Alabama Ubuntu Local Community Blog

In an effort to kickstart the LoCo back to action, we had our return IRC meeting tonight in #ubuntu-us-al. There were several returning members as well as a couple of new members present.

We talked about ways to get some more members into the LoCo as well as some future actions for possible face-to-face meetings. We were also joined by the Georgia LoCo team member Nick Ali (boredandblogging). He helped run the Atlanta Linux Fest this past weekend [Sept 20]. He says that planning for the 2009 ALF will begin shortly. New Alabama LoCo member, Jonathan Traylor (antdedyet) attended ALF, and said that there was a good turnout (in the mid-80 range). The next regional event looks to be the Southeast Linux Fest to be held in South Carolina in June.

We hope to reinstitute the weekly IRC meeting. Right now they are set for 9:30pm CST in our IRC room on Freenode in the #ubuntu-us-al room. We will also start using this blog and the Ubuntu forums a lot more to make sure that we are getting new people involved. Also, please sign up for the mailing list if you are not on it. You can subscribe through the web interface to the list.

The future is bright for Ubuntu and the Alabama LoCo as well. The release of Intrepid Ibex will hopefully bring a lot of new folks into the fold, and help us spread the news throughout Alabama.

Michael

The Ubuntu Server Team is wanting to know  how you use Ubuntu Server. They would like to know what type of server your running and what type of organization your using it in. The survey takes about 10 to 20 minutes and is open to anyone deploying Linux servers. It is not just limited to Ubuntu servers. For the full story please read the post at The Fridge.

Remember that Ubuntu’s success if directly effected by the community. Let’s all help to get Ubuntu 1 step closer to fixing Bug #1.

Jason

The Beta release of Ubuntu 8.10 is scheduled for October 2, 2008. That is 1 month from the scheduled October 30 final release. I will be posting a link to the beta download when it becomes available. Please feel free to give a go and see if you can help out with any bugs. A bug list can be found at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/intrepid/+bugs. Please remember that this is a beta release and is not suggested for use on any production systems. You can see the full release schedule at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntrepidReleaseSchedule.

Jason Sandlin

Alabama Ubuntu LoCo and the Birmingham Area Linux Users (BALU)
announce a UBUNTU 8.04 InstallFest and invite the public to attend.

Where: UAB HUC 1530 3RD AVE S, BIRMINGHAM AL
When:   May 3  2:00 - 5:00PM
Map      URL: http://tinyurl.com/5n2rwn

Ubuntu 8.04 is the latest release of the Ubuntu operating system. Be sure to go to the  Ubuntu website for more information. We invite everyone to attend. Bring you computers and we will help install and configure Linux for your system. Already have it installed? Then please come out and just hangout with us!

If you just can’t wait and want to download and install the OS before the installfest then you can get the latest release at http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04/.

Yes, you heard right Wubi. Wubi is a windows installer for Ubuntu. So you can now install Ubuntu just like any program in Windows 98, 2000, XP, and Vista. When you reboot you will get a list. You can then choose Ubuntu or Windows. If left alone, it will default to Windows.
I have installed it on my work desktop today. So far no problems. Please remember this is still a Beta program, as well as Hardy Heron. So upon final release, this could be a BIG leveraging tool for Linux.

Wubi can be downloaded from the link above or you can do the install from the Hardy Heron CD. If you use the Wubi download to install you won’t even need the CD. Wubi will download all the needed files.
If you plan on getting people to try Linux this may be just what is needed to get more people to give it a try.

I was able to install the nvidia draphic drive and update the system before I left. I will be doing some more testing tomorrow so if there are any major bugs I will let you guys know. And as always if you have any questions give us a shout!

With less that 2 weeks until the next release of next LTS OS from Ubuntu I feel it is time to make the decision to upgrade or not. I have been running the Beta version of Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) for about a week now. Aside from some minor bugs, most of which have been addressed and fixed by now, the OS is very smooth, quick, and even more user friendly than before.
The Birmingham Area Linux Users and Ubuntu’s Alabama LoCo team are planning on hosting an install fest to help promote the newest release. Times and locations will be posted when they are set.

The previous LTS release ( Ubuntu 6.10) which was released 18 months ago will no longer be supported as of April 25 2008. At that time, Ubuntu Security Notices will no longer include information or updated packages for Ubuntu 6.10. Some information about upgrading to 7.04 can be found at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FeistyUpgrades. Feel free to contact the Birmingham area Linux Users if you need assistance with upgrading or if you are interested in trying Linux for the first time.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AlabamaTeam/ContactUs
http://www.bham-lug.org/

Jason Sandlin

Someone in the Apple Intel Ubuntu Support Forum has made the needed changes to the synaptics driver to enable the “touch two fingers to the touchpad and click for right-click” type of functionality as is found in Apple’s OSX. This was a highly sought-after feature that the synaptics driver was missing. Work is still being done on the driver, but it looks very promising. Check it out and contribute if you like:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=626112

Just a reminder to everyone that we are having our weekly IRC meeting tonight at 9:00pm [NOTE this is the new permanent time for this meeting].

We had a GREAT meeting last week. You can read the logs on the wiki site to catch up.

On tap for tonight:

1 Alabama LoCo Blog - alabamaubuntu.org has been setup

• Designed by Scott Wilson [MerlinsLair] - AWESOME job!

2 New Alabama Team logo

• Designed by Jason Sandlin [based on the design of Joey Bacon]

3 LoCo Team Structure

• WikiTeam
• BlogTeam
• Marketing/Promotion Team

4 Tech Mixer report

5 Tech Mixer February 2008 preparations

• Banner - Jason/Scott/Michael
• Shirts - Michael
• Materials
  • Computers
  • Live CDs - ubuntu, kubuntu, edubuntu
  • Open Source CD - there are many out there, we should choose one and distribute

I hope to see everyone there!
Michael

Welcome to the Alabama Teams Blog. The team will be promoting and supporting Ubuntu through out Alabama. This site is still a bit new and may see some changes but will be here to keep you informed of what is going on with Ubuntu in Alabama.

New to Ubuntu? Please feel free to contact us if you have question of need help with something. We would also love for you to join our group. There is no experience required and we would love to meet you and give everyone the chance to meet other in there area who use and support Ubuntu. There are a number of was to contact us or get involved.

• Forums - http://alabama.ubuntuforums.org/
• Wiki - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AlabamaTeam/
• Email - info@alabamaubuntu.org
• irc - irc.freenode.net/#ubuntu-alabama
• Google Map showing member locations

The Alabama LoCo Team will be at a TechMixer on November 06, 2007 from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. The mixer will be held at the Innovation Depot in Birmingham. This an open event so we hope everyone will come out and see us.