Spake Tina Gasperson on Saturday, July 07, 2007 at 12:56PM -0400:
> I'm doing some research for a feature story at Linux.com. What better
> place to solicit wise counsel than from my local LUG discussion list?
> Besides, I think it will make an interesting conversation. I'm talk to
> other LUGs around the country as well, receiving some great responses
> from LXNY, ALE, and others. If you remember, The Atlanta Linux
> Enthusiasts used to sponsor the Atlanta Linux Showcase.
>
> With the recent absorbing of the Brandon SLUG meeting back into the
> main meeting, along with some discussion on the list about how to
> generate more interest / publicity in the group overall, we started
> thinking: in this advanced day of encyclopedic knowledge at everyone's
> fingertips on the 'Net, do we still need LUGs? Linux is much easier to
> install and use these days, and interest seems to have turned from the
> operating system itself to the applications that run on it. That's one
> theory as to the greater buzz surrounding specialized groups like
> those for Asterisk or other open source utility and enterprise apps.
Enterprise is a Hungarian word meaning "poop" or "pain" or "older than
debian stable", depending on who uses it.
> What do the smart people think? Please remember that I am soliciting
> your comments as part of my research for the story, so if you want to
> possibly be part of the story, please respond either to the list or to
> me personally.
My sole interest in LUGs has always been social -- I don't think presentations,
the promise of new knowledge, or free stuff has ever been a consideration.
It is pleasant being around people that understand what is meant by "ps dash u
fred pipe awk single-quote bang slash PID slash bracket print dollar 1 bracket
single-quote pipe xargs kill dash 9".
I think the best way of describing my view is via a lengthy analogy, though
perhaps an obscure one...
I had a grandfather with the peculiar nickname of Billwinkle. Why was he called
Billwinkle? Well, his name was William, and, well, he was a moose (or perhaps an
elk, I can't remember). Complete with a hat that had antlers.
What I mean, of course, is my grandfather (attended|was a member of) a moose (or
elk?) lodge. (And for the childhood-deprived, the -winkle is a reference to
Bullwinkle, the moose from Rocky and Bullwinkle).
Now, with that in mind, I think I understand the question: "In this advanced day
of encyclopedic knowledge at everyone's fingertips on the 'Net, do we still need
LUGs?"
As roughly the same as: "In this advanced day of encyclopedic knowledge at
everyone's fingertips on the 'Net, do we still need Moose Lodges?"
I don't think the premise of the question makes sense.
All of my geographically-close friends I have met via SLUG. Indeed, I also met
my fiancee at a SLUG meeting.
Further, pretty much every job I've ever had has been somehow related to SLUG or
someone I've met through SLUG.
Speaking of friend-SLUGs:
<Dylan> Why do you attend the SLUG meetings, possum?
<Possum> Dylan, I go for the social aspects and because it's a different
experience through physical visual-audio communication than reading/watching
something on the web
--
"Normality depends on how you look at it. For me you're definitely normal if I
exclude the strange interest you have in celebrity steel cage monkey boxing ;-)"
-- My friend, talking to me about my normality.
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