Got it! the invite to edit the page should be in your inbox. Let me know if it doesn't work. David
On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 11:10 PM, Ace Suares <[email protected]> wrote: > Please share with [email protected] > > thx! > > ace > > David Groos wrote: > > Jordan, I really appreciate your focus on community and working on > > growing it. As I believe Lns. once said, the thing special about > > Edubuntu isn't the software but the community. I've learned a lot about > > the history of Edubuntu and the community which uses it and has > > developed it. To grow a community one must know the community and while > > there may be a few people here who do know all, is there a page, a > > single page, with an overview of the different categories of community > > members, who they are, their needs, strengths and knowledge? > > > > I've watched these many dozens of e-mails these last few days, pondering > > my role in it all. Still not sure but as a teacher one of my strengths > > is organizing information, 'scaffolding' learning and growing > > communities. So... I propose that we need to increase our arsenal of > > supportive software. Really, the main collaborative tools of this > > community are a wiki, list server, and launchpad, right? We need tools > > with additional affordances. Googledocs is great with it's wysiwyg > > editor, simultaneous editing, easy sharing and versioning. I recommend > > we use this googledoc: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgschn8x_11gtf4ddgc > > to create an easily editable page to provide an overview of the people > > who make up the community. I'd like to 'share' this document so all > > members of the edubuntu community can edit the document. If you would > > like to edit it, e-mail me and I'll share it with the e-mail you give me. > > > > Yours in Education, > > > > David > > > > On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 6:54 PM, Jordan Mantha <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:05 PM, R. Scott Belford<[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > For what it is worth, it is now nearly a year since I tracked down > > > every key Canonical employee I could find at Linuxworld 2008, both > at > > > the conference and at after-hours events, to communicate two > > messages: > > > the state of Edubuntu and its User community was having an > *adverse* > > > *impact* on the adoption of gnu/linux in education, particularly > in > > > thin-client environments,and that two people should be hired - > Gavin > > > and Asmo. As Ace observed, he actually thought Gavin worked for > > > Canonical. I used to think so, too. Asmo has been instrumental > at > > > greeting and inspiring new users and help-seekers on this list, > > and he > > > likes Frank Zappa. > > > > Gavin and Asmo are both great guys and I would love to see people > like > > them employed to work on Edubuntu. However, Mark Shuttleworth has > > indicated to me that Canonical will not be employing anybody to work > > on Edubuntu for the foreseeable future so I think any paid developers > > are going to have to come from some other source. Edubuntu hasn't had > > a paid developer in over a year and it has shown. > > > > The state of Edubuntu for the last year or so hasn't been that great. > > I don't think anybody involved with the project would disagree. The > > problem has been that every attempt to get development rebooted has > > not gone so well. I don't expect every Edubuntu user to be a bug > > filer, doc writer, packager, etc. but *some* people in the community > > needs to step up to make things happen. There are way more good ideas > > than hands to implement them. > > > > There seems to be this eternal struggle between Edubuntu users and > > developers. Edubuntu users are frustrated with how slow development > > goes and how bugs/issues critical to them are not being addressed. > > They feel like their voices are not being heard and that perhaps > > developers just don't understand their situation. Perhaps they feel > > that Edubuntu's full potential is not being realized, especially if > > they've invested a lot of time, effort, and reputation in Edubuntu. > > > > In contrast, Edubuntu developers see day after day where Edubuntu > > could be improved, where cracks are showing, and where new features > > could be developed but feel powerless to actually do anything about > > it. They are frustrated to see the same complaints time and time > > again. They are demotivated when 19 out of 20 times when a user comes > > to them it is to report a problem, complain about Edubuntu, or even > > attack the quality of their work. They may feel that users > > misunderstand that resources are the limiting factor, not a lack of > > recognition of problem or the desire to fix them. And when they try > to > > inspire the user community to contribute towards fixing those > problems > > that they are bringing they are met with a lackluster response. > > > > So the question that has been racking my mind for the last two years > > or so is, how do we take these two populations of people who have a > > lot of negative perceptions towards each other and towards Edubuntu > > and turn them into a fun, functional, and productive community that > is > > well-placed to be a dominate force for bringing the best open source > > has to offer to the world-wide educational community? > > > > Obviously I don't have a good answer to this as I've spent countless > > hours working on and in the Edubuntu community of the last few years > > and it has not really improved. I do have a few thoughts about what > > possible solutions might look like though. I think there are both > > technical and social solutions that could be involved: > > > > * evaluation of the current state of Edubuntu, what are its current > > strengths and weaknesses? > > * finish the Edubuntu Strategy Document, but maybe trying to involve > > the user community more. > > * perhaps going further and develop a roadmap that outlines > > specific, actionable steps for the next couple releases that > > emphasizes regaining ground in terms of quality and community > > development. > > * analysis of the current development processes and especially the > > barriers to entry for contribution. Some barrier will always exist > but > > we should try to remove unnecessary ones > > * assess the user < -- > developer communication channels to see if > > a big disconnect exists > > * encourage a positive, respectful, and constructive community. > > Basically, if all you say is negative you end up just being a grumpy > > negative person. If users can learn to trust that developers do > indeed > > want to do the best by their users and if developers can take a step > > back and put themselves in the user's shoes for a bit I think we'd > all > > be better off. It's not like we're all running around yelling at each > > other 24x7 but I think we could maybe try to improve the tone on the > > mailing lists and IRC. > > * encourage leadership and taking ownership of Edubuntu tasks > > * develop decent documentation and procedures for handling drive-by > > contributions > > > > I'm sure there are many others but that's what came from the top of > > my mind. > > > > > Some of the Canonical staff who received my message last year are > on > > > this list. I hope that someone is listening. > > > > They might be, but there's not a lot Canonical staff can really do at > > this point. > > > > > Oh, and for the record, Most Schools Block IRC Making it an > > Impossible > > > Communication Venue for Teachers Needing Support. > > > > > > With Aloha and Respect and an Undying Passion for the Adoption of > > FOSS > > > in the the K12 Environment > > > > > > --scott > > > > > > -- > > > edubuntu-users mailing list > > > [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users > > > > > > > -- > > edubuntu-users mailing list > > [email protected] <mailto: > [email protected]> > > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users > > > > > > > -- > edubuntu-users mailing list > [email protected] > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users >
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