I think this is ontopic :) He asked me to forward this to OCLUG members, and I've forwarded similar things in the past without hearing any objections. Cheers, Jody ----- Forwarded message from Greg DeKoenigsberg <gdk [ at ] redhat [ dot ] com> ----- 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 [ dot ] com if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you. --g --------------------------------------------------------------- Greg DeKoenigsberg || Fedora Foundation || fedoraproject.org Be an Ambassador || http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors --------------------------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message ----- --