[dvlug] Wondering if these meetings still happen

[Michael Paoli]

Well, DVLUG, Grant, Ian, etc. ...
I think other(s) have edit access on the DVLUG web site?  But it may be
(probably is) very few ... like ... maybe about two people (or two that have
access and have ever bothered to edit it).  Anyway, I think Grant has been
mostly inactive with DVLUG for quite a while (and quite busy with other
non-LUG stuff).  Ian continued to be quite active in it, even well after
Grant had gone (mostly) inactive with DVLUG.  Not sure if others have been
active, but, e.g. most of the podcast and related stuff, on DVLUG's site, and
beyond, Ian did most of that.  Anyway, if y'all are needing contact info. for
Grant and/or Ian, and can't track that down and/or can't find one(s) that work,
let me know what you've tried, and I may have additional.
Also, both of them are also on LinkedIn - if you need to confirm which
accounts there correspond to the Grant and Ian relevant for DVLUG,
let me know, and I can find/disambiguate that.  Not sure, however, if
either of them are currently active on LinkedIn or pay attention to stuff
on/from there.
And, also, possible some additional folks have been active ... notably as
in present and having gone to meetings - but maybe not otherwise visible
on/via DVLUG's web site and such.  E.g. I believe I mentioned earlier
the podcasts - haven't listened ... there may be hints there ... like on
attendees much more recent than DVLUG meetings I've been to (haven't
been myself to one of their meetings since pre-pandemic, so that puts it at
<~=2020-03-17 last I attended a DVLUG meeting) ... so some others (if one
can track 'em down, or find hints on podcasts, etc.) may have more info.
regarding more recent active participant(s), etc.

And the list implied to be current on
https://www.dvlug.org/email/
of list at dvlug.org would appear to be non-operational as far as I can tell,
and I think that's been the case for quite a long while (I think the email just
disappears into a black hole - I send, but I think it goes effectively nowhere).

On Tue, Jun 4, 2024 at 6:08 PM Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> Quoting Don Smith (dcsmith at gmail.com):
>
> > Michael, I'm sorry about the mailinglist conflict with Grant, I always had
> > a more positive experience with him.
> >
> > Thanks to everybody who responded and hopefully we can meet up soon.
>
> (You probably meant Rick, not Michael.  Michael Paoli, who is
> instrumental in keeping SF and East Bay LUGs alive and healthy,
> is also a participant on this mailing list, and a resource you should
> heed.)
>
> To be clear, I like Grant Bowman well enough generally, mostly.  I just
> think he keeps wanting to make unfortuante technology decisions that
> have bad consequences.  He tends to make unilateral decisions and block
> everyone else from participating.  See, for example, the fact that (as
> far as I know) nobody got told the Mailgun so-called "mailing list" got
> (reportedly) shut down, nboody but Grant (as far as I know) can update
> the DVLUG Web site, and nobody else can administer DVLUG's domain or DNS.
>
> LUGs learned thirty years ago:  You always need to have multiple trusted
> volunteers able to edit the Web site and administer the Internet domain.
> But hey, Grant decided to ignore those hard-earned lessons, along with
> "Don't needlessly outsource essential LUG functions to a vendor who must
> be paid every month, especially if you can get those functions from
> friendly members of the Linux community for free."
>
> (Yr. humble servant is, BTW, maintainer of the LUG HOWTO.)
>
> Point is, if this mailing list didn't (still) exist, as far as I know,
> DVLUG members would have no way of collaborating on any path forward
> other than all showing up for in-person discussion at La Scala.  And,
> don't forget, Grant attempted (as far as I know, unilaterally) to tell
> me, claiming to speak for DVLUG, that DVLUG wanted me to delete this
> mailing list.  Twice.
>
> Also?  Given that Grant went out of the way to make himself (as far as I
> can tell) the indispensible party for all matters of the DVLUG Internet
> domain _and_ the DVLUG Web site, to me it suggests that Grant...
>
> 1.  Doesn't appear to have shared with y'all an effective means to reach
>     him (like a telephone numeber -- but maybe he did, you tell me).
> 2.  Selected "private WHOIS" so nobody knows whom to contact, and
> 3.  Omitted any "maintainer contact" (etc.) information on the Web site.
>
> That's kind-of a pattern.
>
> LinkedIn has a page for him (https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantbow),
> and he might still be reachable via Partimus, of which he's a principal
> along with Lyz Joseph.  He also has a Web site, last updated a bit over
> a year ago.  https://www.grantbow.com/ His domain registrar is GoDaddy
> (the cheapest), and WHOIS for domain grantbow.com is (again) "private
> WHOIS", i.e., you cannot look up using /usr/bin/whois (there) how to
> contact him.
>
> His most recent Twitter comment was in Nov. 2023.
>
> Ah, his personal page states a telephone number:  (415) 375-2752
>
> Maybe give him a call, folks.
>
>
> Did you know that DVLUG has a WordPress blog site?  It's at
> https://www.dvlug.org/blog/ .  All the entries are by an unspecified
> author, but I recognise the writing style.  It's Grant Bowman only,
> talking about what he wants to talk about -- which is fine, but,
> seriously his personal views are synonymous with DVLUG?
>
> Did you know that DVLUG has a podcat?  It's a link from
> https://www.dvlug.org/podcast/ to a site operated by one Ian Lynn,
> https://www.sharethebytes.com/ .  Early episodes are marked as being
> from "the folks at DVLUG", which is Grant and two friends.  Later
> episodes seem to be just Grant's friend Ian Lynn.
>
> Everything on www.dvlug.org appears to revolve around, and be written
> and curated by, Grant Bowman, and be all about his personal interests
> and projects (such as Partimus).  That's not a complaint; just an
> observation.
>
> None of the LUGs I'm involved in are all about me, not even CABAL, which
> meets at my and my wife's house in West Menlo Park.