Fresh Air - April 2023 Newsletter

Krista Burdine, Community Team Lead

Volunteer Appreciation

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month! Words are not adequate. Millions of thanks to the people pouring out their time and energy to bring the Foundation to life, and create its Projects. We simply can’t exist without volunteer support.

Versions

Current Rocky Linux Versions: 8.7, 9.1

Metrics tell us that about half of Rocky Linux users are using 8.7, so congratulations to everyone keeping up! But of course those using previous versions can still be at ease, because Rocky 8 will be supported through May 2029.

Beta testing for 8.8 is currently in progress. And we expect 9.2 beta to be available soon.

The Peridot team is currently working on V2! Improving image building and working on a new plugin system. The development team meets on alternate Mondays at 2100 UTC, aka 5pm EDT.

Active Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

  • In response to community feedback, AltArch is in the process of securing a variety of SBCs to assist with development and testing, with the hopeful goal of supporting a wider range of SBCs. Look for improved support of Rocky in this area.
  • AI SIG has a team and new direction, with plans to develop a RockyAI build with relevant open-source packages and tools already pre-installed. Team meets on alternate Thursdays at 1630 UTC, aka 12:30pm EDT.
  • HPC has some increased momentum at the moment, with potential for a team meeting being put on the RESF public calendar soon.
  • Kernel and the brand new Database channel of Mattermost, our chat server, are both also seeing a lot of activity this week.
  • Don’t see your favorite SIG in here? Maybe they need you to jumpstart the discussion! It only takes one.

Upcoming Events

Documentation

  • Remember that cool thing you worked out while you were building with Rocky, but haven’t gotten it documented yet? The Documentation team is working on a new feature, templates to make contributing easier for everyone. Watch the docs site for that!
  • But don’t wait. Just get in touch on the Mattermost channel and someone will help you get that document crossed off your task list (and your name recorded in Rocky lore). The world needs it now.
  • Do you know a technical writer looking for real-world experience? Documentation is a stellar place to learn how to collaborate with subject matter experts, review technical documentation for standards compliance, etc.
  • Do you wish Rocky documentation were available in your home language? We’d love to collaborate. Translation assistance welcome!

Get Involved

As a fully volunteer organization, we always have room for more people to get involved. All of the above links are invitations to join the conversation in our primary chat server. When you follow channels there or attend meetings on the RESF public calendar, you may find a niche that interests you. Additionally:

  • Currently we have room for non-technical support in the area of marketing, including those who know and/or want to grow their skills in graphic design, photoshop, SEO and content research, and event planning. Connect with the Community Lead, the author of this document, to learn more.
  • General documentation opportunities are listed above. One particular need we have at present is to work through all the existing guides (tutorials) and add relevant screenshots and make sure the verbiage and alt text are written for accessibility (we have the standards, just need your eyes). GitHub and Markdown experience helpful, but you can learn as you go. Great measurable opportunity.

And that’s the freshest RESF news for April.

This newsletter is published the Friday after each Community Meeting, which occurs every fourth Wednesday at 2300 UTC aka 7pm Eastern Standard Time. For questions about this material, contact Community Lead Krista Burdine on Mattermost as @grammaresque or via krista@resf.org. Thank you.

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