[UbuntuWomen] A champion for noobs?

[Emma Jane Hogbin]

rihanha wrote:
> <thinks to self... oh thank god, its not just me. again.> I swear that
> is the kind of feedback that is so helpful. A lot of the folks in my CS
> program give off the aura that this knowledge is embedded directly in
> their DNA. I've decided a lot of folks bluster to hide the volumes of
> what they don't know.

HUGE generalization: I've found the ones who CAN'T explain something to
others are the ones who don't really understand how that thing works. In
other words: the more confusing and jargon-filled the answer is
(generally) the less the person knows.

>     > My first request is to add some links to the 'Get Involved' page,
>     'Join
>     > Us' section to point folks to further info on Launchpad, to the
>     tutorial
>     > on IRC, to more info on the wiki, etc., so that if it is unfamiliar to
>     > them, they can get more on it right away.
> 
>     Do you know what links you would include? You are absolutely welcome and
>     encouraged to edit any of the pages of the Wiki!! 
> 
> Doh - it isn't a Wiki page. Still, on the UW website...

Lyz, would it be possible to move these pages over to the Wiki? Or
perhaps we could create a "draft" version on the Wiki which is edited
and then copied back over to the main Web site? Thoughts?

> I would suggest separating the join the email list and IRC chat into two
> bullets, and tacking on a  'new to IRC?' link that points to pleia's
> tutorial http://wiki.ubuntu-women.org/Courses/IRC/.

Good idea.

> Launchpad. I have an account, I'm currently in the process of getting my
> gpg keys set up so I can join my loco team in a more 'official' manner,
> but what IS it? I haven't completely been able to get that, and I'm
> guessing we could improve on that. Wikipedia has failed me on this one,
> if anything is a bit bleak...
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launchpad_%28website%29 

To the best of my understanding: it's weird. When I first joined the
forums I had a complete freakout when I got redirected to "launchpad"
which is in no obvious way branded as Ubuntu. It is the platform used by
Canonical (which is the commercial arm of the Ubuntu project--and also
funded by Mark Shuttleworth who is the founder of Ubuntu). Someone like
Hobbsee will be able to give a lot more (technically accurate)
information about the platform.

> The best source I've found so far is the main page on launchpad. helpful
> but still unclear about why i should have an account, or what it does
> for me, or how to really navigate the site. 
> https://help.launchpad.net/FrontPage 

It's tied to your forum account, so you need it for that. You would also
use it if you were working on squashing bugs for a specific project.
It's also where you sign the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. And you can use
launchpad to help answer questions and to earn karma points. The karma
points are the only reason I keep going back to launchpad. I am part of
the gold star generation and I love getting points for participation!

> Perhaps the point here, is that it is a tool for developers and not
> required to get involved in the community at the earlier stages? Does
> anyone have a really great 'pitch' and/or explanation of Launchpad?

See above re. points. :) If you like answering questions in IRC or on
the forums you will probably also enjoy the Q&A section. Other than
that, I don't think you need to worry about it *too* much?

> I think I was  mixing up two entities... the NUN group
> <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/NewUserNetwork> that I had read about recently,
> and the Absolute Beginner Talk section of the Forums. So far, that's all
> I know of. Are there others?

Hmm. NUN seems to be pretty dead... does anyone know if the project has
closed? Wherever possible I'd love to partner with other initiatives,
but it would be good to know why they appear to have been inactive for
so long...

> I concur that all are welcome, with one stipulation - that we vow to be
> a safe place. 

Absolutely! And this is written into the Ubuntu Code of Conduct!

> My experience in computing has been a lonely and hostile
> road. I literally managed to get to my senior year in CS  (where I was
> seriously considering giving it up as a career path), when I discovered
> there were other women who were out there and could validate my
> experiences with their own. I want to see a safe place for others to go,
> without being belittled and made feel foolish just for lacking a
> technical background. The 'boys clubs' can be cruel, and oddly it seems
> to be particularly true in open source. I'd be happy to see a safe
> beginners spot, gender-neutral, that accepts everyone, and then have the
> UW as a secondary support source if needed.  And female role models?
> Well that would just rock!

That sucks you've not had a good experience. Through dumb luck and sheer
persistence I was very lucky to find wonderfully patient (male) mentors
at the beginning of my tech career. I'm glad you've persisted too!! Yay!

> Thanks for the response... Count me in if anyone is interested in
> tackling the welcome wagon issue. I'm experiencing some ebb and flow w/
> free time lately, but I'd love to get involved with a project like that.
> I need to do some follow up reading on the NUN group!

I love the idea of a welcome wagon and you've got some great ideas for
it! Let's see if we can get some of the pages shifted over to the Wiki
to make it easier to edit them. And if you could do some more reading to
see if the NUN group is still active, that would be fantastic!


regards,
emma

-- 
Emma Jane Hogbin, B.Sc.
Founder, xtrinsic
phone: (519) 371-2665
web: www.xtrinsic.com