LoCo Team

[Neil Coetzer]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Fanuel for his comments on the web pages. I hope to be
building on these in days to come so that we can provide some valuable
content for any interested parties. 

As per the Ubuntu Community Code of Conduct
(http://www.ubuntulinux.org/community/conduct), I do feel that it's
important that all "stakeholders" in the Zim community have an equal
opportunity for input and are free to take part in whatever way they
feel comfortable with. In line with this, I would be grateful for any
and all input that other members might have regarding the wiki page.
What I have posted there regarding the goals of the Zim LoCo team is
purely my own opinion at this point. Since the true number of Ubuntu
users in Zim is almost impossible to know, I don't feel that we're ready
to take on anything more ambitious just yet. However, if anyone
disagrees or if anyone has any proposed changes to the page at any time,
please feel free to express these opinions.

I'm fairly certain that there are a good number of Ubuntu users in the
country, but I think we have all, up to this point, been operating "on
our own". In order for us to establish a successful Loco Team, I think
it is important that we gather together as many users as possible, so
that we can be sure that our actions truly represent the wishes of the
community, and not our own personal agendas. At the end of the day, our
prime objective is to spread the spirit of Ubuntu and Free/Open Source
software within Zimbabwe.

It must be clarified at this point that the Zimbabwe LoCo Team and the
ubuntu-zw mailing list are very different things. The mailing list is
for all Ubuntu users to gain access to information and community support
while the LoCo Team volunteers will be the people who drive the growth
and popularity of Ubuntu and provide support wherever possible within
the local community. For those who are not clear on what LoCo Teams are
all about, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCo. At this point the
Zimbabwe Team is open to anyone who feels that they will be willing/able
to make a contribution of any sort. As the team grows, it will be
necessary to organise ourselves and we might possibly, with enough
members, be able to sub-divide the team into different project groups.
For example, we will very possibly reach a point when we decide that
local translations of Ubuntu and application software are required and
we could have one team dedicated to this task, while another 'sub-team'
concentrates on promoting Ubuntu in their areas. With enough expertise
and talent, we could one day even provide our own customised version
within Zim. After all, most of us are Ubuntu enthusiasts for one simple
reason: the possibilities are limitless!

With all this in mind, please think about whether or not you would be
willing and able to contribute as a member of the LoCo team. The more
technical users might like to develop Ubuntu-based applications (one
that would be very useful is a decent payroll package perhaps) while
others work on Shona/Ndebele translations, while others work on
demonstrations, fliers and hand-outs or even GNOME desktop themes with a
uniquely Zimbabwean feel. I also feel that educational institutions
should be a primary concern, and it might be an idea to eventually have
a sub-team dedicated to Edubuntu development/growth/support. (I also
feel strongly that Ubuntu-based ICDL training software is a necessity).
With so many different possibilities, almost all of us can contribute in
a way that suits us - it is imperative that whatever we decide to offer
as team members, we have to enjoy what we're doing. For instance, the
areas I would like to look at personally right now, are getting together
some brochures and such that we can use when conducting demos. Ideally,
it would be very useful (and impressive) if we had an "Introduction
Pack" that we could hand out to interested individuals and
organisations. Aside from printed material, this would include free
Ubuntu discs. Something that we could perhaps look at doing is also
providing software repositories on CD (primarily for updates and more
"common" applications) due to the unreliable and generally slow state of
Zimbabwean Internet access, keeping in mind that most Zimbabweans are
still on dial-up. Conversely, I wouldn't like to spend too much time on
support myself, but there might be someone else who would. 

In summary, if you feel that you have something to offer as a member of
the LoCo team, please feel free to volunteer and let us know exactly
which areas you would be interested in participating in. Off the top of
my head, I would think the main areas to choose from are:

Support (via mailing list, and eventually IRC channel and online forum)
Development (Ubuntu-based applications, region-specific modifications,
desktop themes, usplash themes, GRUB themes, etc.)
Translations (into local languages)
Promotion (Demonstrations, functions, preparation of promotional
material, liaison with hardware suppliers for compatible/pre-installed
systems, etc.)
Production/supply of media (installation discs, repository discs,
documentation discs, etc.)

There are most likely a number of areas that I haven't thought of, so go
ahead and make suggestions if that's the case. I would like to start
listing team members on the LoCo page in the next week or so, so please
let me know via e-mail as soon as possible if you would like to be a
part of it. Of course, if you don't join now, you can always come in at
a later stage but it would be nice to get this off the ground. Once we
have a decent number of volunteers, we can then better organise
ourselves and establish a solid foundation to begin building on.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Neil

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