Re-imagining

Fri Apr 12 13:28:29 UTC 2013

IRC means Internet Relay Chat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

It it a form of live interactive Internet text messaging.

FLOSS means Free/Libre and Open Source Software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software
The libre is included in order to distinguish the requirement of liberty in contrast to "free beer".

You can have closed source software that you can use without paying ("free beer"), but it would not give
the users the liberty (freedom defined in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition),
because Freedom 1 and 3 in the definition require access to the source code.

Ralph
On Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 06:03:48AM -0400, David M. Pelly wrote:
> What does "IRC"  and "FLOSS"  mean in the posts below?
> 
> 
> David
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:17:47 -0400
> > From: txwikinger at ubuntu.com
> > To: ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> > Subject: Re: Re-imagining
> > 
> > On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 06:54:15AM -0700, Randall Ross wrote:
> > > Mark Paskal wrote:
> > > > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:19:24 -0600
> > > > From: Mark Paskal <markpaskal at gmail.com>
> > > > To: The Canadian Ubuntu Users Community <ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com>
> > > > Subject: Re: Re-imagining
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I really feel that the national loco is important as the only obvious place
> > > > (that I know of, please someone correct me if I'm wrong.) for Canadian
> > > > users to get support. 
> > > That's a misconception. Mailing lists are a terrible support channel and
> > > we'd be better served if there were a "no support questions here" rule.
> > > IRC is marginally better, but not by much, and is unusable by novice
> > > Ubuntu people.
> > > 
> > > http://askubuntu.com is the official place to get support for the Ubuntu
> > > project. The legacy (but still useful) place to get support is
> > > https://answers.launchpad.net
> > > 
> > AskUbuntu is not really the place for support. The moderators there are very
> > fast in closing questions and new users are often disappointed and turn away.
> > 
> > AskUbuntu is a collection point of good re-usable questions and answers, which
> > can be helpful in some circumstances, but that does not amount to good support.
> > 
> > Support in the Ubuntu community comes on numerous places. There are mailing lists
> > specially dedicated for support, similar there are IRC channels solely for that 
> > purpose. There are fora for it. All those are  available in lots of languages
> > (which Ask Ubuntu is not -- it is solely English, -- there is a shapado section
> > for Ubuntu that is multi-lingual, but it is not very frequented).
> > 
> > Support can be given in lots of different forms. Every place has its purpose and
> > its advantages and disadvantages. And sometimes it is difficult. Not every LoCo
> > has the critical mass to do all of it. However, fortunately for us, if the questions
> > are merely about Canada specific issues, it is not overwhelming. For general 
> > questions there are enough other places that are contributed to world-wide in English.
> > 
> > I can daily questions through the contact form from the Kubuntu Germany LoCo, 
> > fortunately, there are places I can send people to get answers. The important point
> > is often not to be able to answer everything, but to send people to good places. 
> > > >
> > > > I think advocating should be left to the city groups if they exist and are
> > > > interested. Here in Calgary the only interaction I have ever had with
> > > > another Ubuntu user was making him wonder 'Why is he staring?' as I
> > > > eyeballed the sticker on his laptop bag in passing. (OMG I'M NOT THE ONLY
> > > > ONE!!) This area has two million people and I've seen the one guy.
> > > Given Ubuntu market share estimates, conservatively there are at least
> > > 20,000 people who enjoy Ubuntu in Calgary. That's enough for a *very*
> > > large group.
> > 
> > I have no clue were you make yup these numbers from. 1) 2% Linux users  is
> > just an estimate... nobody really knows. And the percentage is very likely
> > higher in Servers than in Desktops. 2) There are places that have far 
> > higher numbers, just look at South America, so there are also places with 
> > a far lower number. Making up such number and calling them conservatively
> > is not very credible.
> > > >
> > > >     Even if ubuntu-stickered-laptop-guy and I were to start a local group I
> > > > have to question the usefulness of spending time on advocacy given that
> > > > I'll be spending just as much time helping 90% of users I do manage to
> > > 
> > > I will close with a challenge for all reading this: If you are the
> > > "Sticker guy" or the "Sticker gal" in your city/town, and you want to
> > > see people freed from monopolists (with bank accounts the size of a
> > > national treasury) in your lifetime, start an Ubuntu group where you
> > > live. It's our best chance. The code has been written. We need to get it
> > > to our friends and neighbours... now.
> > > 
> > Well, recently,  Ubuntu is acting more and more monopolistic, too. Maybe
> > the *buntu community needs to grow a spine before advocacy in this direction
> > can be made again with a good conscience. 
> > 
> > Freeing people is not achieved by selling them used cars that do not fulfill
> > their needs. Freeing people is achieved by teaching them how to get the
> > best FLOSS product for their particular purpose. Sure yiou can have
> > them switch from Microsoft to some pseudo-freedom, but they will not
> > stay when they figure out what the real motivation was. And then, all
> > of the FLOSS community has been given a bad name.
> > 
> > Life is far more complicated than just some sound bites from a marketing
> > manual. Delivering what was perceived to be promised is the only way
> > to earn trust.
> > 
> > Ralph
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > > -- 
> > > ubuntu-ca mailing list
> > > ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > ubuntu-ca mailing list
> > ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca
>  		 	   		  

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