Don’t Say Geek! Say Syntux!

Amman, March 13th 2008 -Ubuntu Jordan LoCo Team.
As part of Ubuntu Jordan LoCo Team continuous efforts to spread awareness about GNU/Linux in the Kingdom, the team organized a public event at The University of Jordan in Cooperation with IEEE Student Branch. Mr. Khamis SekSik gave a lecture Introducing FLOSS in the Jordanian way, as well as a brief background of FLOSS history.

In addition, the lecture included Mr.Seksik explaining some reasons to use FLOSS Jordan, as well as comparing selling service VS selling software, and comparing backward compatibility issues between FLOSS and other software.

Other issues discussed by Mr.Sisek were the ethical reasons to use FLOSS. The argument is that using proprietary software without paying for it equal theft and as such is unethical. In many ways, Mr.Siksek highlighted, choosing the right software is a very important decision because it affects time, effort, and money invested in this software.

Following the lecture, a number of Ubuntu Jordan LoCo helped in setting up the FIRST Ubuntu Lab in The University of Jordan.

It is worth mentioning that next week Ubuntu Jordan LoCo Team is scheduled to start giving Ubuntu Desktop Courses in cooperation with Jordan University IEEE Student Branch.

Tags: desktop courses, jordan university, university of jordan, continuous efforts, compatibility issues, backward compatibility, gnu linux, khamis, right software, selling software, floss, time effort, proprietary software, ubuntu, amman, loco, siksek, cooperation, linux, money

I witnessed all browsers wars in my life, just like many of you; and they are just like nations, they rise and fall, Netscape once dominated the market even Internet Explorer did at some point; some great browsers with great capabilities such as Opera never got the exposure that they really deserve and some good browsers like FireFox got great deal of promotion, a proper marketing team behind it I’d say.

I work as web developer and I’m so attached to Web Standards, Usability and Accessibility, I do believe in them and I do my best to stick to them whenever possible. I’m also a self-taught kind of people which means I read a lot and mostly online so I really value any piece of software or website that would make my reading experience just better.

Recently I decided to quit FireFox because it eats memory as no other application would, even GNU Image Manipulation Program or Video editors doesn’t eat as much as Firefox does, so I decided to quit it.

I tried Opera, it was good in term of using a browser but for reason or another I wasn’t satisfied and my experience with it wasn’t convenient, lots of functionalities and maze of preferences.

I tried Epiphany but I needed bit more of control on my browser preferences so I gave Galeon a try and a new love story began.

Galeon is a GNOME Web browser based on Gecko (the mozilla layout engine). It’s fast, it has a light interface, and it is fully standards-compliant. You can download it but first take a look at some screenshots and read additional documentation (installation…). Galeon requires Gnome and Mozilla.

Although reading Galeon History would give the impression that Galeon is the bad guy but after using it you would understand how over simplifying things might not work well.

Using Galeon would tell you that if you want a web browser that as promised the web and only the web then its bookmarklets and smart bookmarks would be more than enough for the best browsing experience.

I’ve been using Galeon for two weeks in row and since then never had to run Firefox, Opera or any other browser, it’s just the one I need and the one I’m willing to spend my browsing life with forever.

Tags: gnu image manipulation, gnu image manipulation program, image manipulation program, new love story, gnome web, light interface, video editors, smart bookmarks, documentation installation, internet explorer, layout engine, marketing team, bookmarklets, reading experience, functionalities, gecko, web standards, web developer, maze, usability

Yesterday we had a very energetic LoCo meeting and we decided to have a fixed monthly schedule

• Monthly FLOSS introductory lecture
• Monthly Ubuntu Desktop Course
• Monthly Ubuntu Installation Festival

This month we will do it at Jordan University and I’m so excited about it but that’s just the kick start of what we are planning to do.

I’ll keep this blog updated about LoCo Team activities and plans in the Kingdom, so stay tuned!

Tags: Course, Desktop, floss, introductory lecture, jordan university, kick start, loco, ubuntu, jordan university, introductory lecture, kick start, floss, loco, blog

And win free PIZZA!!!

You can use this HowTo:
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Snow-Penguin

take a photo of your SnowPenguin and send it to us, Core Committee will decide which is the best SnowPenguin within 10 days. The prize will be given in our next Social Meeting.

Do not forget to write the name of your favourite GNU/Linux distribution on it, however this isn’t a must.

Originally uploaded by Philocrites

Tags: core committee, free pizza, gnu linux, Linux, linux distribution, penguin, photo, free pizza, core committee, gnu linux, linux distribution, penguin, linux, photo

Saturday 29th of December was one of the days that I would never forgot, We worked really hard to prepare for the festival and we got it done in less than three weeks.

The event was a great success, we installed GNU/Linux on about 30 boxes, distributed about 300 DVD and 100 CD mainly Ubuntu 7.10 and Fedora 8 but OpenSuse 10.3 has its dose too (I can tell that people liked it even more than Fedora)

The goals of festival were met, we wanted to turn luggers on and to get new fresh blood and we succeeds in getting 120 new lug members and the old ones working on new year resolutions now which is great step forward for us.

People were amused by the topics of Free Software, Open Source, starting from the philosophy ending with the available technologies, They were asking Are you doing this for free? we thought you’re going to sell us something and the answer was Of course, we are selling you your freedom

Now we are planning to setup another installation festival within four months, hopefully we will find a sponsor so we can achieve a larger class of people.

Kudos to JoLug members who helped to make this event one memorable event, hopefully we will have more good news to share soon.

leave you with some photos of the installation festival.

Tags: available technologies, boxes, fedora, festival, four months, free software, freedom, fresh blood, gnu linux, google, installation, jolug, kudos, memorable event, new lug, new year, new year resolutions, opensuse, philosophy, picasaweb, software open source, type application, ubuntu, x shockwave flash, new year resolutions, x shockwave flash, new lug, google, picasaweb, software open source, gnu linux, available technologies, memorable event, fresh blood, type application, fedora, kudos, four months, new year, opensuse, boxes, philosophy, free software, freedom