Archives de catégorie : Debian

Holidays spending – JUST DO IT!

I’d like to share a few projects and organizations that I’d love to see reaching their goals this time of the year.

I want to stress how important it is to understand that donating even U$25 or U$5 or whatever you can is important. It’s also an easy decision for many people (I am not saying it is the case for everyone), to donate and make a difference, instead of spending that same money having lunch at the restaurant or taking a cab. You can also ask your employer to chip in – just ask! Your employer could donate to these projects, become a corporate member of the associations I mention, or pay your membership as part of mutual benefits (non-profit tax receipt + happy employee) 🙂 Just ask. The worse that can happen is you get a « no, sorry ».

« OpenStreetMap‘s Operations Working Group, who have the important role of keeping core OSM services running smoothly, have planned to invest in a new server which will provide [them] with a database back-up. This improvement is at the very core of the OpenStreetMap infrastructure, giving services greater resilience. It means [they]’ll bounce back quicker and easier in the event of a hardware failure. In time the new server will also bring about some performance improvements. » – you can read more details about the fund drive and donate here. I am donating 50€ to this project.

The Debian Administrator’s Handbook was first written in French (and is a best-seller already) by two Debian developers who are translating it to English and possibly publishing it under a free license. The latter will only happen if the liberation fund reaches 25 K€. A physical book is a big helper when doing advocacy for free software. Imagine if instead of just showing the book to anyone interested, you could also show them how to search it electornically, cite it, use it, modify it, circulate it, share it at will ? I donated 100€ to this project.

Become a member of the Free Software Foundation and/or The Linux Foundation. I don’t always agree with everything that is said and done by the FSF, although I consider myself an active member and advocate – I certainly couldn’t do any of my advocacy work without all I’ve learned from the FSF and other fellow members. My membership at The Linux Foundation is a way to contribute to finance important projects (such as paying Linus Torvals’ salary). If you have a local free software advocacy group (such as FACIL or APELL in Quebec), consider joining as a full member or even making a donation – meeting space, flyers, CDs and food/drinks go a long way when networking locally. Becoming a member also increases the organization’s footprint, if nothing else. Numbers speak! This coming year I am sponsoring a student associate membership at the FSF.

Do you have any other ideas on where to donate cold, hard cash to further free, open technologies and software ? I’d love to hear them.

Update: I am helping putting together an accordingly « freedom geek » buying guide here, if anyone wants to peek or get inspiration for it.

 

Ubuntu in Haiti

If you’re in Haiti or know anyone near Grand-Goave please let me know, I am here for a week and I’ll be training a few teachers on a new lab we’re putting together thanks to a donation via Micro Recyc Coopération.

The training will focus on free software and its origins / advantages, using LibreOffice, the GNU/Linux desktop and installing Debian, Ubuntu and Trisquel. Oh, and making CAT5e cables 🙂 The goal is to have two full training days next week, Monday and Tuesday. Training is free and open to the public, but you need to contact me or add yourself to the wiki (see next paragraph).

I am also seeking help to work on the Ubuntu Haiti wiki. If you know any organizations using Ubuntu in Haiti, this would be a good time to add them there. I am susbcribed to it so I’ll get any updates as they happen.

Although my current Internet access is spotty, I can be reached by email, check my contact page.

 

Geeks for Haiti

My weekend is starting, perhaps as it is for many geeks in NorthAmerica out there.

Those of you wondering how to help Haiti relief efforts with your knowledge and time (or money) can take a look at the following projects:

Remember there are many ways you can help in the above projects & efforts, without necessarily limiting that to money or physical presence.

Wiki cleanup, documentation, translation, or even just advertising any of the above projects in your social networks may go a long way.

Have a nice weekend!

 

Alarme de feu: êtes-vous prêts? 15 questions à se poser avant d’évacuer

Ce matin je participe à un comité qui décide de subventions au démarrage de nouvelles entreprises, centre-ville de Montréal. Cinquième étage, mon bureau mobile m’accompagne: laptop, souris usb, cahier de notes, le reste dans le sac à dos. L’alarme de feu sonne, et j’ai machinalement ramassé mes affaires et évacué en même temps que le premier groupe, alors que j’ai vu certaines personnes s’attarder à ramasser leurs effets ou carrément attendre une confirmation. Êtes-vous prêts ? Continuer la lecture de Alarme de feu: êtes-vous prêts? 15 questions à se poser avant d’évacuer