maiatoday

Revision 11 as of 2010-08-22 14:28:21

Clear message

Contact me

  • Launchpad: maiatoday

  • IRC: freenode #ubuntu-za and #ubuntu-women using nick maiatoday
  • Email: maiatoday (AT) gmail (DOT) com
  • Blog: my-ubuntu-day

Summary

I am very active in encouraging participation and advocating Ubuntu in my immediate vicinity, Stellenbosch and Cape Town. I run Ubuntu Hour, help with Global Jam and Release Parties. Online I frequent IRC #ubuntu-za and help out with the wiki.

Past

How did it start?

I started using Ubuntu towards the end of 2006. Edgy Eft was my first Ubuntu. I was faced with the prospect of buying and learning a lot of proprietary software on a relatively old computer or going over to open source tools and spending the money on hardware. I committed to switching completely to Ubuntu on the laptop at least and finding the tools I needed to do the job. At the time I was busy studying a multi-media degree and I decided that if I have to learn new software it may as well be open source tools. I haven't looked back and over the years I have managed to do everything I wanted to do and more.

I only joined launchpad and the ubuntu-women and ubuntu-za teams at the end of 2007.

What have I done?

  • Started the Ubuntu Hour in Stellenbosch in Feb 2010

  • Hosted the Lucid Lynx Release Party

  • Made badges for the Release Party

  • Helped the loco create a re-approval page

  • Made posters for the Global Jam events for Lucid and Maverick

  • Translation and Answers in Launchpad
  • Managed to get all the women (that use computers) in my immediate family to switch to Ubuntu on there personal machines. (ages range from 8 to 66)

Present

What drives my Ubuntu community participation?

I think more women will be willing to join in if there are already women visible in the community. I think more people will be willing to join in if they see that doing technical stuff isn't the only way to be part of the community. That is why I focus on community activities rather than more technical tasks such as packaging or coding.

What am I doing at the moment?

  • trying to figure out how I can be more useful in the ubuntu-za loco and the ubuntu-women groups
  • helping ubuntu-za to do the small things, such as website update, mailing list reminders and IRC meeting attendance
  • doing an Ubuntu Hour once a month
  • Blogging about my Ubuntu experiences

  • handing out CDs to people who will try them

Future

What will I do next?

  • help to organise the next Global Jam and Release party for Maverick
  • Organise a Cape Town Geeknic in November
  • continue to be visible in the local Ubuntu community and in this way give out a message that this LoCo is also a friendly place for women

  • continue to help the ZATeam where I can

Testimonials

  • Maia has been a pilla of strength guiding Ubuntu-ZA over the last few months and the driving force behind almost every single event/activity we take part in. Maia pioneered the Ubuntu Hour in stellenbosch that I have been fortuate enough to attend a few. They started off small with some events having just Maia and my self. The August event had +-10 people most of which had never been to an Ubuntu event before. Her wiki page lists all the events that she has taken part in and actions speak louder then words you can see the people that her involvement in ubuntu has impacted. She epitomizes what it means to be part of the Ubuntu community and I have utmost faith that she will continue to do so. Her wiki page will never ever do justice to the amount of input she has had in Ubuntu-za. So this is me trying my best to recommend her. TeamZA Contact @-- drubin 2010-08-22 14:28:21@