MOTU School is back in Session

By boredandblogging | Published: 2006-08-09

This Friday (11 Aug.) at 01:00 UTC, Jordan Mantha (aka LaserJock) will be leading a MOTU School session on Ubuntu packaging in #ubuntu-motu-school on Freenode. If you have ever wondered how those .debs are made, this session will be a great opportunity get started. He will introduce concepts noted in the Ubuntu Packaging Guide and will point out resources for learning more about packaging. Everyone is welcome to sit in!

As always, IRC logs of the session will be posted on the Ubuntu wiki soon afterward, so people who are unable to attend can follow the transcripts.

For those of you who like to read ahead (you know who you are), some advance reading will be posted at the Packaging Basics school session wikipage.

Update: Vid Ayer tells us: Jordan Mantha has kindly decided to repeat the session for the benefit of people in European time zones and will hold the session first at 01:00 UTC and a repeat at 17:00 UTC.

Ubuntu Community Manager appointed

By boredandblogging | Published: 2006-08-08

The community surrounding Ubuntu is one of the things we’re most proud of.

Helpful to newcomers, brimming over with creativity and featuring some of free software’s most talented people. As a largely volunteer community, it’s important that we’re able to make the most of what people can offer.

Long-time free software advocate, LugRadio presenter and beardless wonder Jono Bacon has joined Canonical as Ubuntu Community Manager. So, what’s all that about? Mark Shuttleworth described it as:

“…created to help the huge Ubuntu community gain traction, creating structure where appropriate, identifying the folks who are making the best and most consistent contributions and empowering them to get more of their visions, ideas and aspirations delivered as part of Ubuntu – release by release.”

Congratulations Jono!

[Discuss this article on the Ubuntu forums]

Ubuntu where it counts

By boredandblogging | Published: 2006-08-08

One Ubuntu, two Ubuntu, three Ubuntu, four!

Visit the unofficial Ubuntu Counter project and you can register details of how many machines you have running Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu and just about any other kind of Buntu. In return, you get your own Ubuntu Counter user-number to proudly display on your home page.

At the time of writing, 5360 people with 7350 Ubuntu machines have signed up, including our own Mr Shuttleworth.

Interesting stats include:

  • 6 machines registered running Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog, the first release).
  • Average of 1.371 machines per registered user.
  • 90.68% of registered users running latest stable version.

The project initially began as a novelty for proud Ubuntu users, but the data gathered are nonetheless fascinating.

[Discuss the Ubuntu Counter]

T-Shirt design competition

By boredandblogging | Published: 2006-08-07

You have Ubuntu, you love Ubuntu and you want to share Ubuntu…. so in response to comments on the Ubuntu forums, Canonical is looking for a new T-Shirt design that will be used at upcoming conferences to promote Ubuntu.

Printing can be done on the front and/or back of the shirt and the design should work on either a black or white t-shirt. If you are interested in taking up the challenge – designs should be sent to chris.kenyon@ubuntu.com by 08:00 UTC (that’s GMT) on Wednesday 9th August 2006.

Please submit your design in a print-ready high resolution with an indication of whether it should be printed on a black or white shirt. The winning design will be announced by COB on the 9th and the winner will be sent 5 printed T-shirts with their winning design.

We very much look forward to seeing your ideas and designs and many thanks to those in the forums who have been suggesting that we do this!

[Discuss the competition on the forums]

Ubuntu Weekly News Issue #8 – July 23 – August 5, 2006

By boredandblogging | Published: 2006-08-06

In the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue #8 for the weeks of July 23 – August 5, 2006, you will find:

  • Behind Ubuntu: Jani Monoses
  • The Fridge, plugged in again and humming along
  • California sees an Ubuntu billboard
  • Ubuntu wins on security
  • Ubuntu article featured on Wikipedia
  • Educating on Ubuntu: The Ubuntu Classroom launches & the MOTU School teaches bugs and patching
  • An update on Google Summer of Code
  • The freshest security upgrades
  • The latest and greatest in packages
  • Project updates: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu
  • In the press: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS “Recommended”
  • Features of the Week: KDict

Keep up with the latest in the community and submit your own stories.

This issue put together by Jonathan Riddell, Rich Johnson, and Corey Burger, with contributions by many.

[Discuss UWN 8 on the forums]