Egypt LoCo Approved

By czajkowski | Published: March 21, 2012

On March 20th the LoCo Council met and had only one new LoCo team to review for approval; the Egyptian LoCo[0].

The Egyptian LoCo’s approval application[1] was a great example of a quality application as it even included nice graphs to help visualise some of the plans the LoCo is putting into place. With this and the other evidence of great work the LoCo Council voted unanimously to approve the Egyptian LoCo!

Please join us in congratulating the Egyptian LoCo Team for being a great example of a positive force in Ubuntu!

[0] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EgyptTeam
[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EgyptTeam/ApprovalApplication2012

LoCo Council Oneiric Cycle Review

By czajkowski | Published: November 1, 2011

During the Oneiric cycle the Ubuntu LoCo Council reviewed many teams and dealt with team issues, this post is to explain what the council has done during this cycle and to let people know how they can approach us if needs be.

Firstly we had a large re approval of teams this cycle this was down to the re approval process that was introduced three cycles ago and has proved to help teams keep up to date and let everyone know how things are progressing. So for the Natty cycle we looked at the following 26 LoCo Teams which were up for re approval having been approved for 2 or more years:

The following teams were selected for the Oneiric cycle for re approval:
Thai Loco Team
Ubuntu Venezuela Team
Ubuntu DK
Ubuntu UK
Ubuntu Team Philippines
Pennsylvania – US LoCo Team
Ubuntu-Michigan
Ubuntu Maryland LoCo Team
Ubuntu Malaysia LoCo Team
Ubuntu Japanese Team
Ubuntu Ireland
Ubuntu El Salvador Team
Ubuntu Swiss Team
Ubuntu Portugal
Ubuntu Polish LoCo Team
Ubuntu Perú
Ubuntu Norge
Ubuntu Croatian Advocates
Thai Loco Team
Ubuntu Tamil Team
Ubuntu Israel
Arizona LoCo Team
Ubuntu New York State
Ubuntu California
Georgia LoCo
Ubuntu Brazilian Users
Argentina LoCo
Ubuntu China LoCo Team

To simplify things we create a bug in launchpad for each team that is due for renewal. The text from this wiki page http://loco.ubuntu.com/loco-council/approved s sent to their team contact and we use the bug to keep track of progress throughout the cycle. We ensure all communication is posted to the bug report, and send reminders & comments via the bug. Finally we vote on the approval and then make the bug public after the process is finished.

This process has worked out very well for teams who are not able to take part in the IRC meeting but do want a more interactive review. We also still have a monthly IRC meetings which gives teams the flexibility to talk to us directly or use the bug tracker to manage the approval process. We have found this makes our team more accessible to LoCos around the world.

There was some initial reluctance to use the bug tracker to manage approvals, but it was quickly accepted once we explained it’s needed for us as a council to be productive to keep things on track and not let the ball drop on our action items. A by-product of this is it’s a great way for teams to communicate with the council and document information when needed in the bugs.

We keep the bugs private initially so they don’t end up being spammed with inappropriate comments and we use them to remind one another to vote or attend to items. They have worked well now in the last cycle and we will continue to use them again in the future as we do feel they have served the council well and helped up keep up to date with teams.

8 Expired ( 30% Total )
18 Processed ( 69% Total )

Unapproved: 2 ( 11% Processed )
Approved: 16 ( 88% Processed )

Total Unapproved: 10 ( 38% Total )
Total Approved: 16 ( 61% Total )

26 LoCo Teams were processed

During this cycle we were called (by IRC or email) upon by some loco team members to help in mediation or give advice to them to help their team. We often invite them into our IRC channel which while it is private as we can be dealing with people from teams in there at a given time is open to anyone who wants to talk to us all you have to do is ask to join to discuss something. We had to make it private as we had people popping in during sensitive discussions and having this channel has helped us help teams. It is also where many of us idle or log sessions so we can review the conversation and give advice.

We can invite multiple people in here and help resolve issues or bounce ideas and solutions off one another in a real time environment. We follow this up by joining their IRC Channels in some cases, in order to be there for them whenever needed idling so they can ask questions but also so we could see for ourselves how things flow as every team is so different.

We get weekly if not fortnightly requests for help with changing of ownership of a team mailing list, ownership, website and domain issues and lot regarding RT tickets, here we help where possible, logging the issues for teams on launchpad, or asking for IS help in resolving the issues.

We’ve also worked closely with the LoCo Directory Dev team and helped reporting bugs to make the Loco Directory more user friendly. We idle on IRC in #ubuntu-locoteams and we even had our own factoid created if people used it it pings the team but also tell the user how to contact us. !lococouncil lococouncil is The Loco Council is itnet7, czajkowski, paultag, huats, leogg, popey – they are there to help, just ask! 🙂 You can send them an email at loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com

I am sure the Precise cycle will be just as interesting for the council working with loco teams and look forward to hearing from the ubuntu community.

Call for LoCo Council Nominations

By czajkowski | Published: October 25, 2011
Thanks to the great work Alan Pope, Christophe Sauthier, Chris Crisafulli and Laura Czajkowski have done in the Ubuntu LoCo Council, in November their term comes to an end. We’d like to thank them for their hard work in the Ubuntu community and continued contributions.
I’m writing this mail to ask for volunteers to step forward and nominate themselves or another willing person for this position.
The LoCo Council is defined on the wiki. We meet up once a month over IRC to go through items on the team agenda. This typically involves approving new LoCo teams Re Approval of teams, resolving issues within teams, approving LoCo team mailing list requests, and anything else that comes along.
We have the following requirements for nominees:
  – be an Ubuntu member
  – be available during typical meeting times of the council
  – insight into the culture(s) and typical activities within teams is  a plus
Those sitting on the council are people who are insightful:
They are current Ubuntu Members with a proven track record of activity in the community. They have shown
themselves over time to be able to work well with others and display the positive aspects of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. They should be people who can judge contribution quality without emotion while engaging in an interview/discussion that communicates interest, a welcoming atmosphere, and which is marked by humanity, gentleness, and kindness.
To nominate yourself or somebody else, Email the LoCo Council with the nomination  loco-council<at>lists.ubuntu.com.
Please try to explain your nomination, you reason for wanting to be on the council  and why being there will help the council.
Nominations are open until Friday 4th November, with the CC making the final decision by November 11th.
All nominations will be forwarded to the Community Council who will make the final decision.

How to set up a LoCo Check List

By czajkowski | Published: October 13, 2011
We’ve created a page on the LoCo Directory but also posting the content to our blog so more people can learn about how to set up a loco and the things you should do to help your team.
It aims to  help people who want to set up a LoCo Team in their area and the steps they need to follow.  We hope this simple step by step guide will make things easy for people to get involved and set up a team.
A LoCo Team is a Local Community of Ubuntu users. A LoCo Team can involve things such as local promotion, support in the local language, general encouragement to local users, mentoring, social events and much more. Most importantly however, it lets people find other Ubuntu users near them and experience the Ubuntu Community first hand.
LoCos are around to help promote or support Ubuntu and build communities in specific areas. Most LoCos have projects such as translating or customising Ubuntu for their specific area,or getting involved in the wider Ubuntu Community which is one of the things that makes Ubuntu great. The LoCos are a very important part of the Ubuntu Community.
Team Naming Standards and Setting up your team resources
Team Naming Standard
For Almost Everyone
Ubuntu-Country ISO Code
For the United States – (e.g. ubuntu-us-ut for Utah, ubuntu-us-ny for New York)
The following are a list of resources you should also set up, again, USA differ so please look at the naming examples for USA.
  • IRC: ubuntu-us-SS (e.g. ubuntu-us-ut for Utah, ubuntu-us-ny for New York)
  • Launchpad: ubuntu-us-statename, or state short code (e.g ubuntu-us-ohio, ubuntu-us-ma)
  • Mailing List: ubuntu-us-stateprefix (e.g. ubuntu-us-ut, ubuntu-us-ny, ubuntu-us-fl)
Setting up your team resources
One of the most critical tasks in running a successful team is to ensure it is easy for people to (a) get involved and (b) communicate with each other. This may require setting up some team resources.
Every team should have the following resources set up:
  • Mailing List – Mailing lists are hosted by Canonical at http://lists.ubuntu.com/ and each LoCo team should have a mailing list. An ubuntu-CC (CC is the ISO country code) mailing list for general discussion about Ubuntu in your language should be created. Email rt@ubuntu.com to request the creation of a mailing list. The list should be created within 2 weeks. If it is not, please contact the LoCo council to find out whether there is a problem with the request. United States teams should append the two-letter US Postal Code (state name) abbreviation for the relevant state (e.g. ubuntu-us-ca).
  • IRC Channel – IRC is a great way for the team to have real-time discussions about the group. You should register a channel on the freenode IRC network. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IRC/Guidelines has details of the expectations of IRC channels in the #ubuntu-* namespace.
So step by step:
Step 1: Create a team on Launchpad
Step 2: Create a Mailing list
Step 3: Create an IRC channel, add the loco bot to your team channel by mailing rt@ubuntu.com
Step 4: Create a wiki page for your team an example would be Wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamName
Then automatically but not straight away your team will show up on the LoCo Directory – http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/
If at any point you get stuck of need help please just ask the LoCo Council for help, you may mail us at loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com and we will aim to help you as best we can.

Ordering 11.10 CDs is now open

By czajkowski | Published: September 27, 2011

It’s that time of the cycle again where Approved LoCo Teams get to order free CDs!
PLEASE follow these instructions carefully.

Note: This applies to APPROVED LOCO TEAMS only, please do not apply if you are not an approved team.

PLEASE follow the instructions listed at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoGettingCds. Read that page and follow the link to https://forms.canonical.com/lococd/

Note: The above linked page refers to ‘11.04 (Natty)’ CDs, but it is in fact for 11.10 (Oneiric) CDs. Apologies for the discrepancy.

 The request to be valid must fulfil following conditions:
– Status must be “Completed” 

– The team name must exist in Launchpad

– The Launchpad team must belong to the approved LoCo team (locoteams-approved)

– Requests should come from an administrator of the LoCo team as seen in Launchpad

– There should be only one request per LoCo Team (additional requests will be rejected)

From that list the most important bit is to make sure launchpad team name and launchpad username are entered correctly, exactly as it’s listed in the main page for the LoCo team in Launchpad.

The LoCo Council is not responsible for managing the distribution of CDs to LoCo teams. We are merely passing on the great news from Canonical!
Thanks folks.

Ubuntu 11 .10 Release Parties

By czajkowski | Published: August 22, 2011

It’s this time of year again where we get together in our local communities to celebrate the release of the newest release of Ubuntu. On October 13th 2011 we will celebrate the release of Oneiric Ocelot. With that in mind, lets get all the loco communities out celebrating, having fun and sharing with one another and having a party for 11.10.

We have added the event to the LoCo Directory, so please do add your team event on here so we can show everyone how welcoming our communities are. Have some fun, have a party.

Pick a date, chose a venue, add your event to the LD, and then let your team know what is going to happen. Take photos of the event, blog the event so we can all see how you celebrate Ubuntu in your own way.

Ubuntu Global Jam coming soon

By czajkowski | Published: August 16, 2011

It’s that time of the Ubuntu cycle where  Ubuntu Global Jam takes place.  It is an  event in which our global community gets together in their local area to help make Ubuntu better, taking part on line and face to face over one weekend. The Ubuntu Global Jam is a great opportunity to get together and meet other Ubuntu fans and contributors, make new friends in your area, and help to make the next Ubuntu release the best it can be so we can bring Free Software to the masses.

The Ubuntu Global Jam takes place between the 2nd – 4th September 2011.

So what do you need to do to have an event in your area, follow the steps below and if you get stuck, ask for help in #ubuntu-locoteams.

Organising an even can be easy in a few simple steps:

  1. There is a detailed guide to to organising an event.
  2. Please update your loco team page and  add your event to the LoCo Team Portal.
  3. Be sure to tweet/dent/facebook it and use the #ugj, #ubuntu, and #locoteams tags so others can see them!
Now who can come…. EASY EVERYONE!
  • Everyone is welcome – anyone is welcome to organise or join an Ubuntu Global Jam event. If you’re not organising one but want to attend contact your local Ubuntu LoCo Team.
  • You don’t have to be technical – There are many ways to take part and attending Ubuntu Global Jam events attract lots of different people, and you don’t have to be a developer or technical to take part. We welcome anyone to come along and take part in your own way.
  • Keep it simple to organise – pick a place to meet up on, agree on a date and time, and tell others about it. That’s it!
  • All LoCo teams are welcome – you don’t have to be an approved LoCo team to organise an event – any LoCo team is welcome!

LEP #1, Standardizing the LoCo Team Display names

By The LoCo Council! | Published: June 29, 2011

Hello, World!

The first LEP (LoCo Enhancement Proposal) has been kicked off to lists.ubuntu.com, currently pending review and approval. If you’re a LoCo Team Contact, or just plain like LoCos, please read on the change and provide any feedback you’d care to share!

Following is the full text of the mail sent out to the contacts:


Proposed-By: Paul Tagliamonte
;
LoCo Council
Scope: All LoCo Teams, Worldwide
Status: Draft
Rational: loco.ubuntu.com looks inconsistent and sloppy

Howdy, LoCo Contacts,

The LoCo Council has drafted up a proposal to standardize the display
name of all LoCo teams to help un-uglyfy the LoCo Directory team
list[1].

[1]: http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/

Submitted below (for your comments) is the draft we came up with.
Let's get this stable so we can get it kicked out (barring rational
and clear objection) as an official policy within the next week or so.
Please keep comments on this thread, and please keep them productive
and clear.

Dear LoCo Team Contacts,

During UDS-O we discussed easy ways in which we could help improve the
LoCo Directory for future Ubuntu fans and contributors. One of the
ideas that we came up with was to improve discoverability of teams in
the LoCo Directory (http://loco.ubuntu.com/). To help achieve this
we'd like to request that teams standardize their display names in
Launchpad.

In order for this to work, the changes will need to be made by all
LoCo Teams whose team names don't conform to the standard set out
below. Note that we're open for suggestions on improving this. The
standard is not set in stone, but we do want to standardize the names.
There's some really good reasoning behind this desired change of LoCo
Team display names. We have received e-mails from people that have
recently began using Ubuntu and are interested in joining LoCo Teams
that are near them. They have contacted the LoCo Council stating that
they are having problems narrowing down LoCo Teams that are near them,
partly due to the inconsistency in LoCo Team display names being.

There are other factors such as the LoCo directory user interface, and
the number of sub-teams that some LoCo Teams have, but we see this
name change is a crucial part of the improvements.

We would like to clean up the LoCo Team display names during the
Oneiric Cycle, so that means before October 2011. With a real
coordinated effort we should have no problem in reaching this goal.

We have come up with a basic standardized format for team "display
name" on Launchpad, they should be in the following formats:-
* "Ubuntu COUNTRY_NAME Local Community". e.g. "Ubuntu United Kingdom
Local Community"
* "Ubuntu REGION_NAME, COUNTRY_NAME Local Community". e.g. "Ubuntu
Hampshire, United Kingdom Local Community"

In addition the "team name" field should be standardized to:-

"ubuntu-CC" (where CC is the agreed de-factor ISO country code of your
country). e.g. ubuntu-uk
"ubuntu-CC-Region" e.g. ubuntu-uk-hampshire

The Country name and/or Region name should be specified either in
English _or_ in the local language - at the preference of the team
itself.

In short, we will be working to the following formats:

Team Name: (actual team name on Launchpad)
* lp:~ubuntu-ie
* lp:~ubuntu-us-ohio

Please be careful to use the actual de-facto ISO code of your country.

Display Name:- (as seen by users)
* Ubuntu Ireland Local Community
* Ubutnu Ohio, USA Local Community

Cheers!

LoCo Council Meeting Digest

By The LoCo Council! | Published: June 22, 2011

Here’s a digest of the latest re-approvals at the LoCo Council Meeting:

Teams processed:

Ubuntu Ireland (Approved)
Ubuntu Japan (Approved)
Ubuntu Denmark (Approved)
Ubuntu Venezuela (Approved)

Full logs can be found on wiki.ubuntu.com.

 

Happy Hacking!

Ubuntu LoCo Council

Hello, World!

By The LoCo Council! | Published: June 21, 2011

Hello, World!

This is the first (in hopefully many) of our official Ubuntu LoCo Council blog posts.

I hear many of you asking “Why” out there. Well, we figured the that it might actually help a few different ways. The first (and largest) reason is that this will enhance transparency on the team. We’ll be doing all sorts of fun community-based posts, updates, and news.
We think it makes a bit more sense then keeping things tagged on Planet Ubuntu, in case anyone would care to directly subscribe (or provide a service that displays!) Ubuntu LoCo Council posts.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s do the typical first-post kind of stuff!

Your LoCo Councilors are Laura Czajkowski, Alan Pope, Christophe Sauthier, Chris Crisafulli, Paul Tagliamonte and Leandro Gómez (in no particular order). We may all be reached on the LoCo Mailing List, “loco-council” <loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com>. Keep in mind that we do moderate it, so please don’t worry about the bounce message!

We can also be found on IRC, in Freenode/#ubuntu-locoteams . If you would like to ping us, please just ask the bot! All you have to do is say “!lococouncil”, and we get the ping.


19:53 < paultag> !lococouncil
19:53 < ubot4> lococouncil is The Loco Council is itnet7, czajkowski, paultag, huats, leogg, popey - they are there to help, just ask! :) You can send them an email at
loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com

We’re all friendly!

Here is to you, LoCo Teams! You all rock!

The LoCo Council