[HLUG] Topics at Meetings

[Julian Robbins]

Matthew Macdonald-Wallace wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Firstly, I apologies if anything in this email offends people here, I  
> don't intend to sound as if I'm belittling people or that I think I'm  
> some kind of Linux God (I'm not!), however I also have never really  
> trusted email as a communications medium to say things that might not  
> seem as good written down as they would sound if spoken!
>   
Hi Matthew

Thanks for your email. Its always good to see a bit of healthy 
discussion on the list ;-) I certainly don't feel in any way offended. 
(BTW I'm a member of another non linux group that recently amazingly 
decided to ban its members from posting to their own internal mailing 
list without having it checked by a committee member first. What's more 
astonishing is that we had run with a normal mailing list where all 
members could post freely, for the previous 12 years ..... need I say 
more ? )
> With all that said, one of the reasons that I've become less  
> interested in coming to the meetings is that the discussions tend to  
> revolve around how to migrate from Windows to Ubuntu or how to fix an  
> issue in Ubuntu.
>   
You have a point, although I think its fair to say that discussions 
based around 'getting my pc working with Linux' seems to not happen so 
much now, perhaps there are less issues than there were a few years back.

Interestingly, in our Feb meeting we didn't discuss Ubuntu, how to get 
our pc's working with Linux, or anything of that ilk - but I take your 
(very valid) point. We discussed, Python, OpenERP (which I was hoping to 
demo - ERP is Enterprise Resource Planning, for those that don't know, 
which is basically software that can run your entire business, from CRM, 
Sales, Stock Control, Manufacturing etc.), and we also spoke a bit about 
Magento which is an opensource ecommerce application.
> I often feel that far from being a "Linux User Group" community in  
> this country (and I do mean the whole of the UK here), we are rapidly  
> becoming a "Ubuntu User Group" and that is not what I'm looking for at  
> a meeting.
>   
Again, a fair observation, but Linux Format recently said that 70% of 
their readership use Ubuntu, and although the figure varies according to 
whether you use servers, desktop, etc, its still usually regarded as the 
most popular general Linux OS. I use Ubuntu, but I have dabbled with 
Suse, Fedora, Redhat, VectorLinux, and Mandrake over the years. So 
basically, I guess many of our members may use it too. Albeit its 
frustrating to just hear the Ubuntu fanboys going on about it as if its 
Linux and nothing else is ...

But it has to be said, Linux is Linux, and the differences between Linux 
distro's are not major; the style and type of applications mark out the 
differences between Linux distros far more.
> So, if any of you are still reading, here's what I'd like to propose:
>
> 1) If there is interest in how to run a Linux server for fun and  
> profit, or people would like to know more about securing and  
> monitoring servers I'm more than happy to do a talk/presenation.
>   
Part of the reason that not so many specialised talks or discussions do 
not get put on than we would like is that, invariably, what seems a good 
idea at the time has to be left due to pressure of work, wife's / 
girlfriends birthdays, and many general not being able to attend the 
mtgs, reasons etc. Its not a perfect world ...

I think its a great idea having more talks / presentations on more 
technical matters, and look forward to your presentation (though sadly I 
have a feeling I'm away on the next meeting date, for work .... )

I think also it must be remembered that sometimes, our best efforts 
don't always seem to be rewarded either - which can be offputtting. One 
of our members put on an excellent demo of how easy it was to hack/crack 
wireless networks, albeit to make you more aware of your own network's 
shortcomings, but sadly only Mark and myself made it, even a good deal 
of mentions on the mail list. I know the presenter was a bit 
disheartened about this, as he had obviously put quite a bit of time 
into preparing it.
> 2) If people aren't interested in this, I will continue to lurk on the  
> mailing list and help out where I can
>
> 3) If people are offended by the above, I'm happy to move on if asked.
>   
Absolutely not, its a valid point, but one that needs to be followed up 
with actions ... :-)

Unfortunately, at the moment my own more pressing matter is to find a 
decent new home for our LUG meetings. We had some discussions about this 
on Weds, and have a few ideas, but this can be discussed on another mail ...
> As I said at the beginning, I've probably offended someone by the  
> above and to put it bluntly the level of discussions generally at  
> meetings tend to be on getting the GUI working as opposed to the  
> technical in depth discussions that I crave, but that's probably just  
> me! :)
>   
The last fairly obvious point I have to make is that we do have quite a 
varied mix of members, old, young, retired people, students; male and 
female. You can't please all of the people all of the time as was once 
said etc ..

But, quite rightly, we haven't had so many good in-depth technical talks 
and you're right to suggest we need to redress the balance. Assuming we 
have a venue (which will be somewhere, possibly Simpson Hall if we cant 
find anywhere better), I propose that our March meeting consists of what 
you suggest, so assuming you're happy with the usual third Wednesday on 
the month, we can look forward to your server presentation ..

Julian