I have some ideas.

We never really finished talking so I thought about tying the loose ends in the forums.

<bodhi_zazen> jingo811, as far as an agenda, we can set one if you like

<jingo811> Yeah that would be a nice read :-) <bodhi_zazen> we are all volunteers and members are more or less active <bodhi_zazen> OK <bodhi_zazen> any thoughts ? <bodhi_zazen> I would like to see the team work on some wiki pages, FAQ on the forums <jingo811> not at the moment I'm trying to run operation: Eggshell over here it's taking quite some time. <bodhi_zazen> I do not know if we need to make them or improve on the ones we have <bodhi_zazen> Second, dethrone Microsoft, that should be up there <bodhi_zazen> we need Ubuntu pre-installed on everything <jingo811> In order to dethore MS you'll need to crack the egg: <jingo811> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=623853

I don't know the situations at the Wiki and FAQ pages since I don't use them very often. So no particular comment on this. However I think the Ubuntu Screencast Videos should get more PR so that newbies can find them right away when visiting ubuntuforums.org for the very first time. They are good at explaining complicated tasks such as partitioning which is the first and biggest mountain a Windows user have to face. I tried making such a tutorial in text/screenshots, the finished work even confused me. So videos are nice for this. http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/

If the videos would be organized after a certain chronological order (not refering to time) then it would be doubly efficient. And if the newly added screencast would have a smaller layout such as the news at www.slyck.com Then it would be much nicer to use that site.

Oh about dethroning MS even if every PC in the world had Linux pre-installed (smart) ppl would still be forced to partition and install Windows XP in order to satisfy their gaming thirst. That's why I think pushing for popular commercial games work natively on Linux is the key to "dethore" :) Microsoft. Regular ppl follow smart ppl, if smart ppl have to resort to Windows XP then regular ppl will follow. Microsoft makes money from regular ppl.

Microsoft is a good thing. They are competition. They make Ubuntu better. That's all we should care about is how good we can make Ubuntu. If Ubuntu and Linux wants to show it can compete in the gaming world it needs to land a deal with a major player like E/A and have one of their popular games ported like The Sims. Or for example the upcoming release of Spore. I know I would purchase it, just to play it. And I'm sure a lot of people would purchase just to support Linux.

A successful move like this would then start getting attention from media and you may have commentators on CNN talking about what Linux is and what they are doing with E/A

You wouldn't have overnight success but you would spark interest and this annoying wall that the Linux world just keeps trying to get over may finally start to come down.

Just my opinion. But I suppose I should direct this towards the beginners support because that's what we do here. I see those posts of people leaving Ubuntu because it's not what they thought it would be so I suggest we try to provide the most accurate information when someone says...

"I'm thinking about switching to Ubuntu"

Sometimes the replies to them are like this: "Yeah just download, burn it, and install it"

That's exactly what we can't do to these people. We want to make sure Ubuntu will be an asset for them, not a liability. If it isn't hardware compatible, doesn't accomplish the goals they need (say they do indesign CS3 work for a publishing company) or they have a very tight schedule (may recommend they wait til they are on vacation to mess around) then I think we just need to be honest with these people about the problems they may face in Ubuntu.

siciliancasanova said: ....

.....

Sometimes the replies to them are like this: "Yeah just download, burn it, and install it"

That's exactly what we can't do to these people. We want to make sure Ubuntu will be an asset for them, not a liability. If it isn't hardware compatible, doesn't accomplish the goals they need (say they do indesign CS3 work for a publishing company) or they have a very tight schedule (may recommend they wait til they are on vacation to mess around) then I think we just need to be honest with these people about the problems they may face in Ubuntu.

Yup that's what I felt the Linux community as a whole has been doing wrong the last couple of decades they do what you said above. And it seems so simple yet nobody ever tells you about the liabilities that follows when you're starting as a newbie. Then you're stuck there with problems up to your neck.