[sf-lug] CABAL is TONIGHT, West Menlo Park

[Rick Moen]

Quoting vincent polite (vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com):

> Yeah, and I always go for the kiddie pool. 

Well, as it turns out, Ubuntu Linux is a pretty good kiddies pool, and
I've just downloaded the latest beta of the next-release v. 6.06 "Dapper
Drake" installation CDs for x86, AMD64, and PowerPC.  And THIS EVENING,
4 pm to midnight, is CABAL's meeting/installfest in West Menlo Park.

You could come, get in-person assistance, or just hang out.  (And yes,
there's food:  Some people always bring stuff.  Don't sweat that.)

Now, there were two words of mildly ill omen in that passage:

"beta":  This is a release that isn't expected to have its rough edges
removed until June ("v. 6.06" is parsed as 6th month of 21st Century,
month 06), but getting access to the latest and greatest tends
to involve risking a few bugs.  Of course, my "few bugs" might be your
Trail of Tears.  Or not.

"downloaded":  Handing a newcomer to Linux a CD and saying "Go for it"
tends to create "OK, what do I do now?" syndrome.  This is why I warn
newcomers, e.g., at
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=kicking#cheaplinux, that
they might want to suppress the impulse towards cheap-bastardtry and buy
one of the retail boxed-set distributions that come with a reassuring
printed installation manual embossed with "Don't Panic" and paid
technical support.

(Hmm, I just realised that that mini-essay talks about "making your own
boot floppies".  Time to update, I think.)