Going Back to Basics….

Back To Basics

I was listening to Back to Basics by Christina Aguilera and thought I needed to do the same–get back to basics.  What does that mean me for me as it pertains to my blog? (I knew you’d ask; and besides I want to tell you.)

The Beginning

When I started blogging this whole journey into F/OSS via Ubuntu I didn’t even know what F/OSS, FL/OSS even meant nor did I even truly understand what it really meant embrace the philosophy of it all either. (Jury is still out on that one as to whether or not I *really* know more today than I did back then) I just wanted to use Linux and I had this desire since the early 90’s. I just wanted to use it without having to have people (read that as Pete Graner) help me do everything (read set-up and maintain) when it came to Linux systems. (Which is one of the reason I previously stuck with my mac).

Back in 2009 when I started blogging about Ubuntu, I would write about what I learned on any particular day and what my experience was with that new object of learning.  Then I got to know some of the developers and started second guessing myself about what to write and how to write it.  I felt pressure to look up the links to all the things I referenced, or to find out more before I wrote about it or to not be too critical because I know someone personally now.  I realized it was making me *hate* writing about anything. I was over thinking everything!

New Perspective

Writing

Thanks to Rikki Kite and others at Linux New Media, I was given the opportunity to write professionally with a blog on the Ubuntu User site – You In Ubuntu (which I need to spend more time on, I know) and to spread my wings and write for publications such as Ubuntu User and Linux Pro Magazines.  (I love event reports, writing about new end user opportunities and did I forget to mention I love interviewing people.) (Let me add–thank goodness for editors)

Then along comes Debra Williams-Cauley of Pearson Publishing, publishers of the Official Ubuntu Book, who gave me the opportunity to work with not only her, but Matthew Helmke, Corey Burger, and Benjamin “Mako” Hill among others.  It was during the process of helping with the 6th edition that I realized I was having fun and Matthew unknowingly (or maybe he did know) mentored me through a particularly difficult area–starting! Pick a place and start.  That’s how I started blogging.  DOH!  It hit me like a ton of bricks.   “Stop looking at the list of things you *want* to write about and just write,” is what I told myself. “Stop worrying if it’s technical or not and just give feedback.”  So that’s where I am going back too (for this blog) – just writing about what encounter and how I solved something or not.

UDS – Ubuntu Developer Summit

For me UDS means I get the opportunity to hunt down interview developers, contributors, and Canonical folks for the Ubuntu Contributor Channel (Told you, I love interviews), but it’s also where I can find points-on-the-end-user-areas-of-contribution-lattice to learn more about. Then I get to decide which areas I want to get involved with personally, get involved in the discussion, and make a list of areas to share with other end users when I get home.  The hardest part is often deciding where to post it once I get back. (This Blog, You In Ubuntu, The Fridge, or some other publication. Did I mention I like choices too.) I have’t gotten to write much over the last 8 months due to many things but let’s just say fire and injury are at the top of the list. However, now that our new home is finished and my wrist and knee are almost completely healed I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things again.

Feedback

I’ve been given a lot of feedback during the last few months, but here’s some that struck a chord with me.

My husband, Pete Graner, said, “There are a lot of people out there who can write technical crap; however, only Amber can write Amber crap.” 🙂  I knew he meant that in a good way (or at least he better have). However, what really drove this point home was a comment that Manoj Iyer made to me over lunch at the Texas Linux Fest earlier this year, “Amber, I like your blog. I used to read it because it was great feedback from the end user perspective, but you’re not an end user anymore. So I don’t read it for that.” (Hmmm, but I am an end user–the jury is still out on the fanatic end user part, but for now I’ll stick with end user–I’m *just* not a developer, nor do I play one on the internet.) So guess what? “What,” you ask?  I’m going back to talking about those things I encounter in my journey through Ubuntu no matter how simple it might be or how crazy my description of may sound and not worry so much. Did you know I find something new in Ubuntu everyday; I just stopped talking about it. (Please don’t send the comma splice, semicolon, or grammar police after me.) Going back to basics…

Consider this your warning! 🙂