If you can’t make it, there is always remote participation and that also rocks!

Cheers!

Just Users.

There is an open source culture out there that if you are using you should contribute back. And yes, while this is the practice that we use and this is why Ubuntu has grown, there is a small unseen issue that crops up from this. That is the expectation that a user needs to (or should) give back. We have reached a point in relevance where we now have a group of people who are using Ubuntu and open source in general who have no desire and no inclination to contribute.

When you talk to someone in Ubuntu about new users the phrase “How do we get them involved?” comes up. I do not think this is a very healthy attitude at all. We let people know that they can get involved (it’s all over the website) but, I think that we need to change the mindset of expecting them to get involved.

There are other open source projects who have started to master this mindset. Let’s take Mozilla Firefox as an example. If you were to walk down the street and ask people about the internet most of them have heard of or, are using Firefox as a browser. There are “Just Users” and are not contributing to Firefox and they are not being pressured to do so.

This is something that we need to be aware of as we become more relevant and as we stretch out to more platforms. Not all of our users are going to want to contribute. With coming at users with the mindset of figuring out how to get them involved can feel like a religious group walking around and knocking on doors to “talk” (pressure) people into their way of thinking. In a way, open source people do the same thing without realizing it. We automatically expect things back from people who use our software and we make sure that we talk to people about it.

We even do this internally. Yesterday at the Leadership Summit there was a mention about Canonical people becoming more involved in community. In a way we are forcing our “community views” down the throats of people who are not interested in such. This will cause frustrations on both ends. The employee and the “Just User” as well as those of us who are involved start to feel frustrated. The first group gets frustrated because they feel that the ideals are being pushed onto them and the pressure they feel is very unwanted and/or uncomfortable and the second group has already built in expectations on what people “should be doing” when they use open source software, these expectations are not being met.

This causes an instant rift within communication between these two groups of people. This rift is not healthy and in some ways can become damaging.

I think that if we all start becoming aware of this mindset and start actively working our way around this idea of “users must contribute” we will see the value in having a true Ubuntu point of view. That is, Humanity Toward Others.

Now we give the job over to the hard working translators for their work. If you want to help translate the Kubuntu System Docs into your native language, head over to Ubuntu Translation wiki page and The Kubuntu Docs Translation page on launchpad.

Just a note, the deadline for the translations is September 29th. Please have your translations done by then so we can get them included into the release.

Once again, thanks you all for your hard work and I look forward to seeing the translation team hard at work. YOU GUYS ROCK!

The take I got from it in IRC was very well received. Then life hit and I didn’t do anything about it. I was hoping that from the talks at UDS-O and the conversations I have had that something would have happened during this release cycle.

Well, we (community) have decided to do something about it. We want to start building a curriculum for an Ubuntu Leadership team. This is going to be a growing project and we want to have off the ground and running by the end of the Ubuntu-P cycle.

During my last post, there was a concern that this would become a mandatory system to become a leader within Ubuntu. No. I want to make that very clear right here. The goal of Ubuntu Leadership is to be a place where people can learn what it takes to become a leader, allow leaders to become better leaders and explain what Ubuntu expects from it’s leaders in the Leadership Code of Conduct.

We will also showcase the differences between the different types of  leadership styles. They all have their own challenges and approaches. There is also a challenge where we have paid employees and volunteers working side by side on the same projects. This opens a few more doors of where some more unique leadership skills is required.

As we build and grow I am confident that we can become a dream come true for several people within Ubuntu and the Community at large. If you would like to help get this project up and running, please contact me. I have already started drafting some ideas and I would love any and all involvement.

I will be attending UDS-P in Orlando, FL in Oct/Nov and I will be hosting a session or two on this subject. Stay tuned and I will be posting more plans for the project here. I am looking forward to working with all of you in building this project.

What is it?

Libertopia is an annual festival of peace, freedom, music, community and ideas that will change the World.

It is a unique experience…a 3 day celebration of our individuality and diversity packed with renowned speakers, workshops, panels, parties, banquets, music, film, art, literature, commerce, exhibitors, themed camps, performers, social networking and much more!

Why are we there?

After looking at what Libertopia is trying to accomplish in thought and ideals I thought this would be a perfect venue to do some FOSS outreach. Having said that, Ubuntu California in San Diego is planning am Ubuntu booth for the event. As far as I know we will be the only tech booth at the event.

When is it?

October 21 – 23, 2011

http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/ubuntu-california/1255/detail/

What do we need?

Right now our needs are on two levels.

1. We need volunteers for the booth. If you are in the San Diego area and wish to help please contact me.

2. We need some help with the booth costs. This includes the cost of the booth for the weekend and for printing costs.

If you can donate that would be awesome! If you are a company that would like to help sponsor us, we will include your name/company name at our booth and with any flyers that we print to hand out.

Thank you for any help you can give. Our goal is $400USD for this project.

Cheers!

Now you may be asking why this is a Kubuntu Doc Jam and not Ubuntu. Simply put, Ubuntu System Docs now uses Mallard and not DocBook plus, I’m leading the charge for Kubuntu Documentation.

If you are interested we will be meeting in #ubuntu-doc on FreeNode on September 4th from 1800 – 2200 UTC.

Please review the Kubuntu Documentation Guide

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

EDIT: Please note that there is a change of IRC channel. We will be in #ubuntu-doc and not #kubuntu-doc.

Well, it’s that time again, we are getting ready for the Southern California Linux Expo to be held January 20-22, 2012 at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

Currently there is a call for papers. If you wish to speak at this years SCaLE please, review the CFP Information page.

Topics of Interest

(Note: 17 Nov, 2011 is the deadline for abstract and proposal submissions)

• System Administration
• Kernel Developer
• Application Developer
• Cloud/Virtualization
• General Open Source / Free Software Advocacy and Technical Content

Topics of interest which have been subjects of presentations in the past include, but are not limited to:

• Kernel Internals and Enhancements
• Unix variants: Tools and Appliances
• Open Source for Embedded Platforms
• Open Source development tools for Mobile Devices
• Open Source for Cloud Computing
• Open Source for Unified Communications
• In-depth Programming/Scripting with Open Source Languages (Examples include Perl, Ruby, PHP, Python, etc.)
• Desktop Operating Systems
• Linux/Unix/Windows Inter-operability
• Shell Programming
• Open Source Productivity Applications
• Tools for Multimedia and Gaming
• Tools for Profiling and Performance Tuning
• Open Source Animation Tools
• Open Source Database Platforms
• Open Source Licensing
• Government Policies with Open Source
• Open Source Promotion and Adoption: Current State
• Open Source Success Stories
• Open Source Audio/Video Manipulation tools

For more information please see the SCaLE 10x Call for Papers page.

We are please to host a Testing and Upgrading Global Jam in San Diego, CA.

Located downtown in the Hillcrest district, the Cafe Libertalia is a great place.

Please review the event on the LoCo Directory

Please ensure that you read and review the Testing and Upgrading pages to ensure that you have things ready and setup for the Jam. We will also be helping introduce people to Ubuntu and assisting in installing and setting up Ubuntu.

I have a friend who is a single mom and she needs help. She lost her job and needs between 800 and 1,000 USD by the end of the month or she can lose her house.

You can either contact me or use my contribute page on my blog to help. Every little bit helps.

Thank you all!

Cheers!

Being the glass half full guy that I am I have to chuckle as I read into the parallels that this has with the world of open source. We push and drive forward and what is it that we are told all the time? “It’s too hard to use and/or switch over to.” (Over Qualified) “Its small, disconnected and no real direction.” Or “There are so many half finished projects.” (Under Educated.) And “It’s a great idea but, we are used to this and I am afraid that changing would be too much of a learning curve at this time.” (Right for company not for position.”

Seeing this, never take it as a bad thing. As I have done is simple, take comfort in the fact that we are being noticed. Don’t give up because even though we might not think so, or it may not look like it, we ARE impacting the world and the ideas of things around the world.

Don’t shy away or hate the idea of things closed either. Just because software is closed doesn’t make it evil. Part of the ideal behind what we believe in is stepping forward to embrace all.

I enjoy what we in the USA call Soccer. You all might know it as football or futbol. Anyway, during the last FIFA Womans World Cup (along with other FIFA events) there was a large anti racism campaign. While we in the open source world like to pride ourselves in not allowing nationalities get in the way of our progress, there is still a form of discrimination that is still there. If you don’t understand what I’m referring to, bring up proprietary software, licenses or anything else that is closed source to a LUG meeting. You’ll understand quickly.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, let’s all make a better effort to be the better person and prove to them why we are so happy working together. It’s not about software, it is about the connection that we fell with each other and humanity.