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Rest Well, My Friend
Posted on September 1, 2010 - · Reader Comments (1)
It was with great sadness that I read earlier that my friend and colleague Ian Clatworthy passed away after his fight with cancer. Although I never knew Ian that well, whenever I did work and spend time with him I always found him to be a fun, light-hearted, and always pleasant person to be around.
Words escape me.
You will be missed, my friend. Rest, well.
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Posted on August 30, 2010 - · Reader Comments (3)
Incredible Stories Of Free Software and Open Source
A little while back I blogged about wanting to reconnect with our ethos. In a continuation of that theme I am keen to talk about stories.
I have talked about stories quite a bit in my writings on community management (particularly so in my book The Art of Community). Stories are important entities in communities – [...]
Posted on August 28, 2010 - · Reader Comments (15)
On Zareason
These views are my own, and not necessarily those of Canonical.
Some time back the always awesome Earl and Cathy from Zareason loaned me one of their Strata laptops to play with. I met them at an event some time before, and while I had heard of Zareason, I really knew nothing about them. Since then [...]
Posted on August 26, 2010 - · Reader Comments (0)
This Friday: Rockridge Ubuntu Global Jam In Berkeley
Just a quick reminder: as part of our awesome Ubuntu Global Jam I am organizing the Ubuntu California Rockridge Jam at A’cuppa Tea, College Ave, Berkeley. The jam is from 10am – 6pm – I hope to see you there!
Don’t live near me? Go and find your nearest jam or organize your own!
Posted on August 25, 2010 - · Reader Comments (27)
Rocking The Application Indicators
Some time back the Ayatana project introduced the Application Indicator Framework, based upon technology created by the KDE project. We have been shipping this technology in Ubuntu for a few releases now and it makes the top-right part of the desktop a smooth, efficient, and pleasant experience, getting over the inconsistent and limiting notification area [...]
Posted on August 24, 2010 - · Reader Comments (15)
Articulating IRC Contributions Concisely
Today I had a call with Jussi from the Ubuntu IRC Council. We spent some time discussing a range of different topics, but then Jussi raised an important question which I think could benefit from some community discussion.
Today we have many methods of providing free support for our users – the Ubuntu Forums, Launchpad Answers, [...]
Posted on August 24, 2010 - · Reader Comments (22)
Revisiting Ethos
When I first heard about Free Software in 1998 I was mesmerized by it’s potential. Sure, back then the software was complex and some would argue ugly, but underneath the rough edges was a thing of beauty — the opportunity for people to come together to make new things, and anyone with the inclination and [...]
Posted on August 23, 2010 - · Reader Comments (60)
Getting More Developers Interested In Participating In Ubuntu
I am just beginning to get into the planning stages for the next cycle for my team, and as part of this cycle we would like to really focus on attracting more developers to participate in Ubuntu. We would like to see more people interested in getting involved in packaging, fixing bugs, and joining our [...]
Posted on August 23, 2010 - · Reader Comments (4)
11.04 Ubuntu Developer Summit Announced
Hot on the heels of the announcement of the Natty Narwhal, I am tickled pink to announce the details of the next Ubuntu Developer Summit taking place in Orlando, USA from 25th – 29th October 2010. We also have a brand new Ubuntu Developer Summit website which provides all the details about how to get [...]
Posted on August 23, 2010 - · Reader Comments (1)
Help Colin Get His Kids Back
I don’t tend to blog about appeals, but I came across this terribly sad story and I really want to encourage you all too also pledge and support him. Here is what happened, written by a friend of Colin:
Colin & I have been close friends for 13 years when we started our MBA [...]
Words From The Archive
Article Community
Failure as a Springboard to Success
Those lovely people at ZDNet have let me write a guest post about community, and I have contributed an article called Failure as a springboard to success.
The article talks about how if we embrace our failures in our communities, it can help us become better community members, and provides a model for doing so. This [...]
Article Ubuntu
Announcing Ubuntu 10.04 LTS: The Lucid Lynx
With Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 now out the door and momentum building towards a rocking Karmic Koala release, it is time to name and share the direction and focus for the next step in the Ubuntu evolution that follows Karmic.
To do this I want to pass on some words from Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of [...]
Article Community Ubuntu
Reporting Ubuntu Community Problems
Recently I have been thinking a lot about how we can refine and improve how we report problems and issues in the Ubuntu community. I shared some thoughts about this a little while back and I have been talking with many people inside the Ubuntu community, at the Community Leadership Summit, and with our Community [...]
Article Community
Change For Change
Today I have a little story followed by an idea that I want to share with you all.
A few weeks back I stepped out to go and grab a coffee. I headed over to my local independent coffee shop where I get on well with the owners. Like many small businesses, they have been struggling [...]
Article Community
On Validation
Today I just wanted to share a few thoughts on a much under-used and sometimes overlooked component in growing great communities: validation.
Every community is an organically grouped bundle of people, many of which spend their free time choosing to be part of that community. With the majority of communities being associative volunteer-based groups, our contributors [...]
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