2019/03/20
Nordic and Baltic Ubuntu users cooperation?
Last year there was some conversation in the ubuntu-nordic mailing list about establishing an association or some other kind of cooperation for Ubuntu users in the Nordic and Baltic countries. I have discussed the idea in IRC also and now try to expand the discussion through blog post. Do you think there is need or use for such an association?
I nowadays work part-time in a Finnish association https://coss.fi/en/ and one part of the job is to explore grassroot-based cooperation nationally and towards other nearby countries.
This blog post was originally an email message sent to the national lists fi, se, no, dk, is, ee, lv, lt
If you think it is a good idea to establish a Baltic-Nordic Ubuntu association or some less official cooperation let us give ideas here in this blog.
Linux Mint seems to be as popular as Ubuntu and the forums in Finland seem to be very active on the LM side also. I wonder if it would be good to include Linux Mint in this Ubuntu cooperation discussion.
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It's an excellent idea and yes, I do think at the least LM should be included. At the moment I have no ideas to offer but I'll follow the discussion and add my thoughts to it.
VastaaPoistaThanks for the comment. Sorry this part has been somewhat delayed. I have written a few posts on national Ubuntu forums or related groups. The links to the following text are at the bottom.
VastaaPoistaCooperation between Ubuntu communities in the Nordic and Baltic countries?
Greetings from Hämeenlinna (Tavastehus), Finland!
I've been thinking it would be good to have more communication and cooperation between the Ubuntu and broader Linux communities in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Last year and this year, I have had some discussions with Nordic Linux users (using mailing lists, web forums, Telegram/Facebook groups and IRC channels).
One of my aims is to increase general knowledge of FOSS alternatives to revive old computers for example. According to my experience in recent years many elderly people will find Linux Mint or a similar distribution even easier to learn and use than Windows to meet most basic needs. I have organized a few workshops in my home town - info in Finnish and pictures at https://www.kaupunkiuutiset.com/jutut/t ... lama-22488 and https://www.instagram.com/p/BkQTpMalQLy/ - info in English, Russian and Somali at http://akutalikka.vapaavuoro.uusisuomi. ... ameenlinna (I can't speak the latter two languages but I have a few international Ubuntu using friends in Finland who have helped me).
There seems to have been efforts to organize cross-border cooperation as I have suggested. However the activity appears to have almost ended. The comments and ideas I've seen have not yet been formulated into more specific initiatives so I will start with a question and a few suggestions.
Would it be practical to found an official association or consortium in this northeastern part of Europe? I think there is an official national Ubuntu association in Denmark but not in other countries. There are Linux and/or Unix users' groups in more countries, though (such as nuug.no and flug.fi). It might be better to have these more general Linux associations included.
Some goals I have dreamt of
* FOSS information dissemination on grassroot and other levels
* arranging practical workshops to learn about Linux
* promoting service businesses such as PC repair and recycle companies that focus on Ubuntu (I know a few in Finland)
* helping the poor and beginners to overcome digital obstacles cost-effectively using Linux, perhaps something similar as in Germany https://computertruhe.de/kurzinformatio ... /englisch/
* innovating new business endeavours?
I work parly in a related association https://coss.fi/en/ but this cooperation idea has been brewing longer and I do this partly as a hobby/activism, too. I also work partly in a Finnish startup company Robuntuand a few colleagues have been planning to start importing new and good-quality Linux laptops into Finland. It has not been possible to buy such Linux laptops with Finnish keyboard layout. Letter stickers can solve the problem partly but e.g. US keyboard has one key too few to allow for certain symbols to be typed easily. UK and DE options are better. I'm not sure if any company is offering Linux laptops with FI/SE keyboard nowadays. In any case I think there could be interesting markets in the Nordic countries for this kind of importing business. Estonia might fit in (regarding the physical layout) as well but I am not sure about Latvian and Lithuanian keyboards.
Looking forward to comments!
ps. I will post this message to other national forums soon. Some countries do not seem to have a working forum site but I will try and find something similar. I do speak Swedish also but I'm not as fluent in it as in English. Jag ska svara på svenska om någon frågar något på svenska.
FI / Finnish / finska / suomi
SE / Swedish / svenska / ruotsi
https://ubuntu-se.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=61477
DK
NO
IS
EE
LV
LT
Editing comments seems not to be possible. Sorry! I will likely write a new post.
VastaaPoistaFinnish link: https://forum.ubuntu-fi.org/index.php?topic=54308.0
Swedish post: https://ubuntu-se.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=61477