Ubuntu California is a group of volunteers who advocate and promote Ubuntu and Free Software in California. We attend and plan events statewide, contact and work with LUGs and other local groups, and act as the public face of the Ubuntu community in California. The group is open to everybody in the state with an interest in spreading and discussing Ubuntu.

Key Details

• Date - 2009 September 22

• Team Contact - Neal Bussett <<neal AT SPAMFREE bussett DOT com>>

• Membership - 186 as of September 21st, 2009

• Launchpad - https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-california

• Mailing List - ubuntu-us-ca on lists.ubuntu.com (151 subscribed as of Sept. 21)

• IRC - #ubuntu-california on Freenode (IRC meetings every other Sunday)

• Forums - http://california.ubuntuforums.org/

• Microblogs - Identi.ca, Twitter (same data as identi.ca)

• Other - Facebook, Linux.com

Roadmap

Upcoming Events

October 2009: Ubuntu Global Jam

We're planning two venues for the Ubuntu Global Jam: one in North California (at either UC Berkeley or Walnut Creek), and one in South California (at Chapman University).

• Project page

October 2009: Release parties and installfest for Ubuntu 9.10

Continuing our history of awesome release parties, we're planning events in both North and South California for Ubuntu 9.10/Karmic's release in October.

• Project page

Goals

Short(er) term

• SCaLE8x (Feb 2010) (Yasumoto)

• OSCON 2010 (Yasumoto)

• Come up with improved ways of making CDs look more professional (NealBussett)

  • Redesign general purpose sleeves

  • Redesign CD stand & sleeves (together) for specialized use (specific version, flavor, etc) such as putting in libraries

  • Come up with a cheap method of making the CDs look good

• Ubuntu California Podcast (NathanHaines)

• IRC channel migration
• Launchpad membership cleanup

Long Term

• Presentations at more groups in California (especially non-technical ones)
• Ubuntu on campus

• Two LoCo members per county

Experience

November 2007: Installfest for Gutsy

Our first event was an installfest to celebrate the Gutsy release. We had some difficulty getting a location pinned down. This event was finally held as a session at BarCampLA and went moderately well even though no installation was actually done. BarCamps aren't conducive to events like this.

• Project page

February 2008: Booth at the 2008 Southern California Linux Expo

Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE) is one of the largest West Coast open source conventions. We manned a booth and gave out one-hundred CDs over the course of the weekend.

• Project page

• Ars did a writeup from SCaLE, with a photo of the Ubuntu booth

April 2008: Booth at LUG Radio Live US

Lug Radio Live came to the US in April 2008, and we had a booth there too. We passed out CDs, answered questions about the current and upcoming versions of Ubuntu, and gave a 5 minute lightning talk.

• Lightning talk about Ubuntu

• Mailing list thread

April 2008: Installfest at CSU Long Beach

Working with one of the art professors at Cal State Long Beach, we held an installfest at a screening of Revolution OS for the students there. Leading up to this event, we were interviewed on a campus radio show about Ubuntu and open source.

• Mailing list thread

• Flier

May 2008: Release party for Hardy

For our Hardy release we decided to simply have a party. We got together at a restaurant and had dinner together. There were 8 attendees, and a great time was had by all.

• Mailing list thread

June 2008: Presentation at the North Orange County Computer Club

The North Orange County Computer Club asked us to give a presentation about Linux and Ubuntu. There were about 50 people in attendance and we handed out a number of CDs and business cards. The audience was mostly unaware of Linux and open source in general, and seemed enthusiastic about the concept of Linux.

• Mailing list thread

August 2008: Global Bug Jam

We had about 12 people participate in the first Global Bug Jam. We covered bug work as well as care, feeding, and usage of GPG. After an opening presentation, we worked through various bugs together and ended jamming on Guitar Hero.

• Project page

August 2008: Presentation for the San Gabriel Valley Linux Users Group

San Gabriel Valley LUG asked us to give a presentation on what Ubuntu offers (over Linux) and what new features are included in Intrepid. There were about 30 people in attendance, and we handed out a number of CDs.

• Project page

November 2008: Release Party and Installfest for Intrepid

For our Intrepid release party, we decided to not only socialize with food, but also to hold an installfest and bug jam. We had nine people in attendance and we shared pizza, stories, and Armagetron.

• Project page

February 2009: Booth and Global Bug Jam at the 2009 Southern California Linux Expo

Once again we had a booth at SCaLE. This weekend coincided with another Global Bug Jam, and we attempted to weave the two together with mixed results. The booth was great and we handed out about 150 CDs over the weekend, but the Bug Jam was a total flop.

• Project page

April/May 2009: Release Parties for Jaunty

To celebrate Jaunty's release, we had a number of activities across the state. For southern California, we held another food/party one with about 14 people attending. In the North, we had parties in Walnut Creek, San Francisco, and Felton.

• Project page

• Mailing list discussions: Jaunty Release Activities, SF Jaunty release party, 9.4 Launch Party?

• LiveJournal blog entry by Nathan Haines

May 2009: Presentation for Ubuntu Open Week

We gave a presentation at Ubuntu Open Week about exhibiting (specifically, a booth) at conferences.

• Mailing list announcement

• Presentation log

July 2009: Booth at the 2009 O'Reilly Open Source Convention

We manned a booth at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) in San Jose and handed out about 200 CDs during the two-day Expo Hall. Our booth was one of the more popular ones; we showed off Ubuntu Netbook Remix and did a raffle for the new edition of The Official Ubuntu Server Book.

• Project page

Ubuntu Members

The following Ubuntu Members are active in Ubuntu California:

• Neal Bussett (member since 2007)

• Nathan Haines (member since 2008)

• Grant Bowman (member since 2009)