Hi everyone, I know that we are still a long way off from completion of this project, and I know we still have a lot of work to do. While some people have disappeared and not pulled their weight for whatever reason, which is disappointing, others have shone like a bright star in a clear night sky. I'd like to take the time this evening to recognize these people who have thus far done a great deal of work for the project, have impressed me immensely and have shown an incredible passion and dedication for not only this project, but Ubuntu as a whole.
*Kevin Godby* (godbyk) joined the team a couple of weeks after we started, and he missed the first meeting. Although he was a bit late to the party, he didn't let this faze him in getting straight to work. He has done a terrific job in reorganizing the back end of LaTeX and constantly writes hundreds of lines of code each day to set up the template that makes it so easy for all of us to work with. Not only has he been a terrific help with tex, but he is also a sound advisor and an excellent member of the team who is always available in the IRC chatroom for questions and help. *Wolter Hellmund *(wolter) started out with the manual from day one, he was the first person to submit a title page and has shown a great deal of enthusiasm and passion for the project. He is an excellent addition to the team, and, along with his undoubtedly busy lifestyle, somehow still manages to find the time to draw a Lynx by hand, design multiple title pages, and even write an entire chapter. He is always a participant in conversations and has been a great benefit to the team thus far. *Josh Holland *(dutchie) has been an enormous help to the project, and it's suffice to say that we wouldn't be nearly as well off as we are without his work. He has done a huge amount of LaTeX work, writes a section of the manual, is always present in meetings and IRC and has also taken care of setting up the Ubuntu Manual Planet for us. Not to mention the work that Josh has done on the translations. Josh has been a real help since day one and I think we all owe him a pat on the back. *Jamin Day* (JaminDay) has been around since day one also. While he has been busy recently, he is still an inspirational leader of the editing team and has done a great job in securing editors for most of the chapters. Not only that, but he has edited my chapter, reworked blueprints and generally been a good source of advice for us all. He's also taken the time to recruit new contributors and has even given them lessons in setting up and using bzr, complete with a slideshow. *Ilya Haykinson* (IlyaHaykinson) is someone who has been a great help also. Not only has he dedicated a huge amount of time to researching for this project, by creating and spreading a survey, but he has also been a solid person to approach for advice. Perhaps for me more than others, as I am known to perhaps act before I think - and Ilya's advice has been excellent. His work on writing chapters has been phenomenal - if you get a chance, I advise everyone to read what he has written so far, it's something that everyone should read and strive to achieve. *Thorsten Wilms *(thorwil)* and the design team* have done an incredible job thus far on the title page designs, and I expect to see some more amazing work now that they are cooperating as a team, rather than as competition. Thorsten has put some real thought into the target audience and the "emotional" aspect of our manual, the tone we'd like to set for our readers. A lot of what he has suggested has been things that I would have never thought of, and I value his opinion greatly. Well done. *Joe Burgess* (jmburgess) is another person who has been around since day one. He's been a tad quiet recently, but early on in the project he was behind all of the LaTeX work, the style guide, helping me with the wiki and taking on a chapter himself. He's always present in IRC and makes it to most meetings - keep up the good work, Joe. *The translators* - Translators, in my opinion, are people who are often overlooked in projects. What they do is actually a hugely beneficial contribution to any project in Ubuntu, and unfortunately I must admit that I have often overlooked their support and dedication. It is not unusual for the translations to be ahead of the authors, as they patiently wait for more content to be written to translate. Translations are one of the big things that sets our project apart from many similar publications, and it's something that we must concentrate on and put a lot of effort into getting right. Translators - well done, keep up the good work. I can't express in words how happy I am that we have so many languages being worked on, it's absolutely mind-blowing and I never anticipated such a huge interest. What we have achieved so far is astronomical in the short time that we have had. Many projects similar to ours have tried in times past and failed miserably long before the position we have reached now. We have a huge amount of momentum on our side, and we cannot ignore the fact that this manual is a hugely important addition to Ubuntu that is bolstered by the countless amount of feedback and congratulations I have had from the Ubuntu community and Ubuntu users. But the race is not won, the finishing line is far away, only a mere spec on the horizon. We need to continue our hard work, we need to double our efforts and we need to show that we can live up to our goals and our targets. If your name isn't on the list above, if you haven't been mentioned, then strive to achieve what the people above have and perhaps you will get a special mention next time in such a commendation. All the people above are contributors who have exceeded my expectations thus far and I am confident they will continue to do so for a long time, they should be looked up to and their passion should not be ignored. This is the first time that I have ever had such a responsibility - to be in charge of a team with over 200 people, over 50 active contributors. Our goals are ambitious, our time is short - but with the support of the community, good leadership and hard work, we can definitely produce something that we can all be proud of. I personally would like to thank all of you for what you've done so far - I couldn't have done it without you. So, continue with your work and I will see you all in the meeting this weekend. And remember, "People who produce good results feel good about themselves." - Ken Blanchard. Kind Regards, -- Benjamin Humphrey Ubuntu Manual Project Leader Dunedin, New Zealand https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-manual www.interesting.co.nz
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