[sf-lug] RedHat and Fedora news, Nashville summit, roadshow

[jim stockford]

(I, jim, like RedHat fairly well.
* I'll answer his questions about our group as best
I can--feel free to do so, too, if you wish, or tell me
what to say. Fedora Core 5 looks full of stuff--can
anybody explain what's real good about Mono?
It has something to do with Microsoft, so I hate it,
but sometimes I'm wrong.
* I think I'm definitely going to the May Nashville
summit--May is bar-b-que time in the old south,
especially in Tennessee; I hope to make it to the
various cookout contests.
* As to the proposed roadshow, it makes best sense
to me that the various Northern California LUGs get
together to coordinate a single, common roadshow
event. What do you think?

-------------here's greg's (fairly long) message-------------

Hi.  My name is Greg DeKoenigsberg.  I work for Red Hat.
I've got some news for you, and I've also got a favor
to ask. On to the purpose of my note.  It's threefold:

1. I'd like to let you know about current goings-on in Fedora.
2. I'd like to let you know about the Red Hat Summit.
3. I'd like to ask for your input about a possible Fedora roadshow.

===

First, Fedora.  There's been a lot of work going on in
the Fedora community; some of it you might know about,
and some of it you might not know about.

We're getting ready to release Fedora Core 5 in the next
couple of months. It's been the culmination of a
particularly long release cycle, as we change the way
that we do some things at a deep level.  Some of the more
visible features:

* Modular X, anaconda changes, more Xen code and some
XGL-ish stuff;
* New GNOME, new OpenOffice, new Firefox and more,
pulling all the latest from upstream projects;

* New Mono-based applications, including Beagle, Tomboy
and F-Spot.

We've also got a bunch of community initiatives going,
and we're ramping up even more:

* Fedora Extras.  The community-led Extras project,
which launched officially last February, is now
maintaining over 3000 software packages in yum
repositories mirrored worldwide.  The number of
available packages continues to grow -- as does the
number of contributors.  Learn more at
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Extras.

* Fedora Documentation.  The Docs project is producing
release notes, HOWTOs and other crucial documentation
to help Fedora users make the most out of Fedora.
All of the documentation is available under the OPL
with no restrictions.  Learn more at
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject.

* Fedora Ambassadors.  As the open source story
continues to grow stronger, we're looking for more
and more people to tell that story.  The Ambassadors
project provides people with the information and
tools to spread the story far and wide, from
presentation decks to T-shirts to Fedora DVDs.
Learn more at
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors.

* Fedora Mentors.  It can be difficult to "get started"
in the world of open source development, and sometimes
the most important thing is just to know that someone
will answer your stupid questions without giving you a
lot of heat.  The Mentors project seeks knowledgeable
developers who can give a couple of hours a week on IRC
to help the newbies along.  Learn more at
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mentors.

With more projects coming online all the time, there's
never been a better chance to be involved in the future
of Fedora.  For general information about how to get '
involved, spend some time at
http://fedoraproject.org.

===

Second, the Red Hat Summit.  This is basically a
straight-up sales pitch:
come join us in Nashville from May 30 - June 2, 2006.  Specifically for 
LUG members, the cost of attendance is
$699,
which includes a hotel room for four nights, meals,
and attendance at the Red Hat sessions and evening
entertainment events.  It's a unique opportunity to meet
some of the real luminaries of the open source world
firsthand, and to talk with them about their areas
of deep knowledge.  For those of you who are accustomed
to attending these sorts of events, you will realize
that this price is a *very* good deal.  Lots of
technical sessions, lots of fun. You can find the full
track list at
http://www.redhat.com/promo/summit/tracks.

So why is the LUG deal so good?  The deal for regular
business types is basically $500 more.  The deep price
break is because we want to see community people there.
Despite the fact that we're making a little money now,
we can't afford to bring people to Nashville and put
them up for nothing -- but we can at least give some
deep discounts to our friends. That's you.

You are important, and if you can figure out how to
make it there, we definitely want you there.  Feel
free to contact me for more information, or go to
the Summit site at
http://www.redhat.com/promo/summit.

===

Third, I'd like to gauge your interest in a Fedora
roadshow.

As I mentioned before, Fedora Core 5 is scheduled for
release in late March.  (Or maybe later -- you know
how these things go.)  We're looking to put together
a tour sometime between FUDCon Boston 2006 (April 7th)
and the Red Hat Summit, and I'd like to hear if you'd
be interested in having a Fedora presentation at
your LUG.

There's obviously a huge number of LUGs and a fairly
limited number of dates, and we'd have to figure out
how to make such a tour work. Therefore, if you are
interested in a Fedora visit, here's what I'll need
to know:

* How many people do you generally get at your LUG?

* What meeting times/dates are available for you in
April or May?  Are you limited to the LUG meeting days,
or would you be willing to call a special session?

* What general Fedora-related topics might you want
to hear about more in-depth?

I'll be happy to field responses, and if we get enough
interest, we'll start planning a tour in earnest in
the next couple of weeks.

===

So, that's it.  Thanks for reading through this whole
long letter.  Feel free to drop me a line at
gdk at redhat.com if you have any questions. Looking
forward to hearing from you.

--g