[Klug-general] Kent Digest, Vol 369, Issue 5

[james snyder]

> Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:59:53 +0100
> From: Kevin Groves <kgroves at ksoft-electrical-projects.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Klug-general] Reorganisation
> The easy part will be keeping the list of course for general Linux
> related items plus if any Linux or open source related news, other
> groups and events that might interest everyone.

Really glad that Kev is at the helm as Presdient of KLUG and thanks
again to Dan for the Admin and Colin for keeping KLUG afloat over the
years.

Here are just some suggestions for the regeneration our KLUG meetings in future:

i.	Keep meetings to one every 2 or 3 months or so; it allows us time
to plan for talks, and to get the attendance up

ii.	Have the start or the very end of the meet to provide support and
presentations for new inexperienced users of Linux

iii.	Have a broad range of topics with an increasingly technical slant
towards the end or start of the meet. By using “differentiation” the
meet becomes more inclusive and would cover the entire spectrum of
user ability. First half for newbies; second half after break for
uber-techies. Or vice versa.

iv.	Foster links with other LUGs and with Linux groups in other areas
like Silicon Fen or via our personal grassroots networks. Does KLUG
have to be parochial?

v.	Continue to meet in the facilities freely provided by the
University of Kent, CCCU and Greeenwich, the local FE colleges, and
our community centres (i.e. Triangles in Dover etc.) that our members
work in. In the past I have offered a venue at each of the places I
have worked in, including Canterbury Christchurch University, The
Maplesden Noakes School in Maidstone, and I can now offer 5 new venues
in Kent at K College, at their campuses in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge,
Ashford, Dover and Folkestone.

vi.	Consider meeting in a private corporation boardroom if any of our
members have access to a boardroom or conference room where they
currently work.

vii.	Keep our LUG free, with no monthly or annual subscriptions but
continue to have a “KITTY” for coffee and snacks at meets. This could
prevent disagreements over who has eaten the most biscuits or homemade
cakes and could also improve the calibre of coffee available at meets.

viii.	Keep the lightning-talk round table discussions format at the
start of the meet; for example what is your favourite FOSS application
that you have been using and what distros have you preferred lately,
and why?

ix.	Continue to call for members to provide formal presentations in
advance. For example I really enjoyed Kev’s "Blender" and Python
presentations and would like to see more presentations on Python from
the Canterbury cohort. This has nothing to do with Rasberry Pi
shipping with Python, nor have I been Pythonized by other KLUGGERS in
the past like Karl L., Shish and Kev, it’s just that Python is *so*
much more fun than PHP and PERL, IMHO.

x.	Invite Linus Torvalds and other Linux superstars outside of Kent to
talk to us or link with us via the SVLUG. Do we have to be parochial?

xi.	Why not get some sponsorship? Why not have a banner on the site
that trickles in funding for the KITTY?

xii.	Continue with jobs offered and/or wanted, but keep it to the
mailing list rather than being any focus for meets. Kill any job
offers on the list that aren’t related to FOSS. In fact kill any
posting that is not related to FOSS, unless it is politically
incorrect and likely to stir up a storm of debate; the more
opinionated the better!

xiii.	Continue with the tradition of bringing in legacy hardware for
re-installation or resale or re-gifting. Continue to demo Linux on our
new hardware devices.

xiv.	Exploit advances in VoIP Conferencing and continue with the
development of having live feeds and video links of our meets to
include remote members who are unable to travel to meets.

xv.	Continue with car pooling to meetings.

xvi.	Stop being so politically correct on the IRC channel and the
mailing list; I feel a nostalgic yearning for the flame wars and the
ranting that we used to have over five years ago; didn't there used to
be more of a buzz? I miss all of the controversy and heated debate
that we used to have at KLUG.

xvii.	Keep everything else the same. Over the years I have met and
socialized with new KLUG members and this in turn has led to useful
exchanges of URLs and collaboration on projects, especially from the
physical meetings.

A lot of what I am suggesting here is to please just continue with
what we have been doing before. I have only been here in the UK since
2006 so there may be features of KLUG from 2001-2005 that were good
and could be re-introduced. Any thoughts?

Jim/Linux