Ambassadorship has its privileges

Back in May, I invited Karsten Wade — quaid to most of you in Fedora-land — to help me host the “Hats Off to Fedora 9″ release party at the Cabrillo College GNU/Linux Users Group installfest in Aptos (Santa Cruz County), California.

I mentioned to him afterward that Santa Cruz wasn’t big enough for two ambassadors, but he disagreed. So shortly thereafter, I became a Fedora ambassador.

While I have little in the way of a diplomatic portfolio and I haven’t gotten out of any parking tickets (or worse) thanks to diplomatic immunity, ambassadorship does have its privileges. Not only is it great to evangelize about something you use and believe in (can I get an “Amen”?), it’s also rewarding to know that you’re contributing to the greater good of society by promoting Free/Open Source Software), in general, and promoting one of the best distros out there (ours!).

Which brings us to our day — Fedora Ambassadors Day North America 2008 — at the Ohio LInux Festival in October. If you’re an ambassador, you might want to go here for the details, but if you want an overview, you can read David Nalley’s blog here.

From David’s blog, it sounds like if you’re an ambassador and within driving and flying distance, this might be the place to be next month. Meanwhile, I have to figure out how I can get there from the sunny shores of California.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)