Ubuntu In Your Language
One of the most wonderful, and oftern underrated parts of the Ubuntu community are our tremendous translators. It is these awesome individuals that re-enforce the ethos that everyone should be able to enjoy Ubuntu in the locale and language that is comfortable to them. Not only that, but it is these folks that are breaking down cultural barriers to Ubuntu adoption across the world. In many cases, when a region or government is exploring Open Source and Free Software, the first assessment is if it is available in their locale and language(s).
Ubuntu is already available in an impressive collection of languages that we consider complete enough for general use. This includes *Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, German, English, Hungarian, Traditional Chinese, British English, Russian, Dutch, Japanese, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Catalan, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Basque, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Slovenian, Galician* and *Asturian*.
A good target for completeness is 80% of the distribution being fully translated, with a particular focus on primary and visible packages. Many of these languages are rib-ticklingly close and I would love to encourage those of you who speak the language to help get them over the 80% barrier. These include:
* Serbian – 79%
* Vietnamese – 78%
* Estonian – 75%
* Hebrew – 73%
* Bengali – 73%
* Gujarati – 72%
* Hindi – 71%
* Turkish – 70%
* Tamil – 69%
* Telugu – 69%
* Bokm̴l, Norwegian Р67%
* Slovak – 66%
* Macedonian – 64%
* Nepali – 63%
* Arabic – 63%
* Dzongkha – 62%
* Finnish – 61%
* Breton – 60%
* Ukrainian – 57%
* Esperanto – 56%
* Central Khmer – 56%
* Norwegian Nynorsk – 55%
* Thai – 52%
* Panjabi – 52%
* Lithuanian – 51%
* Romanian – 50%
This is an awesome opportunity for the [Ubuntu Global Jam](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGlobalJam) in which Ubuntu contributors are getting together around the world to work together on Ubuntu in a variety of ways – documentation, packaging, advocacy, bug triage, translations and more. If you would like to help one of the above languages (or any other language, for that matter), why not organize a small gathering at someone’s house, at a pub/restaurant, university room or anywhere else? These jams are easy to put together, tonnes of fun and a great way to meet other awesome Ubuntu people.
Whether you get together at a jam or just want to contribute from home, more details and guidance for getting involved in translating Ubuntu can be found [here](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Translations). Rock on, translations friends!
Changing The Conversation
I am tired of seemingly only ever reading about the topic of women in Open Source within the context of a conflict scenario which typically spawns a spat over whether specific behaviour is deemed offensive or not. It feels like the topic has become very one-dimensional.
I am more interested in talking about the awesome, positive and inspiring stories of women in Open Source, with the intention that it will not only recognise these rock stars, but to also continue to grow a safe and fair environment in which other women can be inspired to get involved in the *world changing opportunity* that is Open Source, Free Software and Free Culture.
Some time ago there was a terrific meme that kicked off around Ada Lovelace day, and I would like to encourage you all to join me in resurrecting this meme. Today I want to talk about five women who inspire me every day when I switch on my computer.
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Allison Randal – Allison is well respected in the Perl comunity, chair of the Parrot Foundation, and deeply involved in the FLOSS Foundations group. She is also well known at O’Reilly, one of the organizers of OSCON and was instrumental in helping me to make the Community Leadership Summit a reality. Allison is someone who I have known for about three years now, and every time I come away from a conversation with her, it always makes me think that she is the epitome of the Open Source contributor: kind, considerate, wicked-smart, balanced and excited about her work. She is…in a word…awesome. |
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Amber Graner – In the short period of time that Amber has been involved in the Ubuntu community, she has had a tremendous impact. Beginning with her frank yet always respectful blog entries that scrutinized our community, she has joined us to make Ubuntu her passion too. She has been deeply involved in the LoCo community, Open Week planning, has participated extensively in UDS remotely, has been involved in event organization at Atlanta Linux Fest and more. What I love about Amber is her practical, approachable and humour-laden approach to her work. When Amber walks in, she makes a difference, and I am proud that she is part of our community. |
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Rikki Kite – For those of us who tread the boards of the Open Source conference circuit, you won’t go far without seeing Rikki. She is the Associate Publisher and Managing Editor of Linux Pro Magazine and Ubuntu User Magazine. Rikki’s passion is deliver great stories about real work by real people. She has always been there to give a voice to everyone from the bedroom hacker to the corporate executive. Rikki has really driven the success behind Ubuntu User and her commitment and endless devotion to her work makes her an utter delight to be around when I see her…typically, at a conference. 🙂 |
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Ara Pulido – Ara works for Canonical on the Ubuntu QA team and she is deeply involved in building automated tests, smoke testing, and encouraging our wider community to get involved in improving the quality of Ubuntu. She is active in Ubuntu, upstream and demonstrates an incredible responsiveness and eagerness for her work and Ubuntu. As an example, I asked Ara to work on a last-minute EC2 test plan for Karmic the day she got back from her vacation and she had it ready within a day to an incredible level of quality. It is people like Ara which make Ubuntu what it is. |
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Leann Ogasawara – Leann also works for Canonical and works on triaging and managing our collection of kernel bugs. She has an epic reputation for productivity in Canonical and the community and our kernel story would be very different if it were not for contributions. Leann is also involved in hardware testing, working with the upstream kernel community, ISO testing, working with the mobile team, taking part in community initiatives such as Ubuntu Developer Week and 5-A-Day and many other areas. She is a blast to work with, is great fun and has a wicked sense of humour. |
Before I wrap up, I want to highlight one other woman who inspires me every day: my wife, Erica. She was reluctant for me to feature her as she wanted the above five women to be the focus of this post, but I have never met someone so driven, yet so grounded, and I am incredibly fortunate to have her in my life every day.
Davey And Hull LUG Rock Da House: Video Style
A few days back I launched the [The Art of Community Comedy Photo Comp](https://archivedblog.jonobacon.com/2009/09/28/the-art-of-community-comedy-photo-comp/) and saw this incredible (*video*) example posted to YouTube:
*Can’t see the vid? [Click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJa59ddjkPs)*
Awesome work, Davey and [Hull LUG](https://hulllug.org/)! I was chuckling all the way through it, and yes, this absolutely counts in the competition!
Think you can do better than Davey’s rocking effort? Well, proove it, and [get involved](https://archivedblog.jonobacon.com/2009/09/28/the-art-of-community-comedy-photo-comp/)!
Rocking Out: Plastic Guitar Style
When I created my [Amazon Wishlist](https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1HUGRJJQTFK9S) a few weeks back ready for my birthday, I, like any opportunistic cad, added a bunch of different items on there, some of which I never expected a hope in hell to receive.
Well, today I had a coffee catch-up planned with my pal and Firefox / Python-testing super-hero Mikeal Rogers and he presented me with this accessory to rock-and-roll bliss:
*Guitar Dork: World Tour*.
That’s right metal-fans, it is a full-size authorized replica of a BC Rich Warlock made for Guitar Hero (and Rock Band, and I assume Frets On Fire). It also make me feel that little closer to living out my dreams as *Max Cavalera* from *Sepultura* during their 80’s heyday:
*Spot the bonus mullet in the photo here*.
This is actually perfect timing as I am planning a Guitar Hero competition at the next [Ubuntu Developer Summit](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDS).
Thankyou *so, so, much* Mikeal!
The Art of Community Comedy Photo Comp
Since I [released The Art of Community](https://archivedblog.jonobacon.com/2009/08/19/the-art-of-community-now-available/), one thing has become evident: the people who are buying it are *awesome*. If you have bought it *you* are awesome. If you have *not*, [you too can be awesome](https://www.artofcommunityonline.org/get/).
This got my mind thinking. We should put a face to the names of these *awesome* people. Credit where credit is due to those of you who are supporting a Creative Commons licensed book about building collaborative communities.
So, I have a fun little competition meme. It works like this:
1. Holding your copy of *The Art of Community*, have a picture taken of yourself with it. Really go for gold in the picture: extra points are awarded for outfits, hats, exciting locations and comedy faces.
2. Upload your photo to Flickr (or other fave photo sharing site) with the tag `artofcommunity` and if you use Twitter/identi.ca, use the `#artofcommunity` hashtag.
I will look over all the photos and pick a winner. The winner of the competition will get a special prize. The deadline for the competition is **October 25th**.
Should be a little fun. 🙂
Ubuntu User
Do you know Rikki Kite? No? Well, she is one of the epic rockstars behind [Ubuntu User](https://ubuntu-user.com/), a magazine devoted to Ubuntu and the incredible community that surrounds it. Ubuntu User is the first print magazine created for Ubuntu users and the current issue includes:
* Our exclusive interview with Mark Shuttleworth
* My community column
* Audio expert Dave Philips’ description for setting up an Ubuntu recording studio
* Forum diva Mike Basinger’s answers to Ubuntu users’ questions
There are also nuggets of goodness about Eucalyptus, graphics tools Krita & Karbon, Scribus, Ikiwiki, Mnemosyne and Anki, Conduit and more. Finally, stuck firmly to the side of the mag is a DVD including the Ubuntu Live CD, Kubuntu Live CD, Xubuntu Live CD, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Easy Peasy 1.1.
Aside from letting you know about this, I just wanted to share a promotional code to get a chunky discount on the magazine. To have a year of magazines pushed through your mailbox it weighs in at US$ 39.95 (USA & Canada). You can [subscribe here](https://www.ubuntu-user.com/Subscribe-Now) using the code: `EUUEM981`.
Announcing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS: The Lucid Lynx
With [Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6](https://www.ubuntu.com/testing/karmic/alpha6) now out the door and momentum building towards a rocking Karmic Koala release, it is time to name and share the direction and focus for the next step in the Ubuntu evolution that follows Karmic.
To do this I want to pass on some words from Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu project:
> Announcing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS: The Lucid Lynx
> Two years ago we announced the second LTS release, and what we hoped would become a standard practice of making LTS releases on a predictable two-year schedule, overlayed on our existing six-month schedule of desktop and server releases.
> We are now giving a name to the next Ubuntu LTS: The Lucid Lynx.
> Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will ship in April 2010 and is the culmination of significant work in Ubuntu, in Debian and across the free software ecosystem. LTS releases are maintained for five years on the server and three years on the desktop, so they are designed for those who are making larger deployments or who otherwise prefer to have a common platform for an extended period.
> Lucid will continue our tradition of focusing an LTS on a quality, stable and consistent experience and will require a number of adjustments to the usual plan. Those are documented at [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynxSchedule](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynxSchedule), the Lucid Lynx release schedule. In summary, we will be more conservative in the new code we bring into Ubuntu during the development cycle, and we will run a longer test period. Our focus will be stabilisation and bug-fixing across the platform with additional refinements in quality in key areas such as user interface improvements, boot experience, browsing and installing the incredible catalogue of software available for Ubuntu, and continuing our tradition of best-of-breed hardware support. We will maintain the health and security of our lynx with point releases.
> The Lynx is a predator that depends on very considered tactical positioning for success. It’s a small cat, which fits nicely with the lean nature of Ubuntu on both the desktop and the server. It’s stylish and sleek, the bow-tie-adorned James Bond of the feline set, so you can bet we’ll make sure it’s dressed for the occasion. The lynx likes to keep things in perspective, sticking to high ground. So do we. And it’s the national animal of Macedonia, a country that has deployed tens of thousands of Ubuntu desktops
in schools.
> Speed is an essential ingredient in the attack of a lynx, and speed remains our goal. We have improved the boot time in each of the releases during this era of Ubuntu, and expect to complete some of the major improvements required for 10 second booting with Lucid. Fully harnessing Upstart, in collaboration with Debian, will get us even closer to the goal.
> Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will be a round dozen Ubuntu releases. 12 great cycles, from a great community that continues to devote itself to the goal of bringing the best stable free software to an audience of people who don’t think of themselves as computer specialists – and shouldn’t have to, either. It’s a wonderful privilege to be part of making it happen. That should put a tuft on your ears.
> Mark
Start your engines, friends.
*Image is by Tambako the Jaguar available [here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/2703706484/sizes/l/)*
The Art of Community Available For Free Download
When I started work on *The Art of Community* I was really keen that it should be a body of work that all communities have access to. My passion behind the book was to provide a solid guide to building, energizing and enabling pro-active, productive and enjoyable communities. I wanted to write a book that covered the major areas of community leadership, distilling a set of best practices and experiences, and illustrated by countless stories, anecdotes and tales.
But to give this book real value, I was keen to ensure the book could be freely accessed and shared. I wanted to not only break down the financial barrier to the information, but also enable communities to share it to have the content be as useful as possible in the scenarios, opportunities and problems that face them. To make this happen [O’Reilly](https://oreilly.com/) needed to be on board to allow the book to be freely copied and shared, in an era in which these very freedoms threaten the publishing world.
But they came through. Thanks to the incredible support of Andy Oram, my founding editor for the book, O’Reilly were hugely supportive of the project and our desire to break down these barriers.
Today I am pleased to announce the general availability of [The Art Of Community](https://www.artofcommunityonline.org/) under a [Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) license.
With this license that the book is under you have the following freedoms with the entire content:
* to **Share** — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* to **Remix** — to adapt the work
…with a few requirements:
* **Attribution** — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* **Noncommercial** — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
* **Share Alike** — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.
While the book is ready to download right now, the book *is* available to [buy in print](https://www.amazon.com/Art-Community-Building-Participation-Practice/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251927101&sr=8-1), [on Kindle](https://www.amazon.com/The-Art-of-Community-ebook/dp/B002L4EXDI/ref=ed_oe_k), and [other electronic book formats](https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596157234/) and I would like to encourage you to buy a printed copy of the book for a few reasons:
* Firstly, buying a copy sends a tremendous message to O’Reilly that they should continue to publish books (a) about *community* and (b) under a Creative Commons license.
* Secondly, it will encourage O’Reilly to invest in a second edition of the book down the line, which will in turn mean that communities around the world will have a refreshed and updated edition that is available to them.
* Thirdly, aside from the *voting-with-your-feet* side of things, it is just a really nice book to own in print. It is really well made, looks stunning and feels great to curl up with in a coffee shop or on the couch.
The book is available to buy on all the major Amazon sites:
* [Canada](https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241305382&sr=8-1)
* [France](https://www.amazon.fr/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1241305148&sr=8-1)
* [Germany](https://www.amazon.de/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1241305095&sr=8-1)
* [Japan](https://www.amazon.co.jp/Art-Community-J-Bacon/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1241305202&sr=8-4)
* [United States](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596156715?ie=UTF8&tag=jobaho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0596156715)
* [United Kingdom](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Community-Building-New-Participation/dp/0596156715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241304996&sr=8-1)
Even if you don’t buy it, I would be hugely grateful that if you like it, please go and review it on Amazon. This is a hugely contribution. Thanks!
**You can download the *The Art of Community* [here](https://www.artofcommunityonline.org/downloads/jonobacon-theartofcommunity-1ed.pdf).**
30 Years Young
Today I turn 30.
It seems everyone has an opinion about what happens when you turn 30. Sharing my news of the imminent event with friends would usually result in sarky mutterings of “*it’s all downhill from here, boyo*”, and affirmations that hangovers feel worse, bones ache more, you get tired quicker and find yourself shouting at kids to get off your lawn. Bob Hope seemed to sum up this cornucopia of codgerly cantankerousness with “*middle age is when you still believe you’ll feel better in the morning*”. Bugger, that doesn’t sound very inspiring.
Well, screw that.
Don’t get me wrong: I am comfortable with the opportunities and limitations before me. I realize that it is unlikely that I am going to headline Wacken any time soon, I am probably not going to be as fast a drummer as I could, and I am going to have to shelve that plan for an 80’s perm.
But y’know what, life hasn’t changed that much. I still love my wife, family and friends. I love free software, metal, partying, working on interesting projects, having new experiences and supping coffee. I am still a sucker for wikipedia, dogs, PS3 and random trivia, and I still say *community* too much.
For all the perceived downsides of hitting the big three-oh, there *are* up-sides though. A little while back I was having a good ‘ol chinwag with Terri Molini from Sun and I shared with her how my perspectives have changed in recent years. I have been re-assessing old assumptions and looking at them from a new perspective, throwing away old expectations and ideas and approaching them from a new angle based on new experiences. When I shared this she said “*how old are you?*”, to which I responded “*30 in a few months*”, and she said “*yep, that pretty much happens at your age*”.
She ain’t wrong. In the last year I have felt a renewed sense of perspective in approaching my work and other aspects of my life, and this has helped me to understand the phases we go through as we get older and how we respond and react to things. I suspect…this is what happens when we *grow up*.
So, as I hit 30 I am entering middle-age actually a little excited.
Before I wrap up, I want to thank those of you who have generously bought me something from my [Amazon Wishlist](https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1HUGRJJQTFK9S). I have received *Queen – Live at Wembley Stadium DVD* and *The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher’s Edition: A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart* – thanks so much, folks, I really appreciate your generosity!
Right, I am going to tell those bloody kids to get off my lawn…
Even When Things Go Wrong, Life Is Awesome
A few days ago I started getting sick. This sucks for two reasons. Firstly, I hate being sick. Secondly I hit the big 3-0 tomorrow and I don’t want to be ill on my birthday. I have been assured my many a wise onlooker that “*being sick on your birthday is the ‘worst thing ever’*”. Don’t want any of that, particularly as we have some friends coming over for a shindig.
To make matters worse, like many others who are also testing the current development branch of Ubuntu, life got very very wobbly a few days ago and many of us are strugging to boot, gain access to the network and get X up and running. This all decided to kick off the very day I started feeling wobbly myself.
I was not a happy bunny. Feeling like crap, broken computer and in the interests of resting and getting better, I had American television to contend with. Woe was mostly firmly pointed in my direction.
It was then I realized just how truly awesome life is, even within my (frankly not very bad) circumstances. On the illness front I had a comfortable bed to rest in and a loving wife who brought me chicken soup and tea laced with honey. On the television side I could bypass the rot and misfortune that is American telly and plonk a few DVDs on, in the form of the Mallrats 10th Anniversary edition, Zodiac and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
And then Ubuntu. I grabbed my Jaunty CD, booted into the Live CD and used my trusty 2GB Mandrake USB stick that I got at PyCon in Brum and installed Jaunty to it. I then set up links, some bookmarks, installed a few apps and I was back up and running while Scott, Lamont, Colin, Steve and others have worked to get the problem fixed in Karmic. Yesterday I sat back for a moment and just marvelled at how incredible free software is and how devoted the folks who make it are. The people who were trying to resolve this were up late into their nights working hard. We are blessed to have these folks in our lives.
So the moral of this story: at times life sucks, but it is in those moments it gives us a chance to step back and see all the wonderful things around us.