Free Open Source and Linux in Vietnam

I must recognize that I feel jealous because the Hanoi GNU/Linux community is much much much more organized than us. They have their Coffee Friday meetings to reinforce their social-links and commitments. Because of that I would like to start also a habit of meeting in any coffee-shop or restaurant in HCMC with the same purposes than the community in Hanoi:

-Discuss about the situation of GNU/Linux in HCMC-Vietnam and how can we help to make it grow up.
-Technical support with our GNU/Linux in our laptops. I’m sure that the a full-direct help is better than any GNU/Linux online forum.
-Talk about the Software Freedom Day in HCMC.
-many things more you can propose.

If nobody propose some place better, I do. Let’s meet at the STELLA coffe-shop at 121 Bui Vien Street District 1 at 18h on Friday. They have good tables and chairs to use laptops and good Wi-fi connection.

Those having only ethernet connection on their laptops let me know in advance so I can bring my DDWRT-flashed Linksys WRT54G to make a wifi bridge and connected them with RJ45 wire.

I hope to see you all there and some of you translate and spread the new around the blog waves.
No need to leave a comment if you will come but I would appreciate.

I am very proud of the decision I took few years ago about not giving Free support to Microsoft when some friend ask me to fix their Windows or install some drivers, etc. I remember I coudn’t say no during my youth and I spent a lot of my times helping them to love more that operating system.

Since that day I only give give free support installing and fixing Linux systems, and what I like the most is to do brand new installations in laptops because I can contribute to write guides to make other people in the future to install linux on the same model. That way I don’t feel I’m only helping my friend, but all the people with the same model who check the guidelist.

Few places to write or read that Laptop/Hardware guides are :

The Ubuntu LaptopTestingTeam , here there is an example of laptop that I wrote yesterday.
TuxMobil, here there is an example of my wife’s laptop I wrote one month ago.
Linux-Laptops

If sometimes we must write this guides it’s because Ubuntu don’t detect everything, the most common problem is the non-support of Wifi native drivers so it must be done using Ndiswrapper(some linux-talibans won’t agree emulating Windows drivers). The 2nd most repeated problem is the screen resolution in new laptops and graphic cards.

What I normally during I write the guide is to post all the bugs founded to Ubuntu Launchpad , explaining which model I’m using, reporting the lspci, xorg and dmesg outputs. That way I’ll make sure that nobody will find that issues in the next versions of Ubuntu.

I personally like more the UbuntuLaptopTesting Wiki because everybody can modify or subscribe to any wiki-page(the owners of that laptop-model for example) and see all the progresses making that model become 100% functional.

So, everybody willing to install linux on their new laptop in HCMC, please leave a comment and I’ll be glad to meet him to take a coffee and help him with the process.

I personally knew that the movement initiated by Dell about installing Ubuntu on their machines would make jealous  other distributors, that’s the case of acer (in Singapore for the moment). We can see in the image the model Aspire 5710Z with the Ubuntu distribution.

I would like to see Dell Vietnam learning from this because the laptops that they sell with Linux pre-installed are only Terminal-based distribution. Not useful at all, and the end-user normally installs Windows right away and even worst, will think that linux was a very complicated thing.

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Gianfranco Lanci, Acer’s CEO (fourth world computer manufacturer), have just attacked in public the last OS of Microsoft.

More in the Germany News.

Education for Development is the first NGO in Ho Chi Minh City to have
an implementation program for Free OpenSource-Linux systems in the
office. We believe the considerations we made as a part of that
decision apply equally to other NGOs:

•      Security

•      Reliability/Stability

•      Open standards and vendor independence

•      Reduced reliance on imports

•      Developing local software capacity

•      Piracy, IPR, and WTO

•      Localization

During the last few months, some infrastructure around Linux has been
developed and it is now affordable to start using OpenSource programs
and to migrate to OpenSource Linux operating systems.

There is already a Linux user community in Saigon:
http://www.saigonlug.org/ as well as many other sites related (
http://www.vinalinux.com/ , etc),  In addition, there is a company
that supports and provides implementation services for
OpenSource-Linux that has a specific branch dedicated to Social
Organizations: http://www.openlink.com.vn.

With this email we would like to encourage other NGO’s in Saigon, in
Hanoi (http://blog.hanoilug.org/) and elsewhere in Vietnam to break
with some stereotypes around Linux (i.e. it is difficult, it is not
compatible with other operating systems, etc.) and consider the
possibility of migrating to Open Source-Linux systems.

The attached dossier explains in more detail the reasons for
implementing Open Source-Linux and the ways to implement Open
Source-Linux in Vietnamese NGOs.

Best Regards

Luis Gomez
Web Manager Volunteer
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Thanks to the HanoiLug and Vu Do Quynh specially to give me the link of the most interesting points that were talked during the visioconference.

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When the new rule takes effect on December 15, drivers will be required to wear helmets on all Vietnamese streets. Currently, helmets are only required on highways.

More info here

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Yesterday friday in the afternoon we had the so waited videconferencing with Mark ShuttleWorth, organized by the OpenLab in HCMC. We gathered all at HDLC and at 3pm, their installations were really great, 2 big videoprojector and an IP cammera controlled by one of the ladies responsible of the conference. The camera had a great zoom and resolution, it almost looked as a Tv Show.We connected via H.323 to the Mark’s London office (I must guess).

We also connected with the community in Hanoi (after they solved some IT problems) and we could have a very pleasant chatting with Mark. I must thank you to Dr.Minh from OpenLab his efforts to make that possible. I guess Mark is a very busy man with thousands of mails per day so agree to spend 1hour and a half with us is a good great thing.

I think that he gave us more information than us, he answered clearly to our questions about Ubuntu in Vietnam, OpenDocument vs OOXML standardization. He also told us how he began from zero from CapeTown in South Africa, a place really very different from Silicon Valley.

After the conference with Mark, HCMC and Hanoi communities keep talking (this time in Vietnamese, unfortunately , but I met a a good Vietnamese ubuntu friend who translated me). They discussed about how to join efforts to create an Ubuntu based distribution together, how to get resources support from the government or the OpenLab, etc.

Some photos of the event: