After our previous story about an Ubuntu billboard being spotting in the US, it was tracked down by satellite to San Francisco in the United States. Standing next to Highway 101, the main Motorway/Autoroute in Silicon Valley, and right outside the headquaters of database company Oracle, an Oracle insider even asked on their blog if the sign was dropping hints at Oracle employees…

Hot on that news, Desktop Linux have spotted more Ubuntu billboards in the wild and come up with their own suggestion about a connection to the LinuxWorld Expo happening in California during this week (August 14th-17th).

From the same event, we hear that Ubuntu's Matt Zimmerman has been having a Q&A session with the press, trying to answer how Ubuntu has managed to gain so much popularity in a comparatively short amount of time.

what differentiates one distribution [from] another, more than anything else, is its community of users and developers: how well they organize themselves, the image they present to potential users, their grassroots role in spreading awareness about the distribution. The bulk of any distribution is made up of the same core components, while no two communities share the same character, and users gravitate toward a community that feels like a good fit for them.

Did you manage to attend LinuxWorld or spot any new billboards? Tell us about it!

Ubuntu fan in the USA? You can get free Ubuntu case stickers!

System76, a PC manufacturer specialising in Ubuntu systems, is giving a free case sticker to United States residents who send in a stamped addressed envelope. System76’s Carl Richell says there’s no end in sight to the offer and they hope to extend it internationally.

Carl also told The Fridge about their new competition:

Put your sticker in the coolest place – take a picture – and post it. Everyone will get to vote on the best pic and the top ten winners get a System76 “Works Out of the Box” beer stein. Details will follow soon.

System76 has also made banners, featuring faux-quotes from historical figures. Our favourite has to be this odd one, which they attribute to Julius Caesar:

Rome wasn’t built in a day but it could have been with Ubuntu on System76.

Superb. Get your sticker.

[Discuss free Ubuntu stickers in the forums.]

The Ubuntu New Users Network (NUN), a group of Ubuntu enthusiasts, has created the first Ubuntu Classroom.

Providing new users with a one-on-one environment to learn Ubuntu’s ins and outs,the Classroom also doubles as a location for biweekly lectures ranging from the basics, all the way up to system administration.

Recently, the network was featured in an article over at Linux.com. Mayank Sharma interviewed one of the New User Mentors, Richard Johnson, and had this to say:

Ubuntu Linux might be an easy distribution to use, but some new users quickly run into things that bewilder them. Commands like sudo, apt-get, and terminal make newbies scurry around for help from forum boards, mailing lists, and IRC. To help such newcomers, Ubuntu has put together a community team that ensures new users are handled with care. The New Users Network, or NUN, is a group of experienced Ubuntu enthusiasts who help new Ubuntu users come to grips with the operating system.

Interested in becoming a mentor? Visit the New Users Network page. To view upcoming lectures, head on over to the Classroom page.

[Discuss NUN in the forums.]

Edgy now has automatic crash reporting which helps developers to track down crashes more efficiently:

• It intercepts crashes when they happen the first time, sparing sleepless nights for anyone trying to reproduce the crash.
• The reports contain detailed information about the affected program, assisting developers tracking down the problem. Is this goodbye to bug report ping-pong?

In time, crash reports will be attached to bug reports.

Suggestions, bug reports, and other feedback is welcome! Please use our bug tracker to report issues, or send an email to the developer mailing list with ideas for new features for the tool.

[Discuss Edgy crash reporting in the forums]