[Lincs] Unrealistic expectations?

[Marc Mc Guinness]

hello,

Peter Cooper wrote the following on 18.08.2004 14:52:
> I think you've hit the nail on the head. I'd like to see how the 
> founders of the group feel about this, because, at least in my case, I 
> don't really know if this has all been discussed before. What's the 
> mission statement of LLUG? Is it to spread the word of Linux, to allow 
> Linux-heads to socialise, both, or neither?

We can't create a mission statement without knowing on which kind of 
events members would like to help.

First of all we've got a roadmap like this (depending on a successful 
first meeting and feedback):

- September 2004: First Meeting, 4 hours of talks and discussion, 
afterwards chatting

- February 2005: Install Party (can we find enough helping hands?)

- Summer 2005: Big social event with members from a german lug coming to 
Lincs

In between these three meetings, if list members are interested, could 
be meetings similar to the one on Monday.

We're also planning to get a free stand at a fair next year to spread 
the word in Lincolnshire.

1. Help local Linux users with questions and problems (Install Party)
2. Spread the word (fair)
3. Socialise (meeting at pubs and meeting members of a german lug)

> I don't see anything in the meeting schedule that is particularly 
> technical. The topics appear more suited to someone who knows how to use 
> a computer, probably of the Windows persuasion, but would like to see 
> how Linux can do things. This wouldn't discourage me from attending, 
> however, as it's always good to meet people with similar interests, and 
> to support the free software cause. In my experience with the Perl 
> Mongers, advanced talks can actually attract a lot of beginners. Perl 
> Monger groups also tend to be quite active for their size, although this 
> may be due to Perl coders being even more cultish than Linux users ;-)

We had votes about which topics are more suited to the list members, but 
we didn't get a lot of response...

> I might close by coming back to the demographics again. If we're aiming 
> at beginners, then how do we 'sell' ourselves? The people in 
> Lincolnshire who could benefit from Linux the most have probably never 
> heard of it.

I don't want to aim only at beginners. I'd like to aim at Linux users in 
general.

Marc