Hi all!
This month, the newsletter is a bit late, and I apologize! The end-of-year holidays, plus organizing Firefox App Days in Paris, kind of monopolized my time.
The pride of MozFR in December was the recognition of our dear Théo Chevalier (http://bonjourmozilla.fr/?post/2012/06/04/Theo-Chevalier ) as a « Friend of the Tree » (https://wiki.mozilla.org/WeeklyUpdates/2012-12-17#Friends_of_the_Tree ) for the excellent work he did on Telemetry. For my part, and I’m sure you’ll share my opinion, I think we could easily nominate Théo as « Francophone Mozillian of the Year »: in just one year he has become an essential part of our community, responsible for numerous translations (in particular Firefox OS!), proving himself a veritable swiss army knife for whom Mozilla will soon hold no secrets, participating in all the events, and even orchestrating the participation of Mozillians as Reps for Capitole du Libre. In short: we love you, Théo!
Another contributor we want to highlight this month: Mozinet, who has been blogging for ten years about Mozilla technology (http://blogzinet.free.fr/blog/ ), and who now supplies our monthly newsletter with the latest updates on the Red Panda. Now everyone in the Francophone community can make sure they haven’t missed anything Mozilla-related from the past month. Thanks Mozinet!
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The month of December saw many events, most of them brand new!
The month opened with fanfare, with the Mozilla Senegal coordination meeting on December 1st. Over the course of the day, Camara and his peers defined their plans for the year 2013. They also got two of their contributors, Alassane Dieng and Ngiélé Niang, ready to become Reps. (We wish them luck! Let them know the MozFR community is here to help them out!)
This coordination meeting was a little different, because there was a special guest: Bacely Yorobi from Mozilla Côte d’Ivoire was visiting Senegal, and so was able to enjoy the experience of our extraorinary Camara and his ensemble of Senegalese Free Software fans (a truly wonderful community, as you’ll recall: https://claristamozilla.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/une-pensee-pour-mozilla-senegal/ ).
Meanwhile in France, the FOSSA 2012 (Free & Open Source Software in Academia) conference took place from December 4th to 6th in Lille (http://fossa.inria.fr ). This conference, dedicated to ties between the academic world and the world of Free Software, is organized by INRIA (http://www.inria.fr/ ), a public institution for computer science research. The event saw presentations by Tristan, Desiderius, and Yoric. Yoric, an academic by training, wrote up an excellent summary here: http://blog.mozfr.org/post/2012/12/Retour-sur-le-FOSSa-%28Free-Open-Source-Software-in-Academia%29
The relentless Tristan Nitot then continued on to Matignon (the French prime minister’s residence) on December 6th, for a reception with the principal actors of the web (http://www.lepoint.fr/technologie/jean-marc-ayrault-va-recevoir-les-tenors-du-web-30-11-2012-1536147_58.php ). You can find some photos on his Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nitot/8313848057/in/photostream
Another important event, simply unmissable if you are Parisian: Tuppervim (https://etherpad.mozilla.org/TupperVim-1212 )! Why unmissable? Because the the number of participants is always growing, because you will learn a ton of things, and because the lead teacher is Kazé with his good humor, his way with words, and his bottles of beer!
December 7th, still in Paris, clarista once again invited the « newbies » to come have a drink at the Mozilla office on Boulevard Poissonnière. We got to meet Thinkling and BlackSheep. And thank you to our photographer Pandark, who even opened a new Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandark/sets/72157632296180933/ . What would we do without him?
December 10th was back-to-school day for the IT students at CoMETe (Course of Mozilla Education and Technology), at the University of Evry, France. Or to be precise, it was the start of the fourth session of classes on Mozilla technologies provided by Mozilla community members Laurent Jouanneau and Yoric. If you have ideas for classes or projects, feel free to contact Desiderius on #frenchmoz!
Back in France, but further south: On December 11th Flaburgan gave a presentation at Human Talks in Grenoble. Human Talks is a series of 10-minute presentations accessible to all (for free!), by and for developers, the second Tuesday of each month in several cities. Since his trial by fire during JDLL in Lyon, Flaburgan now has more conferences under his belt. This time he presented Web Apps (http://humantalks.com/talks/49-introduction-aux-webapps and you can find his slides at https://github.com/Flaburgan/presentations-mozilla/tree/master/openwebapps ). Flaburgan plans to present a new Mozilla technology each month from now on.
I’d like to take advantage of his initiative to invite you, my fellow French-speaking Mozillians, to learn more about Human Talks (http://humantalks.com/ ), see if there’s one in your city, and take your turn to go and speak about Mozilla!
Also on December 11th, guess what? TupperVim took a trip to Grenoble (http://linuxfr.org/news/session-tuppervim-le-mardi-11-decembre-a-grenoble )! We’re jealous of the Grenoblois: First Flaburgan and now Kazé in their city! This beautiful city in the French department of Isère is becoming quite a landmark for Mozillians. To our alpine friends: do not miss the next monthly TupperVim!
But let’s return to Paris (where there are still plenty of things going on!): on December 13th we threw a holiday party at the Mozilla office (https://reps.mozilla.org/e/end-of-2012-celebration/ ). The people, the silly hats, the fruitful discussions about the year past and the one to come, a handsome fir tree, fresh food, and good wine. And photos to capture the memories: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%23noelmozillaparis . Because this is Mozilla in Paris: employees and contributors who share everything and adore each other!
Now here’s a red-letter day: December 15th and 16th, Mozilla Côte d’Ivoire organized its first event (http://bonjourmozilla.fr/?post/2012/12/15/Premier-evenement-pour-Mozilla-cote-d-Ivoire )! Titled #OpenWeb Week Showcase, (https://reps.mozilla.org/e/openweb-week-showcase/ ), it was held at the AMN CoWorking Space in Abidjan in the commune of Cocody. Around 50 people took part. The goal was to show them not only various Mozilla technologies (like Firefox OS), but also various aspects of the community, and what contributions they can bring. Bacely Yorobi, our representative in Côte d’Ivoire, organized everything. He was then able to rely on Melek and Chaasof from Mozilla Tunisia, Camara from Mozilla Senegal, and Clarista from Mozilla France, who joined in via Skype. A great way to show our Ivoirien friends the « international » side of Mozilla-style cameraderie.
Bacely also invited several web activists. Together, they pondered ways to expand the role of Free Software in Côte d’Ivoire, especially in education.
The event was a truly emotional time: the birth of a new community, Mozilla Côte d’Ivoire, in a country still recovering from the tragic events of these past years. This community is a symbol of reconstruction, and of how the Ivoiriens are mending the fabric of their society. You can find photos of the event at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13423211@N02/show/with/8341315489/
Back in France: December 15th, GeekShadow proved once again that Mozilla on France is more than just Paris! With the talent we know so well, he presented Firefox OS at an Install Party in Saint-Nazaire (http://www.nautile.org/Actions/Les-rencontres-du-n-utile/article/Entraide-Party-du-15-decembre-2012.html ).
A new city takes a place of prominence on the map of Mozillians in France: Tours! Thanks, in large part, to gerard-majax. Ever since he learned that Palo Altours was opening a hackerspace in the city, he got involved immediately. As a result: on the opening day, our contributors from Touraine (gerard-majax of course, but also Goofy and El Cameleon) were there to present Mozilla (http://wiki.mozfr.org/Mozilla_en_Touraine ). A total of 70 people, technical and non-technical, came to discover, discuss, and share. Our three contributors also gave talks on Firefox OS, JavaScript, and localization in general. And guess what? The feedback was great! (http://www.paloaltours.org/palo-altours-premiere-meetup-mozilla-du-191212/ and http://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/Indre-et-Loire/Actualite/24-Heures/n/Contenus/Articles/2013/01/05/Cantine-numerique-premier-service-fin-janvier ). Thanks also to Palo Altours, the group who manages La Cantine in Tours, for their accommodation and assistance!
View the photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/52304582@N04/sets/72157632367558630/
And the Goofy’s « Translation at Mozilla » presentation materials (20 minutes): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20866027/traduire%20pour%20Mozilla.zip
On December 20th, Mozilla Mauritania showed us just how much energy they’ve got. Ganesh and Pamela have in fact launched a new event, a presentation on the Webmaker project. The event was organized in collaboration with Knowledge 7, a computer training center directed by software engineer Avinash Meetoo. Olivier YipTong, an engineer who works for Mozilla in Canada, gave the presentation. Twelve participants with backgrounds in education and software development participated in this workshop.Olivier was actually in Mauritania on vacation. Once he was there, he contacted Ganesh to organize this Webmaker demonstration. After the training session, Mozilla Mauritania now hopes to extend its Webmaker promotion into schools and other institutions who might be interested.
A journalist from the newspaper L’Express, who was present for the workshop, published two articles which you can find at these links:
See the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/78293002@N05/sets/72157632431807756/
And we finish the month right where we started: in Senegal, where BarCamp Thies took place on December 22nd and 23rd. It’s been around four years since Dakar’s first BarCamp. Since then, the biggest « unconference » in Africa has made Dakar the leading city for technology. But Senegal is larger than just Dakar. The time has arrived for decentralization toward the interior of the country, and so Camara has decided to take the train of innovation to the city of Thies for this BarCamp. On the schedule: presentations on Firefox OS (including a demonstration of the Firefox OS Simulator), another on Firefox and internet privacy, and also a Q&A session.
Photos from the event are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mozillasn/tags/mozbarcamp/show/
And of course, as usual, #MecrediDoc (« Documentation Thursday ») takes places every Thursday evening, online and in the Paris office: https://mercredidoc.etherpad.mozilla.org/all
And « Newbie Friday » every Friday morning, in #mozfr.
- And what’s new in communication?
Our dear Pandark updated the « get involved » page on mozfr.org: http://www.mozfr.org/participer . We await your feedback; if you visit the page, let us know whether you could find what you were looking for!
Another new development: the creation of « sponsors » for new members of the community. In the interest of better guidance for newcomers, it seemed like it might be a good idea to assign a sponsor to each newbie who wants one. The idea is not to be as formal as the Reps system, but just to better assist our new arrivals. The more of us who become sponsors, the better it will be.
So you may sign up here, if you are interested in being a sponsor or a sponsee: http://wiki.mozfr.org/ParrainsMozfr
Clarista also created a « form letter » for people who meet us at events and express interest in Mozilla.
The month of December was also packed for Benoît as he prepared for Fosdem in earnest, with hard work and passion!
For their part, Anne-Marie and Clarista worked on the organization of the Firefox OS event scheduled for January 26th, 2013, in Paris. Big thanks to Nicolas Pierros who found us the space (for free!): l’Epita, his former school. And a huge THANK YOU to l’Epita for welcoming us.
Registration is here: http://firefoxosappdaysparis.eventbrite.com/
The event page is here: https://reps.mozilla.org/e/paris-firefoxos-hackathon/
We should give our heartfelt thanks to BlackSheep, who was firing on all cylinders this month. Newly-arrived in the community, he has been helping us nonstop! It was he who made the poster for the Paris hackathon: http://bonjourmozilla.fr/?post/2012/12/22/2013–l-annee-Firefox-OS-
And he who proposed several logos for the MozFR community: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/logo-mozfr . (We’ll soon offer you a chance to vote on them, elsewhere.)
Let’s also highlight some articles in French written by members of the community:
– an article by Laurent Jouanneau on Firefox OS: http://ljouanneau.com/blog/post/2012/12/10/Firefox-OS-%C3%A7a-va-depoter
– the article « Hackable Games » by Clochix: http://esquisses.clochix.net/2012/12/13/jeux/
– an article by Mozinet on per-window private browsing in Firefox Nightly: http://blogzinet.free.fr/blog/index.php?post/2012/12/12/Navigation-privee-par-fenetre-dans-les-Nightly-de-Firefox
– On Owni, graphic artist extraordinaire Geoffrey Dorne published another brilliant article, under the title « Privacy Policy: Icons to Inform. » The pitch? « Nobody – or almost nobody – reads privacy policies. Designers, citizens, and experts supported by the Mozilla Foundation introduced a list of icons to simplify things, making it possible to understand what each site does with your data. Here’s an overview of their project. » http://owni.fr/2012/12/14/charte-de-confidentialite-des-icones-pour-informer/
– And if you have time to read only one article today, it should be this indispensable retrospective of Mozilla in 2012, by the no-less-indispensable Mozinet, on MozillaZine-fr. Happy New Year 2013! http://www.mozillazine-fr.org/archive.phtml?article=28569f
Finally, you should know that Flore and Clarista now officially represent WoMoz in France, after the departure of Delphine to the USA. So, ladies, we await your ideas!
- From the world of localization:
As always, the team formed around Goofy has not been idle. A particular point of pride: the deployment of the magnificent « Contribute » page (http://whatcanidoformozilla.org/ ), translated collaboratively!
We’d also like to note:
– the translation of Johnathan Nightingale’s article presenting statistics and perspectives on Mozilla in 2012: http://blog.mozfr.org/post/2012/12/Mozilla-en-2012-et-sur-le-front-pour-2013
– the articles on MDN: https://mercredidoc.etherpad.mozilla.org/all
– the collaborative translation of the November edition of Firefox & You, now using HTMLpad which saves us time by showing the final rendering instantly. Let me point out Pierre-Louis’s important contribution for this work!
– and as always… Théo Chevalier who went into overdrive to get Firefox OS and its default apps ready in French by mid-January! Which you must agree is vital!
- And meanwhile, what’s are the developers up to?
Do not miss Pascal Chevrel’s tutorial on « Compiling Firefox OS for desktop on Ubuntu »: http://www.chevrel.org/carnet/?post/2012/12/04/Compiler-Firefox-OS-en-version-desktop-sur-une-Ubuntu&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
An anti-spam filter has been installed on the MozFR forums, to ban spammers listed on stopforumspam.com as soon as they register.
In other news, forum messages now indicate the poster’s browser (User-Agent), to make support easier.
There – that’s « all » for the month of December.
I conclude with a call for contributions: Mozilla Mauritania is looking for someone to develop their web site. I’m counting on your generosity! If you’re interested, contact me!
Thank you to all who participated, and all those hardy enough to read through to the end. 😉
Clarista
Clarista Mozilla 