[Glastonbury] an Idea ends I guess

[Sean Miller]

Mike Keogh wrote:

> Glastonbury for so long, and I have been here for some time, is full 
> of people who love to criticise, talk things down, moan, - the glass 
> is not just half empty, its leaking!!!!! - and there is a kind of 
> thrill they get from talking in this way.  Perhaps on the more 
> positive, it may be just talk about aspirations - but they never seem 
> to realise these!   There is nothing wrong in dreaming, but what you 
> have to do is make that dream, that vision, a reality, and that takes 
> effort and commitment.  If you want the Glastonbury Lugog to remain a 
> monthly talking shop, with people simply using it to raise slightly 
> nerdy comments about different configurations of systems, and what is 
> a better version of a piece of software, or how you pronounce the word 
> Linux, (p-lease!) so be it.  All that stuff is useful (apart from the 
> drivel about pronunciation) ...but somehow Linux should be more than 
> that, and I kind of feel that we owe it both to the worldwide Linux 
> community and to the town to create something.  Well, at least I 
> tested the waters before I put too much energy into it.  I have a lot 
> to give.  Its a shame... I really think it could have worked. 

I think you're being a trifle harsh on the town here, Mike. The LUGOG is 
showing every signs of developing into something far more than a place 
to discuss configurations amongst fellow nerds... next month I shall be 
doing a presentation on the practical application of rdbms technology on 
the web... that is not nerdy, it is useful. Because this is what 
businesses in the town will be wanting... websites that "do something".

I agree that the really detailed "nuts and bolts" stuff is an aquired 
taste... Martin is far more into that sort of thing than I am... I tend 
to like things to work "out of the box"... I do not really care if I 
know the insides and outs of what makes Linux tick as long as it does 
tick... I like to be able to tweak things when I want to... I also like 
to be able to work out what is going wrong when things do go wrong (for 
example when installing), but I don't really have any aspirations to 
becoming a Linux technician...

But is this not the joy of a user group such as this? Diversity? 
Everybody comes into the group with different aspirations and different 
expectations and, unlike you, I think that this has been handled very 
well up to this point. I do not see the group as "nerdy" at all... your 
ideas were interesting but seemed, to me at least, to be a different 
project entirely to the LUGOG... by all means set up a business doing 
outsourced Linux work for Londoners... and by all means involve members 
of the LUGOG... but don't expect all members to be interested because 
(as I said) different people come to the group for different reasons. 
Personally I am employed full time programming for a major insurance 
company... I do not have time to be involved... I would also say that 
should I decide to become self-employed I would much rather be doing 
work for local businesses in the Central Somerset area than for large 
London institutions, regardless of the money that might be on offer. 
That's just me... you're you, but don't call me (or anybody else) 'a 
nerd' for having a different opinion.

Respect,

Sean