[ubuntu-za] Downloads, repos and CDs

[maia grotepass]

As some of you may know, Canonical is no longer sending shipit CDs. We
are an approved LoCo so we do get CDs sent to the LoCo contact and we
are doing our best to get as many CDs for the different universities
and groups that need CDs.

This is sad for all of us because bandwidth is so expensive in South Africa.

There is something we can do, we can share. Our knowledge and our
bandwidth with each other.

If you are part of a university try to get the university to mirror
the repos and get them on an external disk to share with other people.

Register on http://ubuntu-za.org/get-ubuntu if you have isos. So
people in your area can connect with you to get files.

If there are a few people in an area using the same version you can
set up one of the machines as a caching server then take turns to
sponsor the downloads and update from the caching server.

I am sure people have more ideas on how to get this to work.

For a start Nick is trying to organise a release party in Pretoria. Is
there anyone near him who can help him get isos or repos? contact him
on nick.michael at ptaisp.co.za

Also important, please keep having little community events, document
them and let the list know about it so we can collect info to help
argue why we should be an approved LoCo. No event is too small to
build connection with fellow Ubuntu users and potential Ubuntu users.

The power of the community lies in people connecting and helping each
other whether or not we get CDs or stickers or banners. It lies in
spending time with like minded people and everybody doing what they
can, spreading the load.

Maia