LoCo on Launchpad

[Neil Coetzer]

On Sat, 2010-07-24 at 00:06 -0400, Indigo196 wrote:
> That is a common issue that I have faced as well. I think it is critical
> to help people feel valuable. I have attempted to do this by encouraging
> folks to attend IT related events like Bar Camps and talk about their
> experiences with Ubuntu.
> 
> Do you have Linux or Computer User Groups in your area? Perhaps help
> folks understand that knowing how to create a presentation, while not
> highly technical, is a desired skill that Computer User Groups would
> want to know about.
> 
> Perhaps have them get involved with the Ubuntu Beginners Team -- which
> seeks to help new users; folks that are experienced users, but not
> technical gurus will quickly see how much their knowledge can still be
> useful in a growing and dynamic community.
> 
> Best of luck,
> Charles

Thanks very much Charles.

We unfortunately don't have many other Linux or computer-related groups
in this country. There was a LUG a few years back, but this faded into
obscurity with the political and economic decline of the country, mostly
because a lot of the people involved emigrated overseas. So our little
LoCo is about as lively as it gets at the moment :) The only other group
is the Computer Society of Zimbabwe, of which the LoCo is now an
honorary institutional member, but this is more of a professional
association than a "user group". We have fostered a good relationship
with them though and have worked together on a couple of projects in the
last year.

I love the idea of getting guys involved on the Ubuntu Beginners Team,
but unfortunately only 3 people on the LoCo, as far as I know, have
Internet access at home, and some of the guys only have Internet when
they go to cafes, etc. so this is a little problematic too. We are
hoping that Internet will become more affordable in the next year or two
though, with the laying of the new under-sea fibre along the Eastern
coast of Africa. These are also the same reasons that it's quite
difficult for us to document our team activities and upload photos, etc.
However, these are just challenges that we have to deal with, and we do
hope that it will change in the near future! Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the input.

Cheers,
Neil