BST - Escuelita Fedora

On Saturday we have our third, training day at UTP (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama) seven translators join the Spanish translators team, and started to translate some Fedora Wiki pages, as part of the goal, on becoming part of Fedora Community, next Saturday will work on translating, some of fedora manual pages.

In the mean while at same time the other part of the Fedora Panama Team (Abdel and Luis) work on packaging with nine candidates that started doing their first Fedora package, soon will start sending their request for sponsorship of their packages. To become Fedora Packagers.

This is our first round, of training and hope to gain new fedora collaborators in the future. Thanks to Monica Mora from UTP - Cidetys and David Narvaez from floss-pa for organizing the BST and invite us to share this experience.

Later on Saturday we join floss-pa group to have our once a month meting floss-parking,

More pics here

BST (Bug Squashing Team)

Before the FUDCon Panama, floss-pa group was creating the BST (Bug Squashing Team), the idea was to integrate local college students with some free software projects, in the area Documentation, translation and Bug fixing, to reach that goal Monica Mora from Cidetys and David Narvaez from floss-.pa, worked on getting all infrastructure require to invite students from UTP (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama) all do, it was an open invitations, the main laboratories was going to be provided by UTP, after a week they had over 100 entries of people interested. Many of them users of one or another free software technology. From that list around 25 were choose to start on the BST. While other member of local community were selected to be Team Leaders, the leader will have the capabilities to teach about the subject they were going to lead.

While on the FUDCon Monica Mora ask us if we could join the program, taking a group of people that responded to the BST invitation but were Fedora users, so we gladly accepted to be part of this project, the main goal for the Fedora group will be to share what we know about translation, documentation, packaging, bug zapping and design. To change Fedora users in to Fedora collaborators. To archive this goal we are going to be part of rpmdev..
Fedora Panama also help on setting 4 labs with Fedora 15 thanks for the work of (Abdel Martinez, Juan Barba and Nicolas Nieszawski )

BST started their introduction and training one Jun 4 with the general group. We were there visiting, it was a great start were people meet and learn in which are of the BST they like to participate.

BST first day.

Fedora group started on Jun 11 and we have 20 people join us for 4 hours while we introduce them to each Fedora group and we share our experience with Fedora family.

I introduce people to Translation and Documentation, while Abdel Martinez (Potty) introduce them to packaging and Luis Bazan (LoKoMurdoK) introduce them to IRC and how we communicate on Fedora.

Next session session we will cover RPMDEV and FAS account. And split the groups so we can start tutoring into their interested group.

Will post more into this new adventure for Fedora Panama with high expectation of getting more than one person into each fedora group.

There are many documentation about what BST is doing on it web page, with the tutorial and presentations. http://bst.floss-pa.org

Icaro Project

Icaro Project is an initiative of fellow ambassador Valentin Basel, with the goal of bringing in a manner transparent to the user the basics of programming (iterations, repetition, recursion, if conditional) applied to a physical context such as a robot or automation system.

To archive this goal, Valentin has develop hardware, with the lowest price,  most common electronic components, and easy to find in his country Argentina (the goal is that the hardware can be replicated in other places cheap and easy), with them he has been able to build a robotic arm and a robot controller with a assus eee 4G machine, the idea was to use an OLPC XO computer but since he could not get one on Argentina he use the more like hardware machine he could find.

In the program area he has develop the firmware, c++ interface and python library, so others can expand his project, but to make it easy to use he develop a plugin for TurtleArt, where Icaro module allow any one with no programming skills to interact and start programming the robot.

We have meet Valentin on IRC and have the opportunity to share a couple days with him in Panama, for the FUDCon where his presentation raise laughter and cheers, he come early to the FUDCon and during that time he show his work to the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama (UTP) and Universidad de Panama (UP) and teach the computer club of UTP on how to code and interact with it, code and improve his work, and also give away some of the electronic controller board he bring with him.

Icaro project is now in use as a pilot in two school in Argentina and to make my friend Valentin happy yesterday I was invited to see the start of Project Icaro at a Tecnologica high school in Panama, as pilot program. It was great to see that UTP and UP will work together on this project. We will follow this program to keep everyone on the loop.

Icaro project is hosted on RPMDEV project and initiative of Guillermo Gomez from Venezuela, Fedora Contributors at RPMDEV will package and help on the documentation of project ICARO, so it will be added in Fedora 16.

Thanks Valentin, hope to see you soon.

All hardware designs and software can be found at: http://rpmdev.proyectofedora.org/projects/icaro/wiki

Follow Icaro Project Blog at: http://www.sistema-icaro.blogspot.com/

FUDCon Panama day 3

It was fun start this new day, learning that Luis Bazan and Juan Barba (Fedora Panama Designer Team) has been sponsor as packagers, other graduate during the day.

Tatica talk to Juan so he can puts his skills to the artwork of Fedora 16, so his inspiration and art skills will shine on Fedora 16.

Many talks and lite talks were done, must impressive to me was one of our younger Fedora Panama, members Joel Batista 14 years old, and his project ayudinga.com, look like there is a future for Fedora Panama. During the Fudcon Joselo another 14 years old was there listening an learning about Fedora, he wants to become a packager, so we will help him to accomplish this goal.

It was a raining day, but we enjoy it as we listen and view all Fedora members having fun, sharing ideas, sharing knowledge and must of all becoming friends.

The afternoon was set so a bus will pick up everyone at the villas, we wait there with Joel, Joselo and all delegations were we work and share before arriving to the FUDPub, the plan was to go to Bolos El Dorado, were everything was ready, except for our big surprice the Fedora 15 birthday cake.

We bowl and celebrate all work accomplish this three exceptional days.

Sharing this experience with all Panamanians that took this opportunity to learn and share with our exceptional fellow Fedorians that join us for the FUDCon. Thanks all of you.

FUDCon Panama 2011 Day 2

New day new challenges, we started early setting up banners, on building 105 “Centro de Negocios” at City of knowledge” our main local sponsor thanks to Gabino Ayarza for helping us to get this done, we have three rooms for 50 people each prepared for us, all ready with two screens, projectors wireless mics and sound system ready. The staff there have everything ready, many thanks to them.

Once again our protocol staff took care of receiving everyone, the only issue was that a group took a room not assigned to them to give a talk about visualization, that make some people not easy, but Potty come to the rescue and arrange the schedule, talks and rooms so every one has it place. This time more people show us up, the spare unregistered badges run out, the list of attendees grow up to 170, many of them came previous day others did not.

Seen people going to one room to the other to get to the next talks and checking talk schedule was important and encouraging. Some talks fill more rooms than others but that is the beauty of Barcamp format.

Workshops started and one of the most encouraging part of the FUDCon started, it really started the night before when Guillermo Gomez “Gomix” from rpmdev project give Potty and me, the rpmdev official wear, we have graduated as packager from some time now, we wear next day, must local members were asking how to get one of them, to what we reply “this has to be earn, as you graduated as packager”, that also make us hear some jokes, as packagers are the local boys at supermarket who put your groceries on the bags, one of the goal of rpmdev project is to teach packager and developers, the Fedora way.

So may of the local and fedora team started they tutorials to this goal, become a Fedora Packager, one of the best opportunity, as it was a great face to face session on packaging and getting the package done and ready to be reviewed and sponsored.

It was fun as the en of the day came and people wanted to stay on building 105, we move to villas were people continue tutoring and enjoying their self.