New tester

[Havard Rast Blok]

> I have just setup a machine solely for the purpose of testing, I shall
> append the specs to this post. For now, I have yummed to updates-released,
> adn then updates-testing. What do I do as a tester? I have no familiarity
> with the processs, just the will to help.
>
> Dell - OptiPlex GX110
> Intel Pentium III Processor: 733 MHz (133MHz Bus Speed)
> BIOS Version: A09
> Harddrive: WDC WD200BB-75AUA1 (20 GB)
> CD-ROW: Samsung CD-ROM SC-148F (48x)
> Soundcard: Intel ICH82801AA
> VGA: Intel 82810E DC-133 CGC
> Ethernet: 3Com 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]
> RAM: 256 MB SDRAM PC-100
>

Welcome Arthur!

It's good to see more new people here. I've recently joined the list
myself, and am still slowly finding my way around the tools and tricks.
(Search on Bugzilla for example; beats me...)

As for what to test or even how to test, you'll probably find endless
discussions and books on both of these questions. But given the specs on
your testing machine, in I my opinion verifying that the most common tools
still work well on an older machine would be useful. Because I think a
basic installation, running a browser, e-mail client and some office
applications, etc. should still be feasible on a machine a few years old.
So if it takes an intolerable amount of time to boot, or to start an
application, I'd stay that's an issue worth flagging on this list.

Furthermore, I think one good way of testing in general is to try to use
the application or system as you normally would do, i.e. some kind of use
case testing. That is, would day-to-day use cause any issues, or even,
would your mom be able to cope?

I suppose some on the list will disagree to some of these views (but I
don't mean this to be a troll). My main point is that in order to make
mainstream Linux Desktop happen, we have to see it through the eyes of
inexperienced users. Surprisingly, my mom does not ask about how to
upgrade her Fedora laptop using yum, or how to set up a wlan. Rather, the
most occurring questions are: "Do I right-click or left-click this button?
Double or single click? How do I disconnect the USB disk again? And why
does it not always show up on the screen when I plug it in?" (In FC4, I'm
stuck on the last one).


Havard

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Havard Rast Blok

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