Ubuntu LoCo Teams FAQ

Welcome to the Ubuntu LoCo Teams FAQ! The aim of this page is to provide an up to date list of common questions that we get about the LoCo team project, joining teams, running teams and more.

General Questions

What is a LoCo team?

A LoCo Team is a Local Community of (in our case) Ubuntu users. A LoCo can involve things such as local promotion, support in the local language, general support to local users and much more. Most importantly however, it lets people find other Ubuntu users near them and experience the Ubuntu Community firsthand.

Why are there LoCos?

LoCos are around to help promote or support Ubuntu and build communities in specific areas. Most LoCos have projects such as translating or customising Ubuntu for their specific area, which is one of the things that makes Ubuntu great. The LoCos are a very important part of the Ubuntu Community.

I am in a LUG/SIG, why should I run/be involved with a LoCo?

LoCos are not meant to replace existing LUGS, but instead to complement them. For information on how LoCos and LUGs can work together, see LoCoWorkingWithOtherGroups.

Where can I find a LoCo?

A good place to start is to take a look at the list of teams page. It has a list of official and non-official LoCo teams. Take a look at the guide under the 'Joining Teams' heading on this page for a more information.

If you do not see a team for your area there, maybe you should consider finding a few other Ubuntu users from your area and try starting one. There are many services available to make this easier. Take a look further down this page under the 'Running Teams' heading for more information.

Who can make a LoCo?

Anyone can make a LoCo. Take a look at the information below.

The LoCo team in my area is not very good, can I replace it?

If you have some problems with the LoCo team in your area and believe you can do a better job, you should try to work with the existing team - we always like existing teams to be used where possible. If you have some serious problems, see LoCoResolvingProblems.

Joining Teams

Why should I join a LoCo team?

There are lots of benefits and fun to be had getting involved with a LoCo team, not only in terms of spreading awareness about Ubuntu, but also helping to develop free software in your community, improve Ubuntu and more. For more details see this page.

Where do I find the list of teams to join?

See the list of teams

How do I join a team?

All LoCo Teams should have a Launchpad entry - Launchpad. Launchpad serves two main purposes for English speaking LoCo teams. 1) Provides an official team roster 2) Provides a secure method of voting for the team.

LoCo team contacts can set their teams launchpad account as an open, moderated, or restricted team. An open team means anyone can join, without approval. Moderated teams allow people to apply for membership. Once applied, an administrator must approve the candidate for membership. Setting a team as restricted is discouraged for LoCo teams.

Now the short answer to "How can I join my LoCo team?"

Answer: Go to Launchpad, do a search for your LoCo team, and join it!

Welcome to the team!

Do I have to satisfy any criteria to join a team?

Generally, no. The vast majority of LoCo teams will happily accept anyone to join the team, as long as that person is interested in Ubuntu and wants to be a part of the team. Other than that, the only other criteria is being able to work together with others as part of a team.

Does Canonical run the LoCo teams?

No, LoCo teams are independent groups run by the group's members. These groups are organised, run, promoted and managed independently from Canonical. Although the groups are independent, there is a very close relationship with Canonical, and Canonical work to help support groups in different ways. Canonical also try to solve serious problems in LoCo teams. We see the relationship between LoCo teams and Canonical as very close, and there is a mutual understand and respect both ways.

Running Teams

How do I set up a LoCo team?

You should first ensure that there is no existing LoCo team in your area. If there is, it is a good idea to work with an established team. See the list of teams to see if there is a LoCo team near you. If no team exists, then start by reading the LoCo Team HOWTO.

What resources do I need to run a LoCo team?

You should set up the following resources:

• Mailing List - this is a primary means of communication between your lists members.

• IRC Channel - you should set up an IRC channel (#ubuntu-CC where CC is your country code) on the Freenode IRC network.

Details of setting these resources up can be found in the LoCo Team HOWTO.

Can I run another LoCo team in the same area?

We highly suggest that you don't and instead work with the existing team to join forces. Having lots of different teams in the same area does nothing but fragment the community, and we would much prefer all Ubuntu users, fans and enthusiasts to work together in the same area in a single team. If there differences in direction and opinion, try to resolve those differences so everyone is happy.

What is the difference between approved and non-approved LoCo teams?

An approved team is a team that is fully up and running, has the required resources set up and has met the approval of the Ubuntu Community Council. As such, you can see approved teams as teams with a proven track record. Non-approved teams are typically teams that are still forming and if they continue to develop into a strong team, they will get approved status too.

Can I change ownership on an IRC channel?

Sometimes the person who registers a LoCo team IRC channel disappears for months and the channel is no longer able to be administered. To solve this issue you need to speak to the IRC network - Canonical have no control over the IRC network. In most cases, LoCo IRC channels are on Freenode, so speak to the IRC Council at #ubuntu-irc on irc.freenode.net to try and get foundership transferred.

How do I resolve problems in my team?

There is a process for resolving issues. See LoCoResolvingProblems.

My country is too big to have single meet-ups. What do I do?

We recommend that you encourage localised groups to meet up. So, as an example, in the UK LoCo team, there are proposed meet-ups in the West Midlands, Northwest, South etc. This allows local Ubuntu users to meet together. We always recommend that these local teams are part of the country or state wide LoCo team. So, in the example of the UK local groups, they are all part of ubuntu-uk. More details on this are in the LoCoTeamHowto.

Can I use the Ubuntu / Kubuntu logos on my documents/websites/merchendise?

See the Trademark Policy for details.

Where can I get free Ubuntu CDs?

For details on getting free Ubuntu CDs, see LoCoGettingCds for details.

How do I set up a Website, Planet, User Map etc?

For details of how to set up a site, planet, and user maps, see LoCoCreatingWebsite.

The approval process

How do I get my team verified?

See LoCoCouncil/TeamVerificationGuidelines for details.

Does the team need to have experience as a team, or is individual experience OK?

The approval application is there to provide a solid grounding of the group, and the experience shows what the group has done. Group experience shows that the group is working well together and getting things done, and as such we really want to see the experience be things group has done. However, feel free to place links to bios of the core group members and this can be factored into the process. Again, this process is not a series of tick-boxes, but plenty of information so we can make the right choice, and we look at lots of different aspects.

Resources

Can teams have more than one mailing list?

It is LoCo policy that each team has a single mailing list and all discussion occurs on that list. There are a few reasons for this:

• Having a single mailing list makes it easy to join the team - all your users join one list, and they are part of the group.
• Keeps discussion in one place - when there are multiple mailing lists, discussion begins to fragment across the different lists, and invariably spreads the community too thin. When you keep all the discussion in one place, it is much more likely that community will thrive.
• Easier to maintain - a smaller list of mailing lists is easier to maintain.

It really does make best sense for your LoCo team to have a single mailing list. It helps get people involved easily, keep there and and keep the discussion and community together.

If you have specific requests, contact the LoCo Council at loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com or on #ubuntu-locoteams on irc.freenode.net.

CategoryLoCoTeams