[Rnb] mailman vs roger / the future

[Paul Walsh]

Dear All,

Imagine my surprise when I opened my inbox this morning to see the 
flurry of recent emails. It's almost as if more emails have been sent to 
the list in the last few days than in the preceding 12 months!  ;-)  

I've been a "member" of the group for a while now.  When I first joined, 
I had a stab at posting some information regarding setting up systems in 
a High Availability configuration. OK, it wasn't complete, but I thought 
it might be of interest and that the web site might become a useful 
resource for others to refer to. I thought that others might follow suit 
and post articles to the web site on other topics, such as their 
experiences installing distro A compared to distro B etc. There may well 
be 40 individuals subscribed to the list, but that's not been evident 
from the scarcity of emails or submissions to the web site.

Unfortunately, work commitments prevented me from attending any meetings 
until August last year and then again until earlier this year.. Over 
that time, however, I've got the impression the group was becoming 
somewhat moribund as the only activity on the mailman list was of the 
"Shall we have a meeting? Yes? OK, where".  I didn't find the "alternate 
month" scheduling of meetings particularly helpful either, so when it 
was suggested we changed to monthly meetings on the 1st Tuesday I found 
it easier to arrange my schedule.

Sometimes a mailing list is all that is required when seeking 
assistance, but there are occasions when actual human interaction is 
helpful too, which is why we've been discussing the possibility of 
organising some form of "install-fest" to demonstrate installation of 
the most popular distros and, hopefully, pass on advice to those who may 
be about to dip their toes in the water.

Attendance at meetings is not compulsory. After all, aren't we 
interested in promoting freedom of choice that comes with the adoption 
of Linux and open Source software? It's sometimes good to put faces to 
names though, preferably in a convivial atmosphere.  I don't think any 
of us really want to go down the route of formal 
meetings/agendas/minutes as I feel that could kill the LUG stone dead. 
Believe me, I have enough meetings of that nature to attend in my work 
life without having them pop up in my personal life!

I hope that the recent somewhat inflamed correspondence on the list 
proves to be a very small storm in a big teacup.  Opinions have been 
expressed and, it would seem, umbrage has been taken at some comments.  
Unfortunately, that has always been one of the perils of textual 
communication - it's so easy to misinterpret someone's intentions or (I 
suspect) attempts at light-hearted banter.  Such "spats" are also a 
sure-fire way to keep people (myself included) away, so I would ask 
those involved to "virtually" shake hands and agree to disagree.

Come on guys, lets get together and set the world to rights and free 
people from the enslavement of Mr. Gates' creation!

Paul