Ubuntu adds a community manager

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Aug. 09, 2006

In July, Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical's head, started looking for a community manager for Ubuntu, the popular Linux distribution. Shuttleworth recently found his man, Jono Bacon, a UK-based technology consultant and writer.

The Ubuntu position isn't just a cheerleader for Ubuntu. Shuttleworth described the job as "'uniquely Ubuntu' in that it brings together professional management with community integration."

Shuttleworth continued, "It's a management position. Our community in Ubuntu is amazingly professional in its aspirations -- folks want to participate in every aspect of the distribution, from marketing to artwork to sounds to governance and beyond. ... In the past six months I've noticed a number of people joining and having an impact who are mature professionals with great day jobs and a limited ability to contribute in terms of time -- but a strong desire to be part of 'this phenomenon called Ubuntu.' The job of the community manager will be to make it possible for these folks to have an amplified impact despite having time constraints on their ability to participate."

Thus, they needed someone who could bring "the principles, practices, and real world experience of traditional management to community initiative."

Those aren't easy shoes to fill.

Bacon feels up to the challenge. On his blog, he wrote, "It is an interesting and challenging role, and one I am ready for. For the last eight years I have worked in a number of different communities, developing community relations and working to understand, rationalize and manage the different aspects of community effectively."

Bacon has been working as a full-time writer and technology consultant/developer since 2000 and has worked for a variety of publishers and companies. These include Linux Magazine, Linux Journal, MacTech, Digital Home, and NewsForge. He's also the co-author of the popular O'Reilly book Linux Desktop Hacks. He's also worked with Trolltech, Apple, and University of Wolverhampton.

Besides his formal work history, Bacon has been a part of the Linux community since 1998. He's worked on several open-source projects such as KDE.

Ubuntu is also continuing its evolution from a pure community distribution to a commercial venture for Canonical Ltd. This will add to the challenge of the position.

And, of course, while the latest Ubuntu, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Service), will be supported for quite a while, the Ubuntu community is already hard at work on the next version: Edgy Eft.

All-in-all, Bacon has quite a job in front of him, and the Ubuntu community is wishing him the best of luck in the position. Chances are he'll need it, in a job that's both an incredible opportunity and a substantial challenge.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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