On January 19th 2004, Gareth Bentley sent out an e-mail regarding his interest to revive discussions on the Zambia Linux Users Group (ZLUG) list by incorporating discussion about the ICT policy for Zambia and where OpenSource could play a role. In this same e-mail Gareth suggested that a website be setup for ZLUG where results of private discussions and conclusions may be posted along with other articles of interest on Zambia, Africa with regard to OpenSource.
After some discussion, the name CodeZed was selected as a generic name that could represent the various goals that Gareth had mentioned in his initial e-mail. However, looking back on why CodeZed did not succeed, it seems clear in an e-mail from Musaluke Anthony that there were signs of weak objectives for CodeZed. In an e-mail dated January 23rd, 2004 to the ZLUG list he asks:
I seem to be a bit lost. What are the objectives of what is to be done? We have two issues as far as I can see from the discussions:
a) Open source and its role in ICT
b) Linux
Linux is just one of the Open source projects (but may be the most talked about). Is possible someone tells me what the domain / the forum are going to be about? Which topic drives what? Does Linux drive Open source or the other way round?
Gareth clarified that while the existing ZLUG discussion group was called Zambia Linux Users Group, it was formed to bring together Linux and OpenSource professionals in Zambia and to create active discussions on the pros and cons of the use of OpenSource in Zambia.
[To be summarized]
The subjects discussed have been varied and colorful from Linux issues to the use of Linux and Open Source in schools etc. We would like to foster the discussions (which died down recently) in any way we can and keep this community of professionals active and communicating rather than allowing it to meet the same fate as some of its predecessors.
With this in mind then, we suggested the creation of a website for the public face of our community and the results of our dicussions. The site would also give us a platform from which we can raise our collective voice in the industry, especially at this time of the formulation of Zambia's ICT policy. Many of Zambia's top professional IT people are members of ZLUG. Should we not then be responsible for contributing these professional opinions and advice to the IT issues being discussed in our country today?
The website will be open to the public and will contain IT news on opensource and on ICTs in development in Zambia. It will also carry resources to get newbies interested in Open Source and particularly Linux. Public discussion boards will also exist containing different threads ranging from public opinion on relevant IT issues to specific subjects regarding the technology we are using / testing / modifying. The closed (private) Zambia Linux User Group (ZLUG) will continue and shall be a members-only part of the website. Results from our discussions will be posted in the public forums and may be discussed there. The website will also serve as a community reference area where people can post upcoming events such as the OpenSource conference in Namibia to be held soon.
[/To be summarized]
Issues such as sustainenance of the CodeZed site were to be addressed by charging for advertising on the site. Furthermore, since CodeZed would be developed and hosted by contributions of various organizations the initial startup costs would be an investment in labor hours. Gareth confirmed that his company, ColdReed would be able to handle all design work on the CodeZed site. Leonard agreed to register the domains codezed.org and codezed.net and Zamnet was initially going to provide 1 GB/ month traffic hosting package.