It has been over half a year since the GNOME Asia Summit 2017 was successfully held in the charming mountain city of Chongqing. To honor this amazing event and to thank our volunteers who dedicated so much to make the conference possible, the latest GNOME 3.28 release was named after this beautiful city and is officially called Chongqing.
This news had certainly excited the conference holders and participants from all parts of China. Linux Story, as one of the most active local open source communities, saw this GNOME release as a perfect chance to promote GNOME and Open Source in the great China region. With its influence in many major cities of China, Linux Story called upon open source enthusiasts to gather themselves in their local cities and to hold a 10 cities get-together event that celebrates the new GNOME release, fulfilling the promise of awakening Open Source in China in the name of free and open source software.
Amazingly, the idea of holding such an event had received a tremendous welcome. Open source enthusiasts across China answered the call and organized their get-together in their home cities. Among the 10 cities are Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Yangzhou, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and even Taipei.
The celebration parties vary from cities. Some were held in universities, some in cozy bars. There were geeks sharing their latest projects, ideas, and tech topics; students talking about different Linux distributions including GNOME and others; new friends who had not really familiarized themselves with Linux system but decided to participate and explore, and our organizers keen to show people all about the new GNOME release and to offer nice souvenirs.
In Xi’an, the speech titled “A Brief History of GNOME” vividly depicted the history of GNOME since the age of X Windows System. The presenter Ckj then showed the new features of GNOME 3.28 during this wonderful presentation.
Lumin then presented us with how packages are distributed in Debian and how a student can participate in Debian projects.
In Guangzhou, the party started with the perfect demonstration of GNOME 3.28, given by Locez. Then Mr. Wen Baichuan from HardenedLinux offered a very comprehensive illustration of how an OS works from hardware level and how security issues are taken care of. Mr Li Ruibin, another very experienced Linux user, helped explain the odds people face when using Linux and 
he then introduced people with the exciting features of Flatpak. After the very hardcore sharing sessions, our organizers then offered our presenters and participants with all sorts of nice souvenirs. just look at the happy faces! it was truly a cheerful party!
In Beijing, the party did not only offer a GNOME 3.28 demonstration as the party dish. Sponsors like SUSE and ZhongBiao software had also literally offered delicious pizzas and other snacks.
The topics in the Beijing party did not stop at presenting open source software and Linux OS distributions. In depth knowledge sharing regarding the business models of open source software were also given by some eminent guests. Peoples’ mind clashed during the discussion and surely all the participants had learned a ton of new stuff and ideas from these inspiring discussions.
In Yangzhou and in Shanghai, the exciting parties all focused the spotlights on the GNOME 3.28 release demonstrations. Many other interesting activities during the parties surely enlightened the day as well. Words cannot really describe. Check the photos and imagine that excitement! Next time, join us in the party!
Of course, how can we miss our party in Taipei! Rumor has it that last time this Mozilla sponsored community had their party discussing GNOME were actually a number of years ago. Apart from the expected GNOME 3.28 demonstration, Mr. Zeng zhengjia also shared a lot of his experience about the translation work of earlier GNOME distributions. So many more had happened during the party and it was for me a real pity that I could not be there in Taipei and join them. I am running out, the pictures speak louder!
The parties are always short but the excitement never ends. Linux Story is writing a journal, a journal that will mark our growth and progress every step of the way. With an opening chapter like this, I cannot expect a better story. What do you think of this 10 cities party of ours? Whatever it is that you may wonder, there is only one thing that I am certain – there will be much more to come and the parties will be even better!
Good luck GNOME, good luck Linux Story and good luck to our open source journey! The great adventure is awaiting us and this party is merely a start.