[Ubuntu-BD] The get together of Ubuntu and Mint users

[Junayeed Ahnaf]

On Thursday, July 01, 2010 10:59:44 am Shabab Mustafa wrote:
> Dear Comrades,
> 
> Hope you are all fine.
> 
> I guess we all know about Ubuntu T-shirt project (thanks to Lenin bro for
> his posts). By this project we have experienced some extra ordinary
> experiences and the response was times more than our expectations. Not only
> from Dhaka, but also from all over the country. Some came to Dhaka in
> morning bus, bought 2 pieces of T-shirt and returned in the evening bus.
> And the interesting part is, that was the first time that he traveled to
> Dhaka in his life. And this is only one story of several.
> 
> This kind of responses proves that the level of interest of people in
> Ubuntu and Linux Distros has been increased at a geometric progression in
> last few months. Even people, who always stayed silent in online
> communities, expressed interest about Ubuntu this time.
> 
> By receiving this kind of responses, personally me and Shahriar felt an
> communal responsibility for these people. So, last past few days we were
> brainstorming about how we can do something. By then we got an idea for
> arranging a get together to meet and greet out silent friends.
> 
> The Idea
> ------------
> Well, idea is simple. This time we will meet, chat, discuss, enjoy movies
> and do similar easy going things. This will be not anything like ‘release
> party’ or similar type of gathering. There will be no training or
> demonstration type of thing. We will laugh and make others laugh. Something
> likes a fun carnival. :D
> 
> In this course, I have contacted with our brothers of LinuxMint-BD to join
> with us ( thanks to Ayon Khan and Raju bhai aka the hungrycoder ). And they
> also interested and got excited, too. So, this one gonna be a gathering of
> both Ubuntu and LinuxMint users. And we gave it a name: ‘বন্টু-মিন্টুর
> আড্ডা’ :D
> 
> What will we do?
> -----------------------
> Well, there are several ideas.
> 
> 1.    Introduce to ourselves. Meet and know our buddies.
> 
> 2.    Enjoy a documentary film together. Selected ‘Revolution OS’ with
> Bangla subtitles for screening this time.
> 
> 3.    Experience sharing. Most of us have tons of experiences about Linux.
> How we know about Linux, how much we struggle with it, interesting
> experiences about Linux advocacy and motivating others etc.
> 
> 4.    Discuss about future plans. What we can do next to spread out the
> message of FOSS and Linux.
> 
> 5.    Few words from the representative our affiliates and associates.
> 
> 6.    A temporary shop for collecting Ubuntu and LinuxMint T-shirts,
> Customized DVDs including necessary software (thanks to Shazed bhai),
> Printed user guides (depending on availability of current version)
> 
> 7.    May be enjoying some snacks together. (depending on getting sponsor
> for that)
> 
> When and Where?
> --------------------------
> We have found 22nd of July, Friday is convenient. Venue is not set yet,
> because we have no idea about exact number of participants. Primary plan is
> to run a registration campaign to get the idea of that. My personal guess
> is no less than 200 after 3 weeks of campaign / promotion.
> 
> Some Explanations
> -----------------------------
> A.    First question is ‘Why movie show?’ Well, the experience says that a
> lot of people out there who are convinced and preaching others about FOSS.
> But many of them have no clear idea about FOSS philosophy and history. So,
> I think ‘Revolution OS’ is a fantastic Documentary for knowing these
> things. And people love to see video together. We have noticed that in
> Jaunty Release Party when we showed the ‘Big Buck Bunny’ and the really
> enjoyed it.
> 
> B.    The customized DVD plan was a long planned thing. It will be
> available in IDB for buy soon (Thanks to Jamil bhai). It can be handy to
> get those DVD in our get together.
> 
> Some progresses and analysis
> ----------------------------------------------
> A.    As you know ‘Revolution OS’ is not a free film to get. It’s DVD can
> be found on Amazon.com and some other online shop, which costs $22
> excluding postal charge. And there is no convenient way to get those DVD
> legally. Under this circumstance, I personally contacted with the Director
> J.T.S. Moore regarding this issue. Mr Moore was kind enough to give us
> permission for screening of ‘Revolution OS’ with a condition of not to
> copy and re-distribute the file. I convey the gratitude to Mr Moore on
> behalf of the community.
> 
> B.    We already have 70 Pieces of Ubuntu T-shirt in stock and another 60
> for LinuxMint will be available soon.
> 
> C.    As Ankur Bangladesh previously expressed interest to sponsor programs
> of Ubuntu-BD, I have talked with them casually about the snacks sponsorship
> and they said to send them a mail about the plan. I am forwarding this mail
> 
> D.    We may need some sponsorship/arrangement for Projector and Sound
> system if the venue (yet to be fixed) doesn’t have those facilities.
> 
> This is the things/progress happened so far. We have 3 weeks for promotion
> of this event to reach the event news to all. There is a fair chance become
> the biggest gathering of Linux User's this time. So, we need to work hard.
> And we need some volunteers to make this event successful, too.
> 
> So, anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> I am adding Raju bhai in CC of this mail, pretending that he is not
> subscribed in this list yet. Requesting Raju bhai to join with us and
> participate in discussion.
> 
> Cheers,
> ---
> Shabab Mustafa

Looks like it'll be a blast! I'm on it man.

-- 
Regards-
Junayeed Ahnaf Nirjhor
Documentation Team,
Linux Mint Bangladesh,
Bogra.