<html> <head> <style></style></head> <body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>If Linux and Ubuntu ever want to succeed, they have to have mass appeal. And to have mass appeal they have to be operable by "dummies". That means easily operable by non techies or non nerds. It has to be very user friendly. It has to have systems and procedures that are simple, common sense and second nature. And self explanatory. As a non techie, or non nerd I find Ubuntu quite non user friendly. Ubuntu assumes that the user has a good back ground in computer think or geek think. And I find it very frustrating when using Ubuntu beyond web surfing and email. For example, when you hover your cursor over something, I would like to see a pop up window with clear simple layman's language instructions on what this thing does and anything else I need to know to get maximum use out of it. For example: I find Libre Office so dysfunctional, so full of bugs and limitations that I feel like throwing it out the widow, some times. The problems are so numerous and complex that I find it impractical to explain what they are. I wonder if any one ever tried to use it? The ubuntu experts have to learn to think from a non techie - non nerd, viewpoint to make it user friendly. Like when I buy a car I just want to get in, start it up and drive. I don't want to have to go to automobile engineering school, to learn how to use the car. And when I have a problem and make a complaint, I don't want to be looked at as if I am stupid, and how come I did not know that, or you should know that. My experienced has been that when I have asked for help on this list, I usually get some responses that are offensive, insulting and unprofessional and even abusive. And some that make me feel stupid and regret that I asked. I get some in a language I do not understand. (Like the responder wants to show off, how good he can communicate in "geek speak". And I get some answers that I can see that the responder does not understand the problem. Getting a sensible and understandable answer has been a rare exception. I would like to see a forum or an easy to use "report a bug" venue. (I think I have seen a few instances where I think it was "windows" that has artificial intelligence that sees that you have run into a problem, and pops up an automatic "report problem" button. Maybe this feature can be used in some cases. Maybe there can be made a program that can take a "picture" of your problem and send it to the programers by simply clicking on a "send" button'. Another suggestion is to have a "let us know how we can improve Ubuntu" forum. Like: "we welcome all complaints and suggestions" . Like: "we operate on the principle that: our critics are our best teachers". In order to make Ubuntu better, we need to know what problems you run in to. We urge you to make your problems and complaints known to us. Only this way can we make everything better. Another suggestion is: Send detailed "user satisfaction" questionnaires to users. Have a list of 10- 20 or what ever number of questions are required and a 1-10 rating of satisfaction. And an option for comment on each question. Like more and more organizations are sending to their customers and users. and Tell us what you think? forums. I would also like to see a place .... something on the order of: "How to get the most out of your Ubuntu ?" I find the existing forums confusing and intimidating. That is my two cents worth. David <div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div>> Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 16:39:02 -0400 > From: txwikinger@ubuntu.com > To: ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com > Subject: Re: Fwd: DVD news > > On Fri, Apr 05, 2013 at 02:07:40PM -0400, Darcy Casselman wrote: > > No DVDs for 13.04 (even if we did bother to get re-approved). > > > > Darcy. > > > > Well, does this really matter? > > and now the tl;dr version of it ;-) > > I think we need to come back to why we were willing to start this community > in the first place. When I started to contribute to *buntu, this community > did not have the presense it has today nor the expectation that are placed > today. > > Please keep in mind nothing what I say is to be taken as criticism, but > it is more a reflection of the long time I have spend in the *buntu community. > > Any relationship needs work, and any relationship is based on negotiation. Over > the time things change, and people's situations and goals change. This is true > in different levels for any relationship, with a spouse or partner, but also > in employer/employee relationships, between colleagues and even in a parent/child > relationship. Similarly, in the core we have to see any community as a form > of relationship (or relationships). > > In any relationship, there is on fundamental truth. If it is supposed to be > long-lasting and functional (some people seem to like disfunctional ;-) ) > it needs to be based on a win-win. (More techniques how to make this happen > can be read in Stephen Covey's 7 Habits series of books). In order to find > win-win solutions, negotiations are essential, and it is not easy, because > most of the time it is not the compromise that is the solution, but something > better than that for all parties (Covey says a compromise is like a bit of losing > for everbody, and not really a win for anybody). However, this aside, it also > must be understood what the different expectations are, and that those expectations > will inevitable will change. > > I think, Mark said very clearly in his blog post http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1228 > that he is not interested to meet the expectation of everybody in the community (As a sidenote, > it sounds very pretentious for a multi-millionaire to call others the 1337 crowd -- I think > the non-1337 crowed are people who worry about paying their bills and saying for being > able to send their kids to college, but again, everything is a matter of perspective.) > > And I even agree with the fundamental principle stated in this post, even I would phrase > it differently. Mark has changed his goals during the journey that the *buntu community > has taken (even some of my friends in the Kubuntu community might say, it was always like > this --- but I do not want to restart old wounds.) While at the beginning it was imperative > to build a community in order to get the traction, maybe this is not the first thing on the > mind when Mark looks at what he is doing. On the other hand, if Mark's goal would be achievable > just with the number of people he can pay out of wealth, or future revenue, he could decide > to do this too. I do not know if this is realistic or not, and I do not want to speculate > about it, nor do I want to speculate what exact weight Mark is putting on the value > of the *buntu community (outside Canonical) or the LoCos. The only thing I am saying is, > every businessman will re-evaluate a new situation. And as I said above, re-evaluation > is important for any relationship, be it one-on-one or in a group, in any case. > > I do not think, I have ever made a secret of my own feelings, that I do not like a > unifying environment (I talk about desktop and mobile devices) only because of the > sake of "unity" (not sure if the pun is intended or not -- I will think about it :-D .) > > However, I have similar disagreements with the direction of KDE in a lot of ways. So. > I guess I am indiscriminatory in finding groups or people to disagree with :-). However, > there I stop. It does not stop me to contribute what I contribute even I do not agree > even with the majority of things going on. Synergies can always be found, and relationship > can always be re-negotiated, as the intensity of contributions. > > So.. this is not in any way a farewell to *buntu.. sorry you have to let me annoy y'all > a little bit longer. However, I rather would put out the challenge for everybody, as > well as the Canadian LoCo and the KW chapter of it, as well as everybody individually, > to reflect a little and start the re-negoatiation process. > > We are all volunteers. It is upon us, what we do and what we don't do. DVDs or whatever > promotional items is not the reason why we have ever joined the *buntu community... hence > my lead in: does this really matter? > > Let's think about what works for us and what works for our local community. Let's think > how we can help and inspire each other with what our own goals are. A lot of this will > never be in any way detrimental to the *buntu community at large. Hence, it is fine, to > figure out what will be the win-win in it. If we want to do a release party, lets have > one.. some people might even want to have rolling release parties.. more power to you if > you think this :-D > > If we want to have global jams, fine, if we don't.. not a big deal either. That is the all > part of the re-negotiation process. There do not need to be tantrum, there do not need to > be people leaving in rage. There do not need to be any heated discussions, flamewars or > any other nonsense that is a waste of time. We can just say.. this is want we or I are > willing to do, and well I think it also means there is nothing wrong with having a little > bit broader discussion about what our groups mean. I never understood a LoCo or the *buntu > community being a group of people drinking the Kool-Aid of one person or one board. > > So instead of starting the discussion (which I unfortunately did above) about DVDs or such > things, I think we should start the discussion of what we want to do. What are our interests? > Does it makes sense to maybe share some more technical things than we have in KWLUG? Do we > find some projects we all would like to work on together, maybe teaching each other better > Agile techniques or the latest TDD/BDD stuff? I don't know... but let's just start from > scratch and brainstorm. There are lots of ways to contribute to the *buntu community... let's > do the things that we like to do, and let's not get to hung up on changes that we > cannot control (Oh.. another shot at a book recommendation.. Who moved my cheese?) > > So let's get this discussion rolling.... ;-) > > Just my 2 Candian cents .. minted or not minted .. hopefully still valuable :-D > > Ralph > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > From: Laura Czajkowski <laura@lczajkowski.com> > > Date: Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 1:22 PM > > Subject: DVD news > > To: "Ubuntu local community team (LoCo) contacts" < > > loco-contacts@lists.ubuntu.com> > > > > > > Aloha folks, > > > > A number of people have been asking for an update on the 13.04 DVD > > allocation, the LoCo Council contacted Canonical to see what was > > happening this cycle. > > Below is the mail we were asked to share with people from Canonical. > > > > ============================================================================================================ > > Hi all, > > > > This is just to let you know that going forward, Canonical will not be > > producing DVDs for standard releases.We understand that to > > convert interested experimenters to Ubuntu users we need to provide > > and outstanding initial user-experience, and the ability for the user > > to > > explore and learn in safety with a supporting network of experts > > around them. The LoCo teams are a key to that second part as you > > provide a personal experience that's local to the user. > > > > While we love users to be on the latest version of Ubuntu, the key > > thing for new users is a known, stable and supported environment. So > > to make sure we > > provide that we'll be shipping you the LTS release CDs rather than the > > latest standard release. > > > > Therefore, there won't be DVDs for 13.04 as going forward our focus > > will be on LTS releases. The next production of DVDs will be 14.04. To > > bridge the gap till 14.04,we will continue to supply 12.04 DVDs for > > events. You can request DVDs for events through Shipit as > > normal.[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuAtConferences] > > > > Thank you for your continued and valuable support in making Ubuntu great. > > > > Michelle > > > > =============================================================================================================== > > > > Laura > > > > -- > > Laura Czajkowski https://wiki.ubuntu.com/czajkowski > > LoCo Council Member > > Community Council Member > > > > > > -- > > loco-contacts mailing list > > loco-contacts@lists.ubuntu.com > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts > > > -- > > ubuntu-ca mailing list > > ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca > > > -- > ubuntu-ca mailing list > ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca </div> </div></body> </html>