An Open Letter to the Ubuntu-au Members

[James Purser]

On Fri, 2006-05-05 at 22:18 +1000, Robert Stoffers wrote:
> Yes, I agree that it is nice to be able to point to local commercial 
> support if we are asked about it. It would also be nice to not be 
> influenced in any way, which currently isn't the case. Solutions First 
> own both the domain name ubuntu.com.au and hence the registered business 
> name in this country "Ubuntu". This gives them an unfair advantage and 
> control over other Linux support companies we could also suggest and to 
> add to that I believe we have several employees who also toe the company 
> line within the team also (happy to be corrected on this). I would like 
> to see Ubuntu empowering the entire local ICT industry, not just one 
> local company riding the wave of free publicity and marketing whist 
> making a quick buck.
> 
> This latest "plan" to push for registered not-for-profit status does not 
> benefit the community at all. The only tangible benefit was point three 
> of the plan which only serves to help business such as Solutions First 
> pimp their support products to other businesses and government. The 
> worst part of this is that the Australian Ubuntu Loco Team would be 
> doing all of the marketing/hard work whist Solutions First sits back and 
> profits, all the time the team thinking they are doing this for the good 
> of Ubuntu and Linux. This stinks quite frankly and should be stopped.

Rob, really you need to look at the people involved and talk to them. I
don't work for Solutions First, in fact I work for myself. I would like
to make money supporting Ubuntu because I believe it represents an
excellent product for both business and government. Canonical itself has
had the creation of support networks as one of its central tenents for a
while now.

As to Solutions First sitting back and profiting, dude, no one in the
ICT industry "sits back" and profits. Even MS has to spend time
spreading the FUD before it can make a buck. Solutions First and other
companies have been working their arses off to get Open Source Software
into the halls of power.

I have met both Dave Kempe and Matt Palmer. Neither have them have
struck me as particularly bastard like(except maybe Matts beard, but
that's only because it's better than my paltry effort :)).

Bringing the matter back to the original issue, I have been watching the
list for a little while(since I spoke with Yuki for the podcast) and
ubuntu-au strikes me as a bunch of bright, intelligent people without a
real direction. You guys need to decide whether you are here to support
the "social projects" type users, the typical "Aunt Betty" type users or
are going to run a broader church, including business and government
interests.
-- 
James Purser
Producer/Presenter - Linux Australia Update
http://james.k-sit.com - My Blog
http://k-sit.com - My IT Consultancy
http://localfoss.org - LA Update Podcast, LUG Roundup and more
Skype: purserj1977
SIP: 736855 at fwd.pulver.com
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