another section in the Dot Release Announcement similar to
http://dot.kde.org/2012/01/25/release-48-features-stability-performance.

A few concerns...

"compulsory" and "mandatory" were removed. It's not clear how either
would be enforced, and no indication of how they fit with the Program.

Is there some information source where potential Beta Testers can
contact the Quality Team? If someone wants to do this, is there some
formal way of getting involved?

Where is the list of functional testing items?

Are there times for the IRC training? How will people know when to show up?

http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials/Building_An_Existing_Application
is more than I would recommend for "anyone who wants to get involved".
Ordinary users are not Git-ing.

This story is going to many people. It's worded to appeal to normal
users. The Program needs to be consistent with this.

Otherwise, sounds fantastic.

Carl
-------------- next part --------------
?<h3>Thorough and Rigorous Beta Testing</h3>
The KDE Community is committed to improving quality substantially with a new program that starts with the 4.9 releases. The 4.9 beta releases of Plasma Workspaces, KDE Applications, and KDE Platform are the first phase of a testing process that involves volunteers called ?Beta Testers?. They will receive training, test the two beta releases and report issues through <a href="http://bugs.kde.org">KDE Bugzilla</a>.

<h4>The Beta Testing Team</h4>
The Beta Testing Team is a group of people who will do a 'Testapalooza' on the beta releases, catching as many bugs as possible. This is organized in a structured process so that developers know clearly what to fix before the final release. Anyone can help, even people without programming skills.

<h4>How It Works</h4>
There are two groups of beta testers:
<ul>
<li>informal testers install the beta from their distribution and use it as they normally would. They focus on applications and functions that are familiar, and report any bugs they can reproduce reliably.</li>
<li>selected functional testing involves a list of applets, new programs and applications that require full testing. Volunteers will choose from the list and test it, according to <a href="http://community.kde.org/Getinvolved/Testing/Beta">established beta testing guidelines</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h4>Get Involved</h4>
This is an excellent way for anyone to make a difference for KDE. Continuous quality improvement sets KDE apart. Assisting developers by identifying legitimate bugs leverages their time and skills. This means higher quality software, more features, happier developers. The Beta Testing Program is structured so that any KDE user can give back to KDE, regardless of their skill level.

The first thing to do is install the beta preferably through your distribution package manager. If it is not provided there, the beta can be compiled from source.  The <a href="http://community.kde.org/Getinvolved/Testing/Beta/InstallingBeta1">KDE Community wiki</a> has detailed instructions. When the beta is installed, you can log in and do informal or selected functional testing. Some 4.9 beta applications can be built stand-alone within your KDE 4.8 installation.

<h4>Training</h4>
Effective bug reporting is critical to the success of the Program. Bugzilla is a useful tool for developers and increases their efficiency at closing bugs. But reporting has to be done properly, so the Program includes Bugzilla training. An IRC bugzilla training will be offered in #kde-bugs (freenode) on the weekend of June 2nd and 3rd. Beta testers are encouraged to visit the #kde-testing IRC channel with any questions.


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