<html> <head> <style></style></head> <body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>Thanks Bob, David <div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div>Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2013 02:24:12 -0400 From: bjonkman@sobac.com To: ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: Re-imagining <pre>One great place to find out what acronyms mean is the Acronym Finder search engine. For example: FLOSS <a href="http://www.acronymfinder.com/FLOSS.html" target="_blank">http://www.acronymfinder.com/FLOSS.html</a> IRC <a href="http://www.acronymfinder.com/IRC.html" target="_blank">http://www.acronymfinder.com/IRC.html</a> --Bob. Bob Jonkman <bjonkman@sobac.com> <a href="http://sobac.com/sobac/" target="_blank">http://sobac.com/sobac/</a> SOBAC Microcomputer Services Phone: +1-519-669-0388 6 James Street, Elmira ON Canada N3B 1L5 Cell: +1-519-635-9413 Software --- Office & Business Automation --- Consulting On 13-04-12 09:28 AM, Ralph Janke wrote: > IRC means Internet Relay Chat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat</a> > > It it a form of live interactive Internet text messaging. > > FLOSS means Free/Libre and Open Source Software <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software</a> > 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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition</a>), > 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@ubuntu.com >>> To: ubuntu-ca@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@gmail.com> >>>>> To: The Canadian Ubuntu Users Community <ubuntu-ca@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. >>>> >>>> <a href="http://askubuntu.com" target="_blank">http://askubuntu.com</a> is the official place to get support for the Ubuntu >>>> project. The legacy (but still useful) place to get support is >>>> <a href="https://answers.launchpad.net" target="_blank">https://answers.launchpad.net</a> >>>> >>> 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@lists.ubuntu.com >>>> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca</a> >>> >>> -- >>> ubuntu-ca mailing list >>> ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com >>> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca</a> >> >> -- >> ubuntu-ca mailing list >> ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com >> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca</a> > </pre> -- ubuntu-ca mailing list ubuntu-ca@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca</div> </div></body> </html>