It’s a wonderful feeling when you receive recognition - no matter how small - from people whom you respect and admire. That’s why I was stoked to be accepted as an official Ubuntu member. To be eligible, one has to be able to prove that they have contributed substantially to the Ubuntu community. I know serveral good people who were turned down on their first application, so I was nervously biting my fingernails in the leadup to my approval.

Being present at the IRC meeting was a whole task unto itself. I had to wait until one was scheduled at a time which I could attend. When I discovered that one had been announced for 10PM (in my timezone), I pounced and added myself to the agenda. The discussion was fascinating, but the meeting itself blew out far beyond its scheduled time frame. They only got to me at around 1:30AM. I am very grateful to the Ubuntu-Au members who stayed on until then to cheer me on. Isn’t community a wonderful thing?

Within ten minutes, I had approval from the Community Council members who were present, but I had to wait for the votes of the absent members. The following evening, I received a nice e-mail from Ubuntu Launchpad:

Subject: Launchpad: Your membership status on team Ubuntu Members was changed
Date: Wednesday 18 October 2006 21:03
From: Launchpad Team Membership Notifier

Hello, The status of your membership on team "ubuntumembers" (Ubuntu Members) was changed from Proposed to Approved.

The comment for it was:

approved 18/10/06 by sabdfl, elmo, jono, for superb contribution to en_GB and related effort

Once again, thanks to everyone who provided support, both moral and actual.