Interim Report on 2014 Census Effort

With regards to the recent census effort by the LoCo Council, it is necessary to provide an interim report as to our results.

Out of the 161 teams that could potentially be contacted, members of the Council were able to send messages to 156. Five teams were not contacted: New Zealand, Yemen, Panama, Idaho, South Dakota. Out of the 156 teams contacted, the council only received responses from 53 teams. This results in a 1 in 2.94 hit rate for successful contact.

Far too many of our contacts resulted in replies noting that the teams existed as mere shells on Launchpad waiting for either new life or for reconfiguration perhaps. This was evident in replies received from teams in the United States of America alone, though. Others noted waning interest/lack of available time on the part of people for participating. Some teams may have incorrect contacts listed or have never updated contacts on Launchpad.

The initial view from what we’ve received is that we have some distinct “powerhouse” communities where there is activity and the rest of the surface of Earth where we need to reassess matters. Currently only 47 teams across the face of this planet are slated to be eligible for disc distributions of the 14.04 LTS we’re about two months away from release on.  Those teams are mostly grouped in Europe. Only 6 out of 50 states in the United States of America have teams eligible for discs. Australia will be able to receive discs but across the Tasman the New Zealand team has been unresponsive to the council even when we have tried to simply say hello.

This is an interim report. Teams that have not replied to us are encouraged to write to the LoCo Council at loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com to at least show us signs of life. Notwithstanding any coding/development initiatives launched by Canonical Community Team we are deeply concerned about the health of our communities and worry about deeper yet more fundamental issues that may need to be addressed.