[Wylug-announce] Proposal For a Special Interest Group Project: Linux For Users

[Dave Fisher]

Dear All,

I'm looking for volunteers to participate in a SIG project, which has been
crystalising in my mind for some time.

What I am thinking about is a usability/simplification/best-practice project
designed to provide a simple, reliable and completely unambiguous guide to
configuring everyday user Linux applications/features, e.g. sound, printers,
browser plugins, video/graphics, home network, wireless, etc.

I could elabourate at length, but the basic idea is to write and maintain a
tutorial for a recommended platform for ordinary users.  I have in mind
something like Ubuntu on specified hardware, i.e. 

 * one free/community-based/up-to-date distro

 * one desktop environment

 * one default application per domain (one mail client, one browser, one sound system,
   one printing system, etc.)

 * one recommended piece of kit per sector (e.g.  one laser printer, one
   graphics/sound/wireless/TV card, etc).  

The idea being that the apps/kit chosen should be guaranteed to deliver
most currently expected features at a reasonable cost in time and money,
providing you follow the tutorial faithfully. No kit would be
recommended without having been actually deployed and fully tested by 2
or more members of the project (preferrably bought with their own
money).

The basic concept is something which I really believe is necessary, and
can be done without yet more wheel re-invention.  I am willing to start
alone, but it's a very ambitious goal, which I'm unlikely to achieve
without significant help. 

While I'm reasonably confident that a few volunteers may be drummed up from
other nearby LUGs, I'm also convinced that this kind of project needs a core of
people who are geographically close enough to meet regularly on a face to face
basis, to move things along.

The things I'm really not interested in are meetings, or the opinions of people
who are not actually doing the work.  I am looking for a significant, but
managable, level of commitment from project members, e.g. a minimum of say 4-5
hours per week doing hands-on work.  Yacking in emails/IMs/blogs etc, doesn't
count as work in my book.

Perhaps anyone who is willing to make such a commitment can see me before/after
tonight's meeting or contact me personally by email?  

I've posted to WYLUG ANNOUNCE, because  I really don't want to waste my
time trying to justify myself in a long bullshitting wylug-discuss
thread about the basic merits of the ideas.  If you don't like them,
just vote against them with your feet.  There's no need to actually
waste anyone's time and bandwidth with anything more.

Dave