Start here
New to oiv.ae? Read these pages first to see what the portal offers and where to find things.
Welcome to oiv.ae
oiv.ae is a Linux portal for the GCC community. It brings together a fast local package mirror, practical guides, community events and Arabic localisation work, in English and Arabic.
What you'll find here
| Area | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror | Local copies of openSUSE, OPNsense and other key projects, served over HTTPS and rsync | mirrors.oiv.ae and the Mirrors shelf |
| Guides | Step-by-step how-tos, tested on hardware you can buy in the region | Community shelf ▸ Guides |
| Events | Install fests, release parties and talks around the Gulf | Community shelf ▸ Events and meetups |
| Localisation | Help translating desktops, installers and documentation into Arabic | Community shelf ▸ Arabic localisation |
Quick start
- Point your package manager at the Gulf mirror. See Mirrors ▸ mirrors.oiv.ae ▸ Use the mirror.
- Pick a guide for what you want to set up.
- Say hello at the next meetup, or suggest a project for the mirror.
The mirror is being set up. Paths in these docs are the planned layout and will work once the mirror is online.
About this site
oiv.ae is an independent community project. The layout, type and colour follow the open-source UAE Design System guidelines. oiv.ae is not affiliated with the UAE Government or TDRA.
Why a mirror in the Gulf?
Most Linux distributions serve packages from Europe or the US. A mirror inside the region keeps that traffic closer to the people who use it.
Shorter path
Updates travel from a server in the region instead of Europe or the US, so downloads start sooner and finish faster.
Less international traffic
Universities, offices and ISPs can keep package traffic local, and run their own downstream copies over rsync.
Built by the community
Which projects come next is decided with the people who use them. Suggest one and help maintain it: see Get involved ▸ Suggest a project.
How these docs are organised
These docs use BookStack's four levels. Each level has one job.
| Level | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf | A broad area of oiv.ae | Mirrors |
| Book | One product, service or programme | mirrors.oiv.ae |
| Chapter | A group of related tasks inside a book | Use the mirror |
| Page | One task or one topic, readable in a few minutes | OPNsense |
Shelves
- oiv.ae: what the project is and how to take part.
- Mirrors: using and running mirrors.oiv.ae.
- Community: guides, events and Arabic localisation.
- Brand and design: the oiv.ae logo, colour and type, and how the site applies the UAE Design System.
Writing conventions
- Page titles say what the reader will do or learn: "Use the mirror with openSUSE", not "openSUSE".
- Start each page with one or two sentences on what it covers. The page title is already shown as the heading, so body sections start at Heading 2.
- Put commands in code blocks, one command per line, so they can be copied.
- Mark unfinished pages with a yellow warning callout that says "Draft outline".
- Tag pages with
Section,Topic,DistroandAudiencewhere they apply, so search filters work.
Get involved
Ways to help: bandwidth and storage, new mirror projects, guides and translations.
Contribute to the mirror
The mirror grows with the bandwidth, storage and time people give it.
Ways to help
- Bandwidth and storage: host a node or offer capacity in a regional data centre. co-location is very welcomed.
- Maintenance: watch sync jobs for one project and report or fix problems.
- Monitoring: help build the status checks shown on the mirror status page.
What we need from a hosting partner
- Linux machine with any storage, any bandwidth and ability to maintain reasonable uptime
- Location in a GCC country
- Public IPv4 (IPv6 preferred as well)
- A named contact for incidents
How to offer help
- Contact maintainer (contribute -at- oiv.ae)
Priorities list
- Co-location in Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Fujeirah in UAE
- VMs in other locations
- Servers (reasonable aged, post-production hardware is welcomed)
- SSD and SAS disks (can be collected and wiped per standards on-site before media leaves the building)
- Financial contribution with all formalities (project is non-profitable organization)
- Legal support
- Contribution appreciation
- Events invitations
Code of conduct
oiv.ae is a place to learn and help each other.
Expected behaviour
- Be respectful and patient, especially with people who are new to Linux.
- Keep discussion on topic and in English.
- Credit other people's work.
Not accepted
- Harassment, insults or personal attacks.
- Sharing other people's private information.
- Spam and unsolicited advertising.
Reporting a problem
Contact the maintainers. Reports are handled privately.