Op donderdag 22-10-2009 om 11:01 uur [tijdzone +0200], schreef Neil Coetzer: > 1. For those without broadband, which is most people Zimbabwe, > upgrading via the net isn't even *almost* an option. Even with local > "broadband" our speeds leave a lot to be desired, and I have had at > least one attempted upgrade crash completely because of lost > connections in the middle of the upgrade. It just isn't an option for > most people here. > > 2. As a result of poor connectivity options in Zimbabwe, as per my > recent report, the Loco Team has made efforts to provide other > avenues, such as the Freedom Toaster and a local repository where > downloads can be done without using expensive international bandwidth. > However, there is currently one Freedom Toaster in the entire country, > and "broadband" is only available to a minority of the people within > only a few cities. The only way of reaching outlying areas is with > CDs. I am aware that most users in outlying areas have been able to > make requests on shipit in the past (using dialup connections for > Internet access), and this has been their main avenue for getting > discs.
Good points. Maybe Canonical should build some country-specific logic in Shipit? > 3. On the understanding that CDs would still be available to Loco > Teams, I visited shipit to make a request (which is how I have always > done it in the past, as Team Contact) only to discover that I was > automatically "blocked" based on my previous orders, so I couldn't > even "explain" myself in making a request. > > 4. I then re-checked the page https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoGettingCds > and confirmed that CD's are only available to "approved" Loco Teams, And even for approved LoCoTeams, it's only about the one box of CDs that they get shipped with priority. This box also includes 75 Kubuntu & 75 Server discs that are pretty useless for many LoCoTeams; you can't give them to new users (all the documentation & books are written for Ubuntu), and experienced users have downloaded them already, so they are only asked by the latter people as collector's items... > which we are not. As can be seen, once again, from my recent report on > Ubuntu at ICT Africa 2009, our Loco Team has certainly not been idle > and we have put huge effort into marketing. We have not applied for > "approval" yet because we haven't met prerequisites like having an IRC > channel (because it's just not practical in our area due the lack of > connectivity for most people). Unless this IRC requirement (as stated > on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoGettingApproved) can be waivered, but > even then it doesn't help teams who are just trying to get off the > ground who may still need CDs. <loco-council hat> I assure you we would waiver the IRC requirement if you explain why IRC is useless for you. </loco-council hat> What we really do look at the most is sustained activity (> 1 year preferably), a number of different/original activities, regular meetings & communication, etc. > 5. You will possibly recall a recent mail I sent on this list > inquiring how members should go about recording what they do, and how > they can get recognition for their efforts if they are not developers. > We have established our Team on launchpad, but it's impossible for > people to "earn" karma if they're not developers. There are no real > developers in our Loco, and many of the Loco members don't have > internet access other than via Internet cafes, so "maintaining an > online record" of their achievements and efforts is just not practical > for a lot of them. I can't even find the time to update my own wiki > pages, even with Internet access at work (no access at home). These > are just some of the reasons why becoming "members" is kind of > difficult for some people, no matter how much work they're doing in > their local communities. Using myself as an example: I'm the founding > member of a 2-year old Loco, have been team contact for 2 years, have > created ties with local government and the Computer Society of > Zimbabwe, pushed a local ISP to host our repository and web site for > free (which took a full year of pushing), have taken part in the > organisation of release parties and presentations, have actively gone > out looking for members (and a team of 3 has grown to over 15), have > provided limited support via the mailing list and forum, have > organised monthly face-to-face meetings and was voted in as Team > Leader two months ago...... but I still don't know if I will qualify > for membership, because as soon as I see that my launchpad account is > one of the things that will be looked at (as per > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership), I am painfully aware that my > launchpad account looks rather pathetic compared to most people out > there who are developers.... so I suddenly find myself losing > confidence and haven't even bothered trying to become a member as a > result. You don't need to have any Launchpad-activity to become a Member (although it will be looked at if you pretend to be a translator or a developer, of course), you need a description of what you did on your wiki page (you can make that wiki page at the time you apply for membership). But I do understand that for some of your LoCoTeam people it might be very difficult to attend the IRC meeting for their approval, so that's another "handicap"... > Don't misunderstand me; we are not complaining about the difficulties > in becoming members or in becoming an approved team, but clearly > pretty much ALL our avenues of getting CD's from shipit have been cut > off in one swift blow. > > 1. We're not approved > 2. None of us are members > 3. The Team contact can't even request discs Maybe you can, using e-mail or such, but IMHO this should be explained & documented somewhere by Canonical. Because even approved LoCoTeams have no _documented_ way to order extra CDs after the first box currently. > Forgive my constant referral back to our participation at ICT Africa > last month, but as a result of this we're expecting over 100 people at > our release party (possibly closer to 150), and we fully expect the > growth of Ubuntu to spiral from here on out. So for us, this is the > prime time to be ordering bulk CD's from shipit..... and our hands > have been tied. I hope Jono / Jorge / ... can still do something for your team (and others in similar situations). -- Jan Claeys -- loco-contacts mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
