Ubuntu Wiki

19:06 < Flannel> Alright.  Welcome everyone to our first meeting of 2009.  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
19:06 < lcafiero> +1
19:06 < AlgorithmicContr> ++
19:06 < Flannel> Our agenda so far consists of lots of things for SCaLE.
19:07 < Flannel> Does anyone have any non-scale things to add to our agenda before we jump right in?
19:07 < Flannel> I would like to mention that our very own erichammond is now an official Ubuntu member.
19:07 < nhaines> Congratulations, Eric!  :D
19:08 < Flannel> You can read all about him in this week's (well, last weeks) UWN.  I'll spare you all the details, and try not to embarass him further ;)
19:09 < Flannel> So, with that.  We're on to SCaLE planning.
19:09 < Flannel> SCaLE is in a short six weeks (from this weekend).  It's Feb 20-22, in Los Angeles.
19:09 < Flannel> We've got a booth there, it's a lot of fun, and nhaines is even giving a presentation.
19:10 < Flannel> Our subtopics (so far) consist of the following: CD selection, Business Cards, CD Sleeves, Presentations, buntustand status update
19:11 < Flannel> We can do most of them in any order.  Does anyone have any preference what we discuss first? (Or anything else to add?)
19:11 < nhaines> Booth layout?
19:11 < Flannel> Sounds good.
19:12 < Flannel> Also, before we get into details, we've got a SCaLE page here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CaliforniaTeam/Projects/Scale7x
19:12 < Flannel> Which mentions all the stuff we're hoping to have (although I may have forgotten something)
19:12 < Flannel> Be sure to check it out, fill in anything you can provide (for one day, or the whole weekend), and add anything that we may have overlooked so far.
19:13 < Flannel> For those of you providing computers and stuff.  We won't be leaving them at the booth overnight.
19:13 < Flannel> I'll either be taking them home with me, or we may have another resource thats only a few miles away, that we could possibly use.
19:14 < jbermudes> Flannel: should the wiki be a place to register what people intent to contribute?
19:14 < Flannel> If anyone else has concerns about volunteering stuffs, feel free to voice them.
19:14 < nhaines> jbermudes: yes
19:14 < Flannel> jbermudes: Yeah
19:15 < Flannel> And also, if you intend to help man the booth (and what times you're available)
19:15 < a1len> I would like to, but this economy is relentless.
19:16 < Flannel> Depending on how many people volunteer, we may be able to get everyone free admission to the Expo.  I don't know how that's working out as far as specifics yet though.
19:16 < Flannel> and you will get a chance to peruse other booths; we won't chain you to a table.
19:16 < Flannel> nhaines: Anything I forgot about those things?
19:16 < nhaines> Last year we had name badges for everyone, too.  I'll need a new printer but we can do that again.
19:17 < Flannel> Oh yeah.  You'll get a spiffy nametag.
19:17 < nhaines> Everyone's welcome to hang out and help attendees, but the rule for name badges was: sign the CoC and be a member of our Launchpad team.
19:17 < nhaines> Oh yeah, and if you don't print your own, tell me so I print one.  ;)
19:18 < Flannel> It's also a good chance to come out and meet the rest of the California people, and we'll likely have people able to sign keys too.
19:18 < AlgorithmicContr> I still have my name tag!
19:18 < AlgorithmicContr> ....I hope
19:18 < Flannel> Also, if anyone's actually worried about it, we'll be able to provide you with all the info you need to talk to people.
19:19 < Flannel> So, very little previous technical knowledge is necessary (if any)
19:19 < Flannel> Anyway, I think that's enough pitching... on to subtopics.
19:19 < Flannel> Lets... do presentations first.  since that may influence booth layout.
19:21 < Flannel> We're considering doing some presentations at our booth at various times throughout the expo
19:21 < Flannel> Maybe three or four times during the day, we do a larger demo on something.  Whether it'd be walking through an actual install, a wubi install, or something like that.
19:22 < Flannel> erichammond was interested in showing an entire Ubuntu on EC2 install
19:22 < Flannel> These would be things that you'd show to a group, we'd put them up on a big monitor or something and they'd be more substantial than just playing with demo computers.
19:22 < Flannel> Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
19:23 < nhaines> I think this could be a good draw to our booth.
19:24 < troyready> I would agree; sounds neat
19:24 < nhaines> I also think this would be a good opportunity if anyone wants some presentation experience.
19:24 < Flannel> I worry about getting too many people, and causing a disruption in the aisles.
19:24 < Flannel> Depending on where our booth is that may not be an issue.
19:24 < Flannel> That's my only reservation though.  Being a bad SCaLE citizen ;)
19:25 < nhaines> Any suggestions for topics?
19:25 < nhaines> Any volunteers?  ;)
19:26 < Flannel> Maybe we ought to ask the list.  I think cactaur may be interested.
19:26 < Flannel> Anyone have any comments on feasibility?
19:26 < Flannel> would *you* watch something like that?
19:27 < Flannel> Alright.  Off to the list it is.
19:28 < Flannel> So, next topic.  Booth layout.
19:29 < nhaines> I liked last year's layout.
19:29 < nhaines> We'll have to think of how to stage things so that the presentations don't disrupt traffic.
19:30 < Flannel> http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathanhaines/2353642188/sizes/l/in/photostream/
19:30 < nhaines> Oh yes, the public record.  :)
19:30 < Flannel> That was last year's layout. (This is what the vanilla booth is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathanhaines/2352795261/sizes/l/ )
19:31 < AlgorithmicContr> Do we still have the same spot?
19:31 < nhaines> We were gunning for it but I don't know if we got it.
19:31 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: We're hoping to get a corner spot, I don't know if they've picked booths yet.
19:32 < jbermudes> i guess the number of presentations happening depends on if we get that corner piece
19:32 < nhaines> Maybe if we do a presentation on the red table, and still use the yellow table for casual passers-by.
19:33 < Flannel> jbermudes: We've got a lot vested in getting a corner booth.
19:34 < Flannel> nhaines: I don't think we can really settle on a layout until we know where we're going to be in the hall.
19:34 < Flannel> So, lets table that.
19:34 < nhaines> Flannel: I'll see if Joe knows.
19:35 < Flannel> Actually,
19:35 < nhaines> He's unavailable.
19:35 < Flannel> the website says booth 31
19:35 < nhaines> Oh?
19:35 < Flannel> http://scale7x.socallinuxexpo.org/dotorg/ubuntu
19:35 < Flannel> very bottom... no idea if that's stale.
19:36 < Flannel> and I have no idea where a new map is either
19:36 < AlgorithmicContr> Let's hope it isn't just old content from 6x?
19:36 < nhaines> I don't see a new map.
19:36 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: I don't recall seeing that announced on 6x
19:37 < AlgorithmicContr> me neither, so I'm curious too
19:37 < nhaines> AlgorithmicContr: it isn't.  They were working pretty hard.
19:37 < AlgorithmicContr> oh
19:37 < nhaines> We were booth 31 last year, though.
19:39 < Flannel> nhaines: Did you get in touch with Joe?
19:40 < nhaines> Flannel: he wasn't available.
19:40 < jbermudes> Flannel: i'd be willing to do one of those presentation thingies like how it install, etc.
19:41 < Flannel> I can't see them renumbering booths, so I imagine we're in the same one.
19:43 < AlgorithmicContr> I'm also considering a presentation, but I don't have a complete idea yet
19:43 < AlgorithmicContr> maybe a how-to tutorial
19:43 < Flannel> I think the presentation thing is first going to be a list of topics, then people can volunteer to give them (with help!)
19:44 < Flannel> So, come up with topics.
19:44 < Flannel> I think that'd be the best way to do it anyway.
19:44 < Flannel> Thoughts?
19:44 < AlgorithmicContr> mostly rudimentary topics?
19:44 < AlgorithmicContr> or some advance stuff
19:44 < jbermudes> ooh! yasumoto and I could do a games under wine thing? portal and all that good stuff
19:44 < nhaines> I'd say beginning to intermediate is probably best.
19:45 < nhaines> There seemed to be a lot of beginners last year and they added a Beginner's Track this year.
19:45 < Flannel> The idea is to show people how easy Ubuntu is,
19:45 < Flannel> so, very much beginner stuff.
19:46 < Flannel> I would think.  That's why I suggested wubi.  Since you can try without repartitioning.
19:46 < jbermudes> maybe something that shows things that are crazy hard in windows but is a snap in ubuntu?
19:46 < Flannel> Whether the people themselves are beginning, or want to be able to suggest to their friends/whatever
19:47 < AlgorithmicContr> how about short how-to's on request?
19:47 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: well, we do those throughout the day.
19:47 < nhaines> Wubi's very simple, though.  That might be hard to demonstrate.
19:47 < Flannel> These would be larger.. maybe 10-15 minute ones or something.  I don't know.
19:47 < Flannel> Something you couldn't show [every person] who walked by as they were asking questions
19:48 < Flannel> I know one thing I found interesting last year is how much it didn't feel like we were "preaching to the choir"
19:48 < Flannel> (SCaLE does have Linux in the name, afterall)
19:48  * jbermudes imagines like when you're at a trade show and someone's trying to demo one of those fancy cooking gadgets to a crowd
19:49 < Flannel> Except they run those more or less constantly
19:49 < jbermudes> right
19:49 < Flannel> Anyway, I think yes.  Maybe doing presentations on the otherwise looping slideshow monitor would be good.
19:50 < nhaines> Indeed.
19:50 < Flannel> I look forward to hearing all the wonderful ideas for topics.
19:50 < Flannel> Brainstorm, and submit (to the mailing list) all your good(and even marginal) ideas
19:50 < nhaines> I think we can look to the Ubuntu graphical tour on ubuntu.com for details.
19:50 < nhaines> Err, inspiration I mean.
19:50 < Flannel> Since even my bad ideas for topics (and I have a few horrible ones) may spur someone else to come up with a good one.
19:51 < Flannel> Since we're already an hour in, I'm going to force us to move on though.
19:51 < mib_7fb92a> how about reprints of this?     http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?em
19:51 < Flannel> nhaines: Lets do a 'stand update, since the sleeves/cards stuff can wait or move to the list entirely.
19:51 < Flannel> Oh yeah, I meant to mention that.
19:52 < Flannel> Thanks mib_7fb92a
19:52 < nhaines> That's one nice article.
19:54 < AlgorithmicContr> awesome article, thanks mib_7fb92a
19:54 < Flannel> Speaking of that, nhaines, you mentioned cheat sheets the other day.  Was that for booth workers? or for handing out?
19:55 < nhaines> It was for booth workers.
19:55 < Flannel> nhaines: With what sorts of stuff on them?
19:55 < mib_7fb92a> very welcome.  hard to find a more forceful , yet neutral & impartial, argument to push the procrastinator over the decision
19:55 < nhaines> So that people are more confident/informed about various topics.
19:56 < Flannel> nhaines: so, like a FAQ? or what?
19:56 < AlgorithmicContr> nhaines: I remember someone asked me what the name behind Ubuntu meant, I felt embarrassed because I couldn't coherently explain it
19:57 < AlgorithmicContr> that kind of stuff? What Ubuntu is all about?
19:57 < nhaines> Sure.
19:57 < nhaines> Flannel: more like a quick callout sheet.
19:57 < jbermudes> i guess maybe coherent explanations in case your mind goes blank and you dont want to ramble
19:57 < nhaines> As an example off the top of my head, what's new in Jaunty?
19:57  * Flannel is never shy about rambling.
19:57 < nhaines> * Faster boot times
19:58 < Flannel> Ah, and LTS vs non
19:58 < nhaines> * Integration with Web applications
19:58 < nhaines> * Per-application volume settings
19:58 < nhaines> Little things like that.
19:58 < AlgorithmicContr> Flannel could cover that!
19:58 < nhaines> We can have a Cannonical one, an Ubuntu one.
19:59 < nhaines> AlgorithmicContr: we want people to be able to say what Ubuntu means, even if they have to read it.  :)
19:59 < AlgorithmicContr> Flannel: LTS vs non, I mean
19:59 < nhaines> They can also be used as study guides before the expo.
19:59 < nhaines> We should have a Free Software one...
20:00 < Flannel> Alright.
20:00 < AlgorithmicContr> and a general linux one?
20:00 < nhaines> So think of things you wish you'd known last time.  I'll help write those up.
20:00 < Flannel> How do you think we should best handle their creation?
20:00 < AlgorithmicContr> Some people come into the expo not even knowing what Linux is
20:00 < Flannel> wiki page?
20:00 < nhaines> Flannel: wiki page.
20:00 < AlgorithmicContr> wiki wiki!
20:00 < nhaines> Let's have sections for each one with lists of talking points.
20:00 < jbermudes> pizza pizza!
20:00 < AlgorithmicContr> jbermudes: hehe
20:00 < Flannel> nhaines: Separate from SCaLE, under projects?
20:00 < nhaines> They can either be suggested topics or list of factoids.
20:01 < nhaines> Flannel: these are good evangelizing tools, so let's make it a seperate project.
20:01 < Flannel> sounds good.
20:01 < AlgorithmicContr> We can always use LikeTotally as a cheatsheet
20:01 < AlgorithmicContr> hehe
20:01 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: Most of us don't have IRC integrated into our heads
20:02 < nhaines> In the future, I can write a Python script to grok the page and create PDFs.
20:02 < AlgorithmicContr> How many people are we expecting to be in the booth?
20:02 < AlgorithmicContr> last year we had um,...
20:02 < AlgorithmicContr> 5?
20:02 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: At one time?  4ish I suppose.
20:02 < Flannel> actually, we could do more
20:03 < AlgorithmicContr> we had 6?
20:03 < Flannel> One nice thing about our booth setup the way it is is there's no real "in"
20:03 < Flannel> We can have people sitting outside the side with the demo computers, and some inside doing buntustand stuff, and some out front talking to people
20:04 < Flannel> nhaines: I'm sure there's a MoinMoin to LaTeX converter out there.
20:04 < AlgorithmicContr> So who's coming down to make it?
20:04 < AlgorithmicContr> Just a rough count, I'm curious
20:04 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: We're still six weeks away, I don't know if many people have planned that far ahead.
20:05 < AlgorithmicContr> true
20:05 < Flannel> I know cactaur was talking about sort of carpooling with me, but he wan't sure.
20:05 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: We'll have a spot on the wiki for sign ups.  Right now... who knows.
20:07 < Flannel> Alright.... so... lets skip business cards and sleeves for now.
20:08 < nhaines> Okay/
20:08  * AlgorithmicContr was really impressed with nhaines's business cards. 
20:08 < AlgorithmicContr> I thought they were professionally printed or something
20:08 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: Which business cards?
20:08 < nhaines> AlgorithmicContr: are those *my* cards or the LoCo ones?
20:09 < AlgorithmicContr> um
20:09 < AlgorithmicContr> the loco ones
20:09 < Flannel> They were professionally printed.
20:09 < AlgorithmicContr> ohhhhh
20:09 < nhaines> And they weren't mine, they were Seth's.  :)
20:09 < Flannel> And the question is: do we need to get more printed for this year.
20:09 < nhaines> I have about a hundred left, give or take.
20:09 < AlgorithmicContr> ohhhh
20:09 < Flannel> I think I have a full box.
20:10 < Flannel> Or, more or less.  I have no idea how much is in a box.
20:10 < nhaines> I think passing them out with each CD was wondefully optimistic, but I don't really see much of a return in extra numbers in this channel or on the ML.
20:10 < Flannel> But.... depending on what we do for sleeves, we may or may not need so many.
20:10 < nhaines> So I think we could just have them out for people on the table.
20:10 < nhaines> They still go quick, and our sleeves now advertise the LoCo.
20:10 < Flannel> nhaines: If the sleeves have all the info on them already, we don't need to pass them out regularly at all, no.
20:10 < nhaines> Flannel: my thoghts exactly.
20:11 < Flannel> Alright, so... we're not skipping sleeves/cards ;)
20:11 < AlgorithmicContr> sorry to interrupt, but a  presentation on how to actually get to irc and to this channel would be most helpful I think
20:11 < nhaines> AlgorithmicContr: not sure that's a presentable topic.  But Pidgin does it.
20:12 < jbermudes> maybe just a flyer?
20:12 < nhaines> AlgorithmicContr: so work on it more and get back to us.  :)
20:12 < jbermudes> so they can take it home and connect?
20:12 < nhaines> jbermudes: that's always a good idea.
20:12 < Flannel> maybe we could work that into the sleeve.
20:12 < jbermudes> oh! what about "how to get help with ubuntu?"
20:12 < Flannel> hmm
20:12 < jbermudes> like showcase the forums, mailinglists, etc
20:12 < Flannel> yeah, that'd be doable... and like five to a page, just slice them up.
20:12 < AlgorithmicContr> nhaines: yep, but some new commmers never used IRC or even know what it is
20:12 < Flannel> Or maybe morein depth
20:13 < Flannel> Oh, jbermudes, you meant as a presentation?
20:13  * jbermudes is just throwing stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks
20:13 < nhaines> Interestingly enough, one of the articles I just wrote overviews some ways to get Ubuntu help.  Fourms and LoCo teams made the list.
20:14 < Flannel> Also, the Forums were just voted #1.... way to get help... by something
20:14 < AlgorithmicContr> sweet
20:14 < AlgorithmicContr> they were?
20:14 < nhaines> Maybe as an extension of the callout sheet project we can do one to pass out that is "how to get help with Ubuntu"
20:14 < AlgorithmicContr> Flannel: I usually resort to forums last
20:15 < Flannel> AlgorithmicContr: Linux Format Magazine, beating google: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1035701
20:15 < AlgorithmicContr> the chain goes ubuntu documents/community stuffs> irc>forums>google
20:16 < AlgorithmicContr> nhaines: that's probably what I meant, hehe
20:16 < AlgorithmicContr> as a presentation idea
20:17 < Flannel> Not so sure it'd go over as a presentation in itself.
20:17 < nhaines> We mustn't forget Launchpad Answers.
20:18 < AlgorithmicContr> that too
20:18 < Flannel> Alright, so, business cards likely won't be needing printing assuming our sleeves have some info on them (and the How to get help handouts)
20:19 < Flannel> One issue that was raised with the current origami sleeves is them laying flat.  I... think I solved that issue, but it makes them take longer to fold, and theyre much more difficult to fold.
20:20 < Flannel> I haven't found an easy way to fold them so they sit flat with a CD in them.
20:20 < Flannel> Is this a big issue do you think?
20:20 < nhaines> It's hard to say.  I suppose we'll see.
20:21 < Flannel> nhaines: I figure we can put them in those boxes we got from canonical, and it won't matter if theyre flat
20:21 < nhaines> I want to get something organized to produce high-quality bulk CDs.
20:21 < Flannel> and in peoples bags it certainly doesn't matter.
20:21 < Flannel> nhaines: not for SCaLe ;)
20:21 < nhaines> Flannel: nope.  ;)
20:21 < nhaines> Speaking of Canonical, who's doing the conference pack thing?
20:21 < Flannel> I've got it taken care of
20:22 < Flannel> How many CDs (and therefore approximate sleeves) do you think we'll need?
20:23  * Flannel knows we've gone over last year's number before...  I think it was higher than 100, but lower than 200.
20:23 < nhaines> We passed out approximately 120 last year, so I thought we were preparing for 200?
20:23 < nhaines> I didn't check the logs for the records.  I also think that was not including pressed CDs.
20:23 < Flannel> Are we preparing for 200? alright.  That's what I need to know.
20:23 < Flannel> I know Frys has boxes of 100 CDs for like $12
20:24 < Flannel> But, the big issue is printing sleeves.
20:24  * Flannel is rambling.
20:24 < nhaines> I know that lots of Edubuntu CDs went out.  We'll have to do addons this time.
20:24 < Flannel> Oh yeah.
20:25 < Flannel> Anyway, Lets move on to our last topic for tonight, which should go quickly.
20:25 < Flannel> buntustand update.
20:25 < nhaines> There haven't been.
20:25 < nhaines> Good night, folks!
20:25 < Flannel> hahah
20:25 < jbermudes> hahahha
20:25 < Flannel> There have been since the last meeting.
20:26 < nhaines> Seriously, we have a server and client framework.
20:26 < nhaines> And we have pywodim for burning, and buntulist for ISO enumeration.
20:26 < Flannel> For those of you who don't know (abbreviated version): buntustand is an automated distributed CD burning thing we're making for SCaLe, so we can burn on the fly, and hopefully keep up with demand.
20:26 < nhaines> So other than some protocol details, we're read to go at it.
20:27 < Flannel> If anyone's interested in helping... let us know!  Its python.  and a lot of the dirty work has been figured out, so fun stuff is still available!
20:27 < Flannel> I think that's it.
20:27 < nhaines> Oh yeah, https://launchpad.net/buntustand is where the fun's at.
20:28 < Flannel> Alright.  Thank you all for coming.  Watch your inboxes for mailing list updates about an assortment of things.  See you all in two weeks!
20:28 < Flannel> That's the 25th
20:28 < jbermudes> yay
20:28 < jbermudes> thanks flannel!
20:28 < nhaines> Thanks, Flannel.
20:28 < Flannel> And, if anyone wants to take a crack at fixing the sleeve sitting flat issue, by all means... do so ;)

Ubuntu Wiki

09January11

Sunday, January 11th, 2009, 7:00pm (1900) PST

Summary

Original Agenda

Logs