Last Thursday and even again last night I got to meet and hang out with people who use, develop, and advocate Ubuntu.  It was really interesting to put the faces to the names sit down and talk to them. Some of the people I’ve not met since I’ve moved to the UK yet been talking to them for the last two years like Dan Fish.

It’s interesting to talk to people who work in Canonical also and see things from their point of view also, talk about how they see things going, their views on the Ubuntu community and how the two sides can work better. It was great to see some of the folks from Millbank come down to the pub last Thursday and meet some of the Ubuntu-UK team, we had some drinks, chats and I think everyone enjoyed it.

What really pleased me  was seeing the Canonical folks come down, after their days work to hang out with members of the community, it’s the one thing I think in the UK we can work on as a team, have greater interaction with the folks who are here.  I see it in the USA the whole time, more and more people who work on Ubuntu coming to the events.

Don’t underestimate how putting the face to the name behind the bug you’ve had issues with helps and also empowers you to want to work and get involved more in Ubuntu.

What I would like to see less of is how people refer to people are you Canonical or are you Community.  Lets not forget folks, the folks in Canonical are part of the Ubuntu Community and should also be referred to as Community.

We all work in some way to improve the Ubuntu project by being involved in the community, either by advocacy, running a loco, giving a talk, or working on bugs or being employed by Canonical, you are the Ubuntu Community. 

Nice to meet folks and hopefully we’ll do it again!