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Ubuntu Quebec team report for January-July 2010

This is the first Ubuntu QC team report in quite some time. It highlights the past few months activities. June, July and August are typically slower months as Summer kicks in and everyone is out trying to get some sun but the Ubuntu QC community has been anything but dormant.

The Ubuntu Hour, held in February (IMG_0448.jpg)
Montreal GeekFest, held in March (IMG_1510.jpg)

Here are highlights of recent activity:

• In July, FabianRodriguez invited the locoteams and general Ubuntu community to start using Shapado.com for their language-specific Q&A

• Also in July, FabianRodriguez proposed and got confirmation to offer an introductory informal course about free software and Linux at a local library (Mile End library, on Park Ave, Montreal. The goal is to experiment a new formula in creating local communities in neighborhoods near the library. Ubuntu books have been donated previously to this library.

• A number of Ubuntu Hour events were held (here's one in February), with low but great attendance. Ubuntu users from abroad know this event and actually plan their time in Montreal to meet us Employees from the nearby Canonical office would bring hardware and Ubuntu gadgets to share impressions on.

• In June the highlight was a victory in court for Savoir Faire Linux (a local company, also a Canonical training partner) who questioned the local government contracting methods which favored Microsoft. Many Ubuntu QC members followed this and participated in the effort. Details at:

  • http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/03/quebec-microsoft-lawsuit.html

  • http://slashdot.org/submission/1252548/Free-software-wins-court-battle

• In May a great event took place at a local IT school, SupInfo. Their students had attended the Global Jam which we organized previously and organized this by themselves with out assistance. FabianRodriguez presented there. The event was called "Libuntu" with its own branding and website: http://www.libuntu.com/ - Low attendance but a great collaboration to get huge space including free wifi and many volunteers, a good step towards organizing more formal events.

• Also in may, Launchpad developers that were in Montreal invited the local community to meet them for drinks & chat

• In April the Ubuntu Lucid party - good attendance, and this time we got 4 parties across the province, an all-time record. Focus has been on de-centralizing the release parties, having flexible dates and encouraging local, smaller events

• Also in April, there was bragging about Ubuntu business cards

• In March, we had a kiosk at the local GeekFest, very good attendance. MagicFab, IdleOne and Cyphermox manned the kiosk.

• In January and February the highlghts were several discussions about local media and governement launching web sites that exclusively used non-free formats, including bugg Flash implementations. In one notable case (Tout.tv), the community hacked together a workaround in a few hours and a 400+ people Facebook group brought attention to absent Linux support from such sites. Details:

  • https://wiki.koumbit.net/touLibre

  • http://www.fabianrodriguez.com/blog/2010/02/10/thank-you-ubuntu-qc-and-facebook/

• March 26th-28th the Montreal Global Jam, many thanks to komputes and Cyphermox. Great attendance, bugwork and excellent presentations. We look forward to the next one!!!

• Started using http://ietherpad.com for quick, realtime translations of information- this being a a multi-cultural province, we need to present information in English and French in a timely manner which is often a challenge. Etherpad makes it easy for *anyone* to organize and contribute short translations

• Great activity in our mailing list: February: 272, March: 371, April: 240, May: 228 messages, June: 193 messages, July: 133 messages. Subjects included: problems with Flash, LPIC certifications, Antidote (an non-free dictionary / thesaurus for French, with excellent Ubuntu support), Dell, hardware for Home theaters (XBMC,etc), desktop applications support, events, and lots of troubleshooting.

• Other LUGs are increasingly announcing their activities in our mailing list, which is a great signe of recognition - and provides good opportunities to go out of the "Ubuntu bubble"