[Lancaster] Meeting interest ...

Tue May 14 19:48:22 UTC 2013

Hey people! I'm here too, tho won't be able to make it to the meeting
tomorrow due to last minute cheap tickets to see New Model Army in Preston.

This is actually the third incarnation of a Lancaster LUG if I recall
correctly. About 20 years ago a couple of friends tried to start one, but
very little interest back then. A few years later my housemate started one
up for a couple of years too. :) This one seems to be hanging on in there!
I could be wrong, the memory is the first thing to go so they say! ;)

As far as distro of choice, I still prefer debian for servers (headless
machines) and Ubuntu for desktops. For work I'm stuck with CentOS boxes,
but that wasn't my choice. Debian/Ubuntu's upgrade paths are so much better
than CentOS or RPM based distros. I'm not sure about the way they all seem
to be going as far as the user interface. I try to use vanilla ubuntu as
much as possible with the view that I can then recommend it to others and
know how to answer their queries. Also, it means I'm allowed to bitch about
it! :) Do need to have a proper mess with gnome 3, but last time I tried it
didn't like my triple monitor setup.
Windows I haven't used since XP, and last one I installed at home to use
was 98! :D

Ken, how hard was the ham license? I've been tempted many times in the
past, mainly for packet radio, but never got round to it. Definitely more
interested now they've dropped the morse requirement.

I'm actually doing less with linux outside work these days, I find it just
works and don't think about it any more. Good sign of success! I'm getting
more into the arduino side of things, but just got another couple of Pi
boards to mess with. They're a really good combination of power and
hackability. Arduino still have the edge if you want solid state and low
power, just designing an electronic dice circuit on an attiny chip, small
enough to fit into a keyring. If anyone wants a case for a Pi, let me know
and I'll cut one out with my laser cutter! :) My first two Pi are running
xbmc and some energy monitoring software. (emoncms.org)

Anyway, if you have another meeting next month I'm up for it. Also got
hacker space meetings running monthly (2nd thursday of each month), so
would be good if they don't clash! ;)

Cheers,

Darren.

On 14 May 2013 20:00, Wayne Ward <wayne at lancastercomputers.co.uk> wrote:

> sounds interesting ken i just got these two raspberrys to use as front
> ends for xbmc to stream media from my nas, although i have installed and
> used a desktop machine and had quake 3 running on them.. great for media
> servers, ive just updated both of them to the latest version of xbian and
> xbmc andthey are running great i think the machines lack optical out or a
> module that plugs in for optical out as a lot of people are using for home
> cinema setups!
> they are quiet cheap to buy and cases are like 5 pound each if you want to
> change the case! you can also power of a mobile phone charger or from the
> USB on your TV!
>
> Wayne
>
> On 14/05/13 14:47, Ken Hough wrote:
>
>> On Tuesday 14 May 2013 14:14:58 you wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>
>>
>>> did you get a look at the raspberry Pi ken...
>>>
>> I've been reading about it in Linux Format, etc, but I just don't have the
>> time to play with one. I do have an old Arduino and have developed
>> software
>> for it to control a couple of stepper motors via a home made
>> interface/driver
>> board. This software can be compiled to run either as a stand alone app
>> controlled via Arduino I/O lines, or via USB to a PC. I've also developed
>> a
>> matching GUI app to drive the Arduino app from a PC. All done under Linux
>> of
>> course.
>>
>> The raspberry Pi is clearly a much more powerful and complete device than
>> Arduino. Maybe one day......
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Ken Hough
>> Kendal
>> Cumbria
>>
>>  Wayne
>>> 07957448652
>>>
>>> http://linuxconnect.co.uk/
>>>
>>>
>>> On 14/05/13 09:00, Ken Hough wrote:
>>>
>>>> Wayne,
>>>>
>>>> I didn't realise that you were the creator of this Lug. Well done!
>>>>
>>>> My first contact was at the Folly  --  just across the road from the
>>>> prison, My contacts with the LUG have been patchy, mainly because I live
>>>> so far away. It's definitely not because of lack of interest in Linux.
>>>> The more I see of recent MS Windows developments (shenanigans?), the
>>>> more I appreciate Linux. I recently got to play with Windows 8  ---
>>>> Ughhh!
>>>>
>>>> I mentioned that I've recently installed the latest version of Debian
>>>> (64
>>>> bit Wheezy v7.0.0). For anyone thinking of doing likewise, there are a
>>>> few points that might be of interest:
>>>>
>>>> 1. Synaptic
>>>> Before running synaptic, run the command 'apt-get update', otherwise
>>>> when
>>>> trying to do a package search, Synaptic simply and unceremoniously shuts
>>>> down! Someone has messed up on this one.
>>>>
>>>> 2. Annoying speech synthesiser
>>>> By default, all keyboard actions are reported via a speech synthesiser
>>>> -- even to the extent that sounds of individual key letters are spoken.
>>>> I found that this rapidly becomes VERY annoying. I intend to disable
>>>> this ASAP.
>>>>
>>>> 3. Don't like Gnome 3!
>>>> It's quite pretty, but not very sensible in ergonomic terms. For
>>>> example,
>>>> to access the windows box down the RIGHT hand side of the screen, one
>>>> must first click on "Actions"  which is situated at the top LEFT hand
>>>> side of the screen. IMHO, very silly! Why not show the box when the
>>>> curser is pushed up to the right hand side of the screen? For now, I've
>>>> reverted to "classic gnome" and am renewing contact with KDE. I used to
>>>> use KDE3.
>>>>
>>>> My main PC is fitted with plug-in hard drive caddies, so it's easy to
>>>> swap drives. So just now, I have my normal working system on one drive
>>>> (which I'm using just now) and other trial systems on other drives. This
>>>> makes trying out new stuff a breeze.
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>>
>>>> Ken Hough
>>>> Kendal
>>>> Cumbria
>>>>
>>>> On Monday 13 May 2013 17:48:18 Wayne Ward wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ah somebody is still on the list!!
>>>>> The amateur radio stuff sounds interesting ken
>>>>>
>>>>> I used to swear by debian its solid i used to use the studio64 edition
>>>>> used to work a treat for me, im currently running ubuntu on my
>>>>> workstation and laptop and soon will be using it on the nexus 4 and
>>>>> nexus 7 when the final release of debian touch arrives! Im using unity
>>>>> but im going to try gnome on a VM when i get my new dell xps developer
>>>>> edition this week! Its good hearing from you ken and glad to hear your
>>>>> still running linux and hopefully see you at one of the next meetings
>>>>>
>>>>> im just trying to date back when i originally created the LUG and its
>>>>> going back to 2000 im thinking because i did the first meeting at the
>>>>> george and dragon back in 2000 and it didnt work so the folly created
>>>>> one in 2002 as faras i can see from the archive on the mailing lists!
>>>>> did you attend the first meeting at the george and dragon on the quay i
>>>>> cant remember it was that long ago!!!
>>>>>
>>>>> wayne
>>>>>
>>>>> RE
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Wayne,
>>>>>
>>>>> It's good to see that you are keeping the LUG ball rolling. I haven't
>>>>> been down to Lancaster for some time, mainly because other interests
>>>>> are taking up my time -- mainly amateur radio.  I now have a full
>>>>> amateur radio license which means that not only can I transmit on any
>>>>> of the amateur radio frequencies, but I am also allowed to build my own
>>>>> transmitters, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course I still use Debian Linux as my main OS with VirtualBox for
>>>>> the
>>>>> odd occasion when I have to use Win XP. I use 'wine' for a few Win apps
>>>>> that can be run via wine.
>>>>>
>>>>> Last night I downloaded and installed the latest and very recently
>>>>> released version of Debian Linux (Wheezy v7.0.0). As expected with
>>>>> Debian, installation went faultlessly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Not sure that I like the latest desktop, but then I'm still a Gnome 2
>>>>> user who is used to a big VDU (Dell Ultrasharp 24") and a comfortable
>>>>> mouse. It seems to me that recent desktops are really aimed at small
>>>>> touch screens. I dislike recent versions of Ubuntu for the same reason.
>>>>>
>>>>> Time will tell.
>>>>>
>>>>> Keep up the good work.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best wishes to all.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Ken Hough
>>>>> Kendal
>>>>> Cumbria
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>
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