[HLUG] October meeting

[info at lifespacedesign.co.uk]

Our October meeting, again at the Point4 in Venns Lane Hereford, was the best
turn out for some time, despite the absence of many regulars ( including our
Lugmaster!). It was a great buzz to see so many new faces, and to find such a
wealth of talent and wide range of interests and experiences, from hard core
Unix sysadmin to customer facing IT support professionals, both paid and
volunteer!

Some of the topics discussed during the meeting -
Tony introduced new members to his work with VINUX, the Open Source OS for the
blind and visually impaired based on Ubuntu, and invited anyone interested to
join in...

Rob, a newcomer working in the retail PC sector and a keen gamer raised the
thorny issue of how to run bleeding edge games on Linux, it is hoped that at
least some of the various OS distro's, virtualisation/emulator platforms and
alternative games that were suggested are of value and we look forward to a
follow up in due course!

Pete made a bid to enlist new members into advocacy for FOSS in local
government,Steve's experience being an especially valued contribution to this
discussion.

It is always a pleasure to welcome members of other LUGS that chance brings to
our gatherings, in this case Andrew from Gloucester brought his extensive
experience of hardcore infrastructure admin.

Tim, another newcomer working in PC/IT support for small businesses and private
customers currently deeply involved with M$ and looking to migrate to a more
FOSS based business backbone.

A discussion of the Android mobile phone came to an agreement that they are
technically great but too expensive :-(

So, a wide ranging discussion some very technical, some political, but be
assured that anyone with an interest in FOSS is welcome at our meetings - do not
feel put off if you are new to Linux/FOSS. Now that we are assured that we can
set up machines in the venue (thanks to Tony for sorting this) we look forward
to more hands on workshops and help clinics.

Things to think about for next time -
Is there a role for HLUG in offering basic training/support for the transition
from M$Off to OO? Is anyone else interested in being involved in such a project?
How did Rob get on with gaming on Linux? It would be great to offer some hope to
the gamers still stuck in other OS's !

Pete H@