Activity testing project

Goals for the Activity Testing Project

There are a lot of activities out there for the OLPC. Which means that there need to be a lot of people testing these activities to make sure that they work as advertised.

Activity testing is also an easy way for newbies to get involved quickly, and to learn about how the OLPC works.

Our goal is to make it as simple as possible for novice users to test new activities, and contribute to the OLPC effort.

(Where "novice user" is probably defined as "someone who knows their way around Linux and open source, but doesn't know much about OLPC.)

Why the focus on activities?

1. Lowest barrier to entry to do meaningful QA work;
2. Presumption that core QA activities are covered by the OLPC team.

TESTERS: Get Started Now!

Get started with the OLPC Community QA effort right now:

1. Get OLPC running in emulation.
2. Play with Sugar and get familiar with it.
3. Claim an activity to test!

Get OLPC running in emulation

If you have a computer, you can get OLPC running under emulation.

Download the correct OLPC image

The current image approved for QEMU-based testing is the ext3 version of Build 623. Download Build 623 now.

Get OLPC working under QEMU

We prefer QEMU for emulation, since it's free and available for all platforms, and the OLPC build process generates images that are compatible with QEMU. Follow the Emulation QuickStart Guide to get Build 623 working under QEMU.

Become familiar with the workings of Sugar

The user interface, Sugar, will likely be completely new to you. The Sugar instructions should help you figure things out. Read it through. Play with the activities. Find a friend on the mesh and share an activity. Just learn how it works.

Download and play with new activities

There are a handful of activities that ship by default with the OLPC. Here's how to download new activities:

1. Open the Browser on your OLPC.
2. Click on one of the Activity Download links from the Activity Test Matrix.
3. Go to the Journal.
4. Click on the downloaded activity bundle item.
5. Resume the file. The activity should install and load automatically.

Play with whatever activities appeal to you. When you find one that doesn't have a QA Owner, feel free to claim it.  :)

Claim an activity to test

What does it mean to be the test owner for an activity?

It means that you're the person who decides whether an activity is "ready". If you find bugs, you report them, and follow along with them, continuing to test them until they are fixed. It means that you nag the developers, gently but firmly. It means being the person who says "yes, I'm satisfied that this activity is Certified Awesome."

It doesn't have to be a ton of work, and it doesn't have to be hard work -- but it does have to be committed work.

Here's how you do it.

Create a Trac account

Create an account with dev.laptop.org's Trac system. You will use this account when you find bugs. (And you will find bugs. Oh yes, you will.)

Claim an activity

To claim an activity:

1. Go to the Activity Testing Matrix.
2. Put your name and email address in the "Test Owner" box for the activity you'd like to claim.
3. Change the "Status" field from "unclaimed" to "in progress".

Follow the test plan and file bugs

Your activity will have a link to a basic test plan. In some cases, this will be a simple, generic test plan; in other cases, it will be a more complex test plan, created by the developer, that is specific to that activity. Step through the test plan and do what it tells you to do.

As you proceed through the test plan, edit the wiki plan for the page accordingly. If a test passes, put "pass". If it fails, put "fail", with a link to the bug you file in trac, as detailed on the Activity Testing Matrix page.

If you find issues with the activity that are not included in the test plan, add your issue to the test plan, mark it "failed", and then file a bug in trac.

What if everything works?

If everything checks out, you're done! Edit the Matrix and change the "Status" field from "in progress" to "complete", and give yourself a big slap on the back for a job well done. And then, if you're up to it, claim another activity!

DEVELOPERS: Build The Matrix!

The process for putting your activity into the Activity Test Matrix is simple.

1. Edit the Activity Matrix, and add a row with your activity information.
2. Create a test plan. Use [[FIXME] this template] as a start. Don't worry; it doesn't have to be a perfect plan.
3. Put a watch on your test plan page.

Get Help

For help, drop by irc.freenode.net and join the #olpc-qa channel.