ReApprovalApplication2012

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 * It doesn't matter what your preferred method of getting assistance is, it can be the intimacy of a face to face real life meeting, or the quickness of IRC, the true and tried method of a mailing list, but getting your answer, your sense of belonging, sense of sharing something bigger, what ever it is you are after in a friendly manner; you will find it in the Ubuntu-ZA LoCo. Being part of this group of people is a privilege and a pleasure and I am sure the LoCo will do well on this re-application, and continue to do a great service for our country and Ubuntu (and open source in general).
           -- [[LaunchpadHome:nlsthzn | Neil Oosthuizen]]

Ubuntu ZATeam Re-Approval scheduled for Tuesday, 18 December 2012 at 22:00 SAST


Ubuntu-za (aka Ubuntu South Africa) has been an approved Loco since July 2005. We work with the local LUGs to support the Ubuntu community. There are some factors that make activity in the South African communities unique. We are distributed over large areas and our bandwidth is expensive. It is important for us to spread Ubuntu in the form of install DVDs and repositories to people so they can avoid downloading.

To this end we have Global Jams and Release parties and we take part in Software Freedom days. We have also built a distribution network in South Africa to get CDs to regional contacts.

We now have 4 ubuntu members on our team. We have a sub team in Stellenbosch. We connect with CLUG, LEG, TLUG, FLUG, UCT Algorithm Circle, SULUG, GLUG, LEAD

This document was a team effort.

From our long term goals at our previous ReApproval in 2010 we made progress on the following items:

  • More events outside of Cape Town / Stellenbosch
  • More Ubuntu Hours
  • More non-geeky users at events

We have made good progress this last year in involving different members of the community to take tasks such as chairing meetings, writing monthly reports and organising events. This is great because the load is spread among people and also it means that the community does not implode if a key figure becomes busy.

Key Details

  • Date - November 2012

  • Team Contact - Maia Grotepass <maiatoday-a-t-ubuntu.com>

  • Membership - 115 active members as of 22 November 2012 see ~ubuntu-za

  • Website - http://ubuntu-za.org/

  • Mailing List - ubuntu-za on lists.ubuntu.com - ?? subscribed as of ?? November 2012

  • IRC - #ubuntu-za or #ubuntu-afr (for our Afrikaans users) on freenode - ?? active participants as of November 2012

Roadmap

Immediate future

  • Continue to have events
  • Continue to distribute DVDs
  • Continue to provide support on the mailing list and in IRC

Long term

  • Involve more people so that we have a better presence in more areas in South Africa and that we increase the diversity of our Ubuntu community.

Experience

Online Activities

IRC support

We provide support in #ubuntu-za on freenode and we also have our monthly meetings in this channel.

Mailing list

The mailing list continues as one of our backbone communication methods. We have ?? subscribers.

twitter

We have started an ubuntu-za twitter stream. We have 34 followers.

facebook

We have been using ubuntu-za facebook page to notify people of events. We have 216 members.

Forum

The forum activity has declined.

Website

Between 1 December 2011 and 1 December 2012, 3,217 people visited the site.

  • Visits: 6,609
  • Unique Visitors: 3,217
  • Pageviews: 29,051
  • Pages / Visit: 4.40

IRL Activities

Jams

  • WSep 2011 Cape Town
  • Aug 2010 Cape Town

Release Parties

  • 12.10 Durban and Pretoria-Jo'burg
  • 12.04 Pretoria and Cape Town
  • 11.10 Cape Town
  • 11.04 Cape Town
  • 10.10 Cape Town/Stellenbosch

Ubuntu Hour

  • Aug 2012 Durban
  • March 2012 Stellenbosh
  • Feb 2012 Cape Town
  • Aug 2011 Joburg
  • April 2011 Stellenbosch
  • March 2011 Stellenbosch
  • Dec 2010 Durban
  • Nov 2010 Stellenbosch
  • Nov 2010 Pretoria

CD distribution

We have built up a list of regional contacts from the mailing list. CDs are sent from Stellenbosch to the regional contacts. Regional contacts fill in their detail on ubuntu-za.org so that people can contact them for a CD/DVD. Regional contacts also organise Ubuntu Hours in the area. We sent CDs for Natty, Precise and Quantal.

Other

  • Geeknic Nov 2010

Photos

Photos

Stats

Website Traffic

LPMembership

IRC

Testimonials

  • The community email list really helped smooth over the rough edges of joining a platform I had no experience in. Learning from others problems/queries improves my knowledge but also has enabled me to help others. The list together with the regular launch parties and distribution of launch cd's has made for an active and friendly Ubuntu LoCo. There are so many projects to pick from such as Ubuntu Hours, fortnightly meetings, IRC etc etc that there's actually too much to do. Which is great - space for everyone to find their niche. Ubuntu ZA LoCo helped turn and keep me on as an Ubuntu user.

    • - Lionthinker
  • To whom it may concern - I am an older, semi-disabled person, an ex-diesel mechanic and farmer, with little computer knowledge or background. I tried Windows 98, Millenium and XP, but the virus threats made me look for another OS and by chance I came upon Ubuntu. I was given an Ubuntu 9.04 CD and a new world opened up for me, with help of course from the Ubuntu-ZA LoCo mailing lists and #ubuntu-za on IRC. Without the understanding and support from the community there I could never have learned how to use Linux/Ubuntu. Through every release apart from 11.10 I have been helped with CD's and support to sort out things I didn't understand, and the odd bug here and there. Today I can do my own installations and most of what is needed to keep me going online, and #ubuntu-za is like a second home to me. I get great pleasure out of being able to help the odd newbie with basic things, knowing that the rest of the guys will help me out where I go wrong. Kudos #ubuntu-za for the vast amount of knowledge you all share so freely and the friendly manner in which you accepted me into the fold. Thank you so much.

    • - Miles Sharpe (Kilos)
  • I have been an Ubuntu-za member since 2010. This community is filled with great people that help both newbies and advanced users alike. They have helped me solve so many problems that I have been struggling with. Ubuntu-za is more that just a place for support , it's a place for people , where everyone is welcomed and helped. The community is also very active in distributing Ubuntu discs and spreading the use of Ubuntu as well as holding Ubuntu events. Ubuntu-za is a great community where I come everyday and my Ubuntu experience will be much less enjoyable without Ubuntu-za and it's awesome members.
    • - Wikus Van Dyk (mazal)
  • I first became interested in using Ubuntu when I started my own Internet Cafe. I kept running into enormous problems with malware finding its way onto the shop computers and networks, causing a loss of productivity with the following clean up, and sometimes complete re-installation. I first made the break in 2009, and have not looked back since. To say that I was a Linux noob would be understating things. I found a lot of information on the Ubuntu wiki and the various blogs and websites, but IRC and the Ubuntu-za channel quickly became my go to source for quick, friendly help, often with some free tutoring in the process. With out the support of this community I would not have some as far as I have. This, in my experience, is one of the friendliest, most active communities on the Internet, one which I can say that I am very proud to be a part of.
    • - Greg Eames (magespawn)
  • I discovered ubuntu-za in search for an Afrikaans channel on freenode. I was already in ubuntu-nl-offtopic, lubuntu and ubuntu-nl channels. It goes even further, as a Wikipedian I joined freenode and set up an IRC account with ChatZilla. Since then, I learned to read and speak Afrikaans. I do like the people in ubuntu-za, because they talk to you and are curious to know more about you. I've become a daily member of the ubuntu-za channel. Thank you guys!

    • - Geoffrey De Belie (smile)
  • The Ubuntu-ZA LoCo still seems to be in good shape. Personally, I have been a lot less involved, recently, and I'm glad to see that things have continued well without me. The IRC channel and lists are pretty active, and events have been happening around the country. I hope we'll have some more events in Cape Town again, next year. I'll try and organise something Smile :)

  • It doesn't matter what your preferred method of getting assistance is, it can be the intimacy of a face to face real life meeting, or the quickness of IRC, the true and tried method of a mailing list, but getting your answer, your sense of belonging, sense of sharing something bigger, what ever it is you are after in a friendly manner; you will find it in the Ubuntu-ZA LoCo. Being part of this group of people is a privilege and a pleasure and I am sure the LoCo will do well on this re-application, and continue to do a great service for our country and Ubuntu (and open source in general).

  • Add your testimonial here ubuntu-za member


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ZATeam/ReApprovalApplication2012 (last edited 2012-12-18 15:02:19 by inetpro)