[Wolves] Our Popey's blog featured on Groklaw newspicks

[Stephen Parkes]

On 9 May 2010 18:21, Peter Cannon <dick_turpin at archlinux.us> wrote:
> On 05/09/2010 05:01 PM, David Goodwin wrote:


> This leads onto another 'hot potato' is it a prerequisite to live within
> the Wolverhampton catchment area to be a member, is it a governing
> factor that you attend meetings?
>

Right at the begining I proposed "Wolverhampton and Black Country LUG"
since the entire area was devoid of LUGS (and pretty much still is)
but jono had registered the LUG as Wolves (something I pointed out was
too connected to the football club to appeal to many people but jono,
obviously not local ;) hadn't noticed that until it was pointed out)
about 10 minutes before :)

When I did the first web page I used Wolverhampton Linux User Group
pretty much exclusively to try and avoid that problem but when I met
new people from the area into linux, free software, BSD or Unix I
always said we served Wolverhampton and the Black Country.  One of the
longest serving members is from Sedgley and some of the best nights
out have been had at the Pie Factory and loads of us drove from one
end of the black country to the other to give a pissed up Aq a lift
home.

I proposed the name shift to Wolverhampton and Black Country LUG again
about 5 years ago and everybody scoffed.

I've always thought the LUG could be hostile to shy outsiders and over
the years have proposed loads of things to help with this but at the
end of the day it comes down to who attends the meetings that newbies
come to because some of us are far much better than others at making
people feel comfortable.  I'm terrible with new people both when I'm
on the inside and they come along for the first time and when I go
somewhere for the first time so I completely understand how this is a
problem.

The problem was the loudest voices shouted me down about it several
times in the past and even when I spoke to jono and Aq about the
problem when it was just 3 or 4 of us there they couldn't see it ever
really being a serious problem and when I pointed out that's because
they don't suffer from the problem (obvious to people who know them ;)
) they scratched their chins and said maybe but as apaphy was always
our main problem for the first 5 or so years of the lug nothing ever
got done.

It took me three years to attend a meeting when it stopped being just
the 3 or 4 of us because I'm shy and most people I know don't even
think I am shy ;)

It was actually the problems Peter C had joining the lug (he was wrong
on so many counts it still hurts to think about it ;) but nobody was
against his being a member if he just washed his ears out ;) ) that
reminded me how the noisest people are also the most direct to the
point and how people could take it the wrong way.  Something I have to
think about everytime I reply to an email.

sparkes