Re-imagining

[Ralph Janke]

On Sun, Apr 07, 2013 at 12:39:00PM -0700, Randall Ross wrote:
> It's nice to see this list come alive with stuff other than requests for
> help.
> 
> That aside, as people are re-imagining, perhaps everyone in Canada that
> loves Ubuntu needs to begin asking this question of themselves:
> 
>     "Of my three closest friends and family members, how many enjoy
> Ubuntu on a daily basis?"
> 

All of them.. But what does this proof? What is the point of it? As it
was said in a very good movie before.. If you build it, they will come.

The problem with the Ubuntu community is that it is falling apart. Advocacy
will not make this working. At this time Mint has far more hits than 
Ubuntu has. I wonder why that is the case. I do not see a lot of Advocacy
going on at Mint. However, they seem to build stuff that people are
willing to come for.

> Ubuntu advocacy and adoption (the software, the philosophy, and the
> project) starts locally. In other words, "You can't change the world if
> you can't change your world."
> 
> Once the above is answered and solved, I suggest that you ask the question:
> 
>     "Why is there no Ubuntu group in my city? There are more than enough
> people here to have one."
> 

There is an Ubuntu group in this city.. But again.. what is the point, if
it does not contribute to what is built and what people are willing to come for.

> Ubuntu is not a national construct. It has nothing to do with our flag.
> It does not care if your government is in Ottawa or in Tripoli or in Taipei.
> 
> Nor is Ubuntu a stare at your screen construct. Ubuntu is personal and
> face-to-face. Find your friends, families, neighbours, co-workers, and
> anyone else in your town who wants technology to work for people (and
> not vice-versa) and gather them. Do it often. Form a community that
> meets face-to-face and spreads Ubuntu where you live. The rest will follow.
> 
> Over time, cities can band together and create bigger teams, if and when
> that makes sense for Ubuntu.
> 
> Cheers,
> Randall
> Ubuntu Vancouver Buzz Generator.
> 

Well.. First it needs to work. It is very ineefficent to support non-techs
with something that does not work very well for myself. And mutt is certainly
not an e-mail client to give to non-technical users, but this is the only
one, I am able to connect to my e-mail accounts.

At one point Linux was measured on if it was easier to connect to a Printer
than Windows... Well, it is now... however, there is still far too much stuff
that does not work very well. Mint seem to do a lot of good things in that direction,
Ubuntu has regressed a little in this regard, I have to say.

Also, everything has to be seen in the wider concept. We are not all Mark Shuttleworths
with unlimited budgets. Some of us have to pay bills and trying to send kids to college.
Why should I put my efforts into something (Advocacy) that does not help me to
achieve my immediate goals, nor is shown any appreciation for by the powers to be.

The best advocacy is to build something that they will come for and treat them with the
respect the expect. Far more valuable to try to try to convince people to do something
they have no interest to do (irrelevant if it is good for them or not).

I have been with Ubuntu for a long time, and I likely will be there for a long future, 
but I have seen a lot of things change, and not all of them are for the better. However,
I remember that advocacy was not the issue when we were building things that people
would come for. And being called 1337 crowd for wanting basic functionality to work is
not very appealing either.

Just my 2 Candian cents, minted or non minted, this is the question!

Ralph

> -- 
> ubuntu-ca mailing list
> ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca