LoCo – Page 3 – the flying squirrel

Ubuntu LAN Party!

[[Kwartzlab]] has been talking about throwing a LAN party for a while now. We’ve got power, a network and drinks, so it’s ideal. [Eric](http://kwartzlab.ca/blog/egerlach) and I got to talking, though, and with the [[Ubuntu]] stuff in Waterloo centered largely around Kwartzlab it would be extra awesome if it was a free software LAN party. Everything we play is open source and available through the Ubuntu repositories.

So he went off and [tested some games](http://kwartzlab.ca/mediawiki/index.php/LAN_Party_Event_Planning), made a live CD, set up a meta-package and we played some games.

Games we played, in rough order of awesome:

* [TeeWorlds](http://teeworlds.com/)
* [Hedge Wars](http://www.hedgewars.org/)
* [Armagetron 3D](http://armagetronad.net/)
* [OpenArena](http://openarena.ws/smfnews.php)
* [gtetrinet](http://gtetrinet.sourceforge.net/)
* [boswars](http://www.boswars.org/)
* [Pioneers](http://sourceforge.net/projects/pio/)

(Pioneers is awesome, but its reception was a bit disappointing, mainly because only Eric and I had ever played Settlers before. Generally, I think if you’re going to the trouble of getting people together in a room, you’re better off playing the boardgame. Over distances, with seasoned Settlers fans, it has much more potential).

We started small, limiting ourselves to Kwartzlab people and a few friends. But our goal is to get other Ubuntu groups involved, ideally culminating in a cross-country or international Ubuntu LAN party. Which is just awesome.

A Very Lucid Release Party

From Ubuntu

On Saturday, we got together with some of our friends from [KWLUG](http://kwlug.org) to hold a release party for [Ubuntu 10.04: The Lucid Lynx](http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/1004features).

It was great! We had pizza and cake and deviled eggs and free software. Photos after the jump.
Continue reading A Very Lucid Release Party

Ubuntu Waterloo Region

I’ve been trying to get more into Ubuntu lately. Not just running it, but getting *involved*.

I like Ubuntu. I like the software; I like the ethos; I like the community; I like how it’s catching on with people. There’s lots of things to like. I haven’t been this excited and enthusiastic about a computing platform since my old Amiga days. Rather than just basking in my enthusiasm, I want to *do* something about it. I want to contribute.

So I’ve been poking around the [various ways to get involved](http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate). I was sitting in on some of the [Ubuntu Open Week](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek) sessions last month, looking in occasionally when they were talking about things that looked interesting. In one of the community sessions, I asked what you could do when your LoCo ([Ubuntu Canada](http://ubuntu-ca.org/), in this case) doesn’t have much of a presence in your area. I didn’t get much of an answer, but I did start up a bit of a conversation with some other Ubuntu people in Southern Ontario.

So coincidentally, the next week was [Ontario Gnu/Linux Fest](http://onlinux.ca/). [Ralph](https://launchpad.net/~txwikinger), one of the KWLUG people, was asking around for people to help out with the Ubuntu table. And since I wanted to promote my [release party](http://www.flyingsquirrel.ca/index.php/2009/10/27/karmic-koala-release-party/), I volunteered.

I got to hang out with other KWLUG Ubuntu people, and they showed up for my party the next week. We talked a little about starting up a more local LoCo. Ralph went off to UDS in Dallas and talked to the Ubuntu Canada people there. The result of that discussion is the [Kitchener/Waterloo Chapter of the Ubuntu Canada LoCo](https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-waterloo-region).

So far, we have 12 people signed up. As of right now, we know we’ll be participating in the [Ubuntu Global Jam](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGlobalJam) early in 2010. What we do beyond that, we’re still working on figuring out as a group. I’m just happy that we’re building this local group I can explore this whole Ubuntu thing with. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Karmic Koala Release Party

So me and some folks at [kwartzlab](http://kwartzlab.ca/) (as well as the [KW Linux Users Group](http://kwlug.org/)) are getting together on Thursday to celebrate the release of [Ubuntu](http://ubuntu.com) 9.10, the Karmic Koala.

[Details at the Kwartzlab site](http://kwartzlab.ca/karmic) if you’re interested in attending.

I run Ubuntu at home on all my computers now. Well… nearly all. It’s come along way in the last few years, to the point where it’s making me feel at home and content in an operating system again. I’m also feeling like I want to contribute to the community. So the party seems like a nice way to do that a bit. Plus, I kinda want to see who’s around here, maybe build a local community where we can participate.

I’m a member of Kwartzlab, and I think they’re an awesome group of people. This is one of the things I’m hoping to do to get more involved in the lab. Another is showing up on Tuesday Open Nights and just working on projects. That’s what Tuesday Open Nights are for, after all.

And *maybe* I can bring it all together and hack on some Ubuntu-related projects in the ‘Lab…