[ubuntu-za] Ubuntu-ZA Moving Forward

[Johan Mynhardt]

Hi everyone,

On 11 April 2010 20:01, David Rubin <drubin at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> I have been thinking of a few ways to improve Ubuntu-ZA. So I would
...
> === Choices for moving forward ===
> 1) Set up a new media wiki
> 2) Set up a proper CMS ie Drupal
> 3) Use http://wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamZA/
> 4) Do nothing
>
> == Plan ==
> We are going to switch over to a proper  CMS for our home page. In the
> ...
> The pretty home page is something that
> I feel strongly about since it is the first thing new users see.

What is the possibility that we have the best of both worlds? What I
mean by this is that when having a mediawiki-wiki the syntax is
relatively easy and straight forward with regards to linking and
creating tables, lists, well, complex stuff, while with the use of a
"normal" CMS like drupal you provide users with limited markup (no
full html markup allowed) as to not complicate things. I might be a
bit outdated on the details of drupal-style article-formatting but to
get the same kind of results in drupal as in a mediawiki-wiki you need
to work on it. As for normal articles I prefer drupal. The entire
article appears simple and clean.

So in short, wiki for technical stuff, drupal for informational/regular stuff.

This is just an observation, as I know it will increase the need for
helping hands, while what we actually want is less maintenance :P

>
> === Hosting ===
> The next thing we need to decide on is the hosting environment. Do we
> continue to use the shared hosting that Jonathan has been providing to
> us at no cost or do we switch over to a VPS/other shared hosting? What
> ever we choose it would need to be sponsored, see the Financial point
> below.
>
> === Financial ===
> Ubuntu-za currently has no budget maybe this was intentional since
> managing a budget does involved additional work, i.e. we can't pay for
> hosting requirements, printing fliers/posters/cd's. I think that
> ubuntu-za should have a "budget", but exactly how we do this I don't
> really know.
>

I suggest we have a system where we can donate say, every 3 months or
once a term. In that way you don't have the "burden" of doing
something monthly or donating an amount once-off that you can't really
do with a smile. I for one will commit to the suggestion :)

> Do we:
> 1) Set up a dedicated bank account,
> 2) Set up a paypal account,
> 3) Appoint a person to keep track of the funds (publicly) and just
> keep the money safe, or
> 4) Hide some money under a bed.
>

Personally I feel the most comfortable with *Option 1*.

...
>
> Hope to get some good comments and suggestions
> ~ David Rubin
>
>

Kind Regards

-- 
Johan Mynhardt

+2772 432 8108 |johanmynhardt[at]gmail.com
http://flug.org.za | http://nuvolari.co.za | http://johanmynhardt.co.za/
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