From jim at well.com Fri Jul 3 11:36:47 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:36:47 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug meets sunday at cafe enchante on geary at 26th from 11 to 1 PM Message-ID: <1246646207.6517.3.camel@jim-laptop> sf-lug meets this sunday, 20090705, at the cafe enchante, on geary blvd at 26th ave in san francisco from 11 AM to 1 PM (or so). there'll be a few Ubuntu 9.04 CDs available, thanks to grant bowman. From nbs at sonic.net Sat Jul 4 11:45:42 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 11:45:42 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Semi-OT] Tux Paint 0.9.21 released Message-ID: <20090704184542.GC1112@sonic.net> Tux Paint 0.9.21 has been released! It's available for Windows Vista/2000/XP, Mac OS X 10.4, RedHat Linux (6.2 thru 9), Fedora (CORE) Linux (1 thru 11), and as source code. See the full press release here: http://tuxpaint.org/latest/tuxpaint-0.9.21-press-release-en.php3 Enjoy! :^) -- -bill! Sent from my computer From bliss at sfo.com Mon Jul 6 10:16:24 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:16:24 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Dell Ubuntu computers Message-ID: <4A523168.8050902@sfo.com> In case you don't have Linux shops like ZaReason in your neighborhood this url might be of interest. A Dell Inspiron15n laptop starts at $299 and can be customized considerably. An Inspiron 530n desktop starts at about $378 with a monitor. Lots of customization available with this machine as well. I was looking for other information and serendipitously chanced across this url which I had searched for earlier without particular success. later bliss. From femtoghoti at gmail.com Mon Jul 6 10:50:15 2009 From: femtoghoti at gmail.com (Femtoghoti) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 10:50:15 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Dell Ubuntu computers In-Reply-To: <4A523168.8050902@sfo.com> References: <4A523168.8050902@sfo.com> Message-ID: <17bd772b0907061050h2f798caag16717d6881b4a87e@mail.gmail.com> Dell's Mini9 and A90 (netbooks) ship with Ubuntu ... the distro they ship with isn't so good ... but all the hardware is Ubuntu (and OSX) compatible so it can't be that hard to install a fresh copy. Eric On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > ? In case you don't have Linux shops like ZaReason in your neighborhood this > url might be of interest. > > > > > > ? A Dell Inspiron15n laptop starts at $299 and can be customized > considerably. > > ? An Inspiron 530n desktop starts at about ?$378 with a monitor. ?Lots of > customization available > with this machine as well. > > ? I was looking for other information and serendipitously chanced across > this url > which I had searched for earlier without particular success. > > ? later > ? bliss. > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -- "A careful man tries to dodge the bullets, while a happy man takes a walk." - Mark Oliver Everett From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Mon Jul 6 11:03:40 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 11:03:40 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Dell Ubuntu computers In-Reply-To: <4A523168.8050902@sfo.com> References: <4A523168.8050902@sfo.com> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907061103i32b85843wd27b39e0bcf8a836@mail.gmail.com> Caveats abound here: -- I just went through the process of ordering an Ubuntu Dell laptop for a customer (actually a commercial neighbor who runs a beauty parlor) and I was given a delivery date of three weeks after my order, and when it was postponed another week -- making the turn around time a month -- she cancelled the order and, with her boyfriend, she ended up going to Best Buy and ended up with a Windows laptop. -- I did an order for the heck of it just now, which I cancelled: Delivery date (assuming there's no delays like the one above): July 22, 2009. That's 16 days WITHOUT any "delays." I'd be willing to bet that there would be another "delay" during the course of the 16 days, but let's take them at their word. This is reasonable? -- This, ahem, "service" that Dell provides in, ahem, "promoting" Ubuntu needs a closer look if not some context. Arguably, having people wait up to a month for a Linux box/laptop when they can get the same box/laptop immediately with Windows does not do Linux/Ubuntu/FOSS any favors. -- Good luck ordering Ubuntu Dell laptop/boxes from big box stores like Best Buy or any other retailer, without having to go through the same process above (if they even do you the favor of ordering a Ubuntu Dell for you). I've asked different sales people at Best Buy in Capitola (Santa Cruz) and the reaction ranges from, "What's Ubuntu?" to "We can't do that for you." -- You are right: No one has a Linux shop like ZaReason in their neighborhood because they don't allow retail outlets to carry their hardware (and, believe me, I've asked to retail ZaReason hardware in my business in Felton in Santa Cruz County. While I would like to carry their hardware, I understand their position). They do everything by mail order and, being based in Berkeley, I would imagine they could get hardware to you in less than, um, 16 days. -- We at Redwood Digital Research find ZaReason hardware top notch and we're recommending the Untangle box they offer to our commercial clients. -- There's the philosophical element to buying locally from a small vendor rather than from a multinational corporation; buying from your locally owned store rather than from the local Wal-Mart. Putting your money back into a company like ZaReason that has a firm and unwavering commitment to Linux and FOSS is a far better investment than saving 30 pieces of silver in going with a huge company that, at the very most, gives Linux/FOSS hypocritical lip service. -- Chances are you'll see Cathy and Earl Malmrose -- the folks who run ZaReason -- at LUG events in the Bay Area. Bet you can't say the same for Michael Dell. Getting down off the soapbox now . . . . Larry Cafiero Redwood Digital Research Felton, California http://www.redwoodresearch.net On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > In case you don't have Linux shops like ZaReason in your neighborhood > this > url might be of interest. > > < > http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&dgc=CJ&cid=27811&lid=646949&acd=10536941-2562472- > > > > > A Dell Inspiron15n laptop starts at $299 and can be customized > considerably. > > An Inspiron 530n desktop starts at about $378 with a monitor. Lots of > customization available > with this machine as well. > > I was looking for other information and serendipitously chanced across > this url > which I had searched for earlier without particular success. > > later > bliss. > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Tue Jul 7 08:54:25 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 08:54:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Think this will happen in America? Message-ID: <322330.66936.qm@web82805.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The BBC, ITV and BT have announced a proposal to create an ?open environment for broadband connected digital television receivers.? It?s an initiative open for all UK public service broadcasters, device developers and other ISPs, which they hope will lead to a new generation of subscription free devices, carrying free to air channels and a huge selection of on demand TV services like iPlayer and ITV Player, as well as the potential for films, shows and interactive content from a range of other providers in standard and high definition. Read more: http://digital-lifestyles.info/2008/12/11/bbc-itv-bt-announce-open-broadband-stb-project/#ixzz0Kabht8Xg&C -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Tue Jul 7 09:49:28 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 09:49:28 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [fwd] Open Source in Libraries Survey Message-ID: <20090707164928.GA18761@sonic.net> Seen on the SchoolForge mailing list. Thought I'd help spread the word: ----- Forwarded message from Nicole Engard ----- Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 12:27:24 -0400 From: Nicole Engard Subject: [school-discuss] Open Source in Libraries Survey To: schoolforge-discuss at schoolforge.net Reply-To: schoolforge-discuss at schoolforge.net I am working on some very very broad research on open source use in libraries (I'm looking for info from those who work in libraries - and with libraries/librarians) for a book I'm working on. The focus of the book will be on software you can use that is open source. If you have a chance to answer this brief survey to help me out that would be greatly appreciated: http://opensource.web2learning.net/limesurvey/index.php?sid=63946&lang=en Thanks a bunch!!! (and feel free to share with others) --- Nicole C. Engard Open Source Evangelist, LibLime (888) Koha ILS (564-2457) ext. 714 nce at liblime.com AIM/Y!/Skype: nengard http://liblime.com http://blogs.liblime.com/open-sesame/ ----- End forwarded message ----- -- -bill! Sent from my computer From bliss at sfo.com Wed Jul 8 12:38:06 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:38:06 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? Message-ID: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> Compaq - Presario Laptop Model: CQ60-215DX I am thinking of buying one but can find no experience mentioned in relation to Linux compatibility. Thanks in advance for any information positive or negative on the usability of the machine under Linux. later Bobbie Sellers aka bliss at sfo dot com From rick at linuxmafia.com Wed Jul 8 13:30:34 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 13:30:34 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? In-Reply-To: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> References: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> Message-ID: <20090708203034.GD26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss at sfo.com): > Compaq - Presario Laptop Model: CQ60-215DX > I am thinking of buying one but can find no experience > mentioned in relation to Linux compatibility. Try the World-Wide Web. http://www.linlap.com/wiki/hp-compaq+presario+cq60 http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/board/message?board.id=OS&thread.id=6057 http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-networking-3/need-wireless-driivers-for-cq60-215dx-715644/ http://georgia.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1034933 http://blog.deliciousrobots.com/?p=86 http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/driver-support/357653-driver-laptop-compaq-cq60-215dx.html (I looked in my 1953 _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ first, but it was less helpful.) From rick at linuxmafia.com Wed Jul 8 16:18:19 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 16:18:19 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? In-Reply-To: <4A552019.5020706@sfo.com> References: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> <20090708203034.GD26829@linuxmafia.com> <4A552019.5020706@sfo.com> Message-ID: <20090708231819.GD31812@linuxmafia.com> [I'll asume Bobbie dropped offlist accidentally.] Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss at sfo.com): > Thank you for your suggestions. I spent several hours on the WWW > attempting to locate information and if your suggestions pan out I wil > be very thankful to you. My search string was: CQ60-215DX Linux URLs were from pages 1 and 2, of returned search results. Elapsed time was around 2 minutes. For laptops, it's also often worthwhile looking specifically on http://www.linux-laptop.net/ http://tuxmobil.org/ http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/compaq.html includes an entry on a probably similar model, the Compaq Presario CQ60-103EL -- though it's in Italian. One of the reasons you want to look _specifically_ on those two sites is that it's very common for there to be reports on a related model, though not for the particular variant in front of you. It helps, of course, to have probed the hardware with, say, your favourite live-CD Linux distro. I gave an example of how to do this in my page about one of _my_ old laptops: Go to http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html , and pick entry "Dell Inspiron 7000 [generic]". They call it "generic" because I deliberate made the analysis _not_ be distro-specific -- in order to show people how to write a page about a laptop in such a way that it's useful to _all_ readers. From bliss at sfo.com Wed Jul 8 18:22:39 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:22:39 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? In-Reply-To: <4A552ED1.6040703@sfo.com> References: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> <20090708203034.GD26829@linuxmafia.com> <4A552019.5020706@sfo.com> <20090708231819.GD31812@linuxmafia.com> <4A552ED1.6040703@sfo.com> Message-ID: <4A55465F.1040409@sfo.com> Bobbie Sellers wrote: > Rick Moen wrote: >> [I'll asume Bobbie dropped offlist accidentally.] Yes it was an accident. We talked about it at length a couple of years agao >> >> Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss at sfo.com): >> >> >>> Thank you for your suggestions. I spent several hours on the WWW >>> attempting to locate information and if your suggestions pan out I wil >>> be very thankful to you. >>> >> >> My search string was: >> >> CQ60-215DX Linux >> >> URLs were from pages 1 and 2, of returned search results. Elapsed time >> was around 2 minutes. >> >> For laptops, it's also often worthwhile looking specifically on >> >> http://www.linux-laptop.net/ >> http://tuxmobil.org/ >> >> >> http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/compaq.html includes an entry on a >> probably similar model, the Compaq Presario CQ60-103EL -- though it's in >> Italian. >> >> One of the reasons you want to look _specifically_ on those two sites is >> that it's very common for there to be reports on a related model, though >> not for the particular variant in front of you. >> >> It helps, of course, to have probed the hardware with, say, your >> favourite live-CD Linux distro. I gave an example of how to do this >> in my page about one of _my_ old laptops: Go to >> http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html , and pick entry "Dell >> Inspiron 7000 [generic]". >> >> They call it "generic" because I deliberate made the analysis _not_ be >> distro-specific -- in order to show people how to write a page about a >> laptop in such a way that it's useful to _all_ readers. >> >> > Thanks again Rick. > Next time you come to a meeting I will be happy to buy you a coffee > and > pastry. Maybe I will have the new machine there. They could be sold > out by > the time I get the urge to order so only maybe. > I guess I tended to include too many nouns in my searches. > > later > Bobbie Sellers > Anyhow with all the information I could get I went ahead and ordered it this afternoon. Should have it next week sometime. This old Dell with a slow P3 and limited ram and graphics intended for older versions of MS W*nd*ws had been driving me up the wall with lockups and resets whenever I have Thunderbird and Firefox running at the same time. Thanks for your invaluable assistance Rick. later Bobbie Sellers From rick at linuxmafia.com Wed Jul 8 18:52:47 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:52:47 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? In-Reply-To: <4A55465F.1040409@sfo.com> References: <4A54F59E.6080704@sfo.com> <20090708203034.GD26829@linuxmafia.com> <4A552019.5020706@sfo.com> <20090708231819.GD31812@linuxmafia.com> <4A552ED1.6040703@sfo.com> <4A55465F.1040409@sfo.com> Message-ID: <20090709015247.GH26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss at sfo.com): > Rick Moen wrote: >> [I'll asume Bobbie dropped offlist accidentally.] > > Yes it was an accident. No problem. > Anyhow with all the information I could get I went ahead and ordered it > this afternoon. Enjoy! My own strategy is dictated by the fact that I'm (1) a cheap bastard, and (2) frustration-adverse: I tend to buy whatever high-quality 1-2 year-old model is reasonably priced on the used market. Often, my top pick in that area would be a ThinkPad. But I would be, in general, reluctant to buy a _new_ (laptop) model at all, because then you often get new chipsets and consequent driver and/or ACPI-support problems. And for what, really? A good laptop from 1-2 years ago, at any given time, tends to make an absolutely outstanding Linux machine, and all you tend to forego, in my experience, is extra CPU punch that Linux doesn't really need anyway.[1] People keep buying cutting-edge laptop hardware and then asking me for help with exactly those sorts of problems, and it keeps reminding me of the old technical support joke's punchline: Patient: "Doctor, doctor! It _hurts_ when I do this!" Doctor: "Well, don't do that, then." [1] Most laptops are designed for the needs of the Microsoft OS platform du jour, which at any given time tends to require gobs more CPU (and RAM) than any reasonable Linux setup of the same vintage. The extra CPU capacity of a current-vintage machine tends to therefore go mostly wasted, when used for Linux, because typical uses are not CPU-bound as they are on the proprietary platform. From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 9 13:42:50 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 13:42:50 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] "Bay Area LUGs" flyer created for OSCON, etc. Message-ID: <200907092042.n69KgoJo031282@bolt.sonic.net> Hello, this is Bill Kendrick, president and one of the co-founders of LUGOD, the Linux Users' Group of Davis. [1] Recently, I was seeing if it was possible to get a booth at O'Reilly's Open Source Convention (OSCON) [2], which will be in the bay area this year. (It had previously been in Portland, in recent years.) Unfortunately, there's no more room in the .ORG Pavillion. We spoke with the California "Ubuntu Local Community (LoCo) Team" about sharing space, but it was decided that it was not feasible. However, Ubuntu Calif. Loco (and possibly other groups [3]) has offered to place a flyer out on our behalf. So, based on my knowledge as LUGOD public relations guy, and a quick browse at Rick Moen's "BALE" (Bay Area Linux Events) site [4], I've whipped together a brief list of greater Bay Area LUGs, together with a little map. [5] http://lugod.org/projects/oscon/bay_area_lugs/ Please let me know if you see any omissions or anything needing corrections. I created the document in Scribus (using OpenStreetMap.org and The GIMP to create the map), but I am not a graphic designer, so it lacks "pizzazz". Feel free to take what I've done and create something flashier. At this point, I need to determine (1) where, when and how to print off a run of flyers (and how many!) and (2) how to get them to the group(s) that are going to place them out at OSCON. I'd also love if we could get these out at OSWorld (previously LinuxWorld). [6] And, of course, feel free to print them out and place them out at LUG and other UG meetings, to help spread the word about the other LUGs. (Sometimes people don't think to search the web for "linux user group {city}") [1] LUGOD is a 10 year old LUG that meets in Davis, near Sacramento: http://www.lugod.org/ [2] OSCON takes place July 20-24th. The expo is the 22nd & 23rd. http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009 [3] If you know of other groups who would be willing to put out a "multi-LUG" flyer, please let me knwo! [4] Bay Area Linux Events (BALE): http://linuxmafia.com/bale/ [5] The .pdf is the printable document, generated from the source document, which is a Scribus .sla. The .png and .jpg are depended-upon by the .sla. The .xcf.gz is the Gimp source to the .png map.) [6] OpenSource World (previously LinuxWorld Conf & Expo) takes place August 12-13th in San Francisco. http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/ PS - I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From pmpope at gmail.com Thu Jul 9 14:02:07 2009 From: pmpope at gmail.com (PMPope) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:02:07 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? Message-ID: <4A565ACF.4000804@gmail.com> Hello Bobby, I recently found myself laptop-less. Crup! I accidentally stumbled into that Goodwill store (located at Van Ness & Mission). Fridays after 12:00pm, it seems that their 'new' inventory of recycled computers hit the shelves. I picked up a Dell Inspiron for $30 (flat) I brought it back to the lab and liberated it with a Debian Squeeze. Not the 'BEST OF THE BEST.' but what the hey. I use it for experimental ferment and to keep up my chops. I could do alot worse. Did I remember to tell you it only cost me $30.00 (USD)? Happy hunting! PMPope EdgeLabs SFCA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Thu Jul 9 14:56:51 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:56:51 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Any one have experience with this old laptop? In-Reply-To: <4A565ACF.4000804@gmail.com> References: <4A565ACF.4000804@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A5667A3.9010900@sfo.com> PMPope wrote: > Hello Bobby, > > I recently found myself laptop-less. Crup! I accidentally stumbled > into that Goodwill store (located at Van Ness & Mission). Fridays > after 12:00pm, it seems that their 'new' inventory of recycled > computers hit the shelves. I picked up a Dell Inspiron for $30 (flat) > I brought it back to the lab and liberated it with a Debian Squeeze. > Not the 'BEST OF THE BEST.' but what the hey. I use it for > experimental ferment and to keep up my chops. I could do alot worse. > Did I remember to tell you it only cost me $30.00 (USD)? > > Happy hunting! > > PMPope > EdgeLabs SFCA > Well at the same place a couple of years back I paid $225 for my Inspiron 4000 which has been useful but with limits on a lot of things I thought were important. That is why I got a more powerful machine from Best Buy which happens to be a refurbished machine with a larger hard drive about 12 times larger, a slightly larger display, and about 7 times faster CPU with about 5 times the memory and 32 times the graphic memory. I will use the old machine to do other things with if I keep it the P3 has about 5 hours of battery life which is about 2x as much as the Compaq.. later Bobbie From nbs at sonic.net Fri Jul 10 15:47:15 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:47:15 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Updated "Bay Area LUGs" flyer created for OSCON Message-ID: <200907102247.n6AMlFpa020877@bolt.sonic.net> As a follow-up to yesterday's email [1], I wanted to let people know that an updated version of the flyer has been created. Jack DeSlippe of Berkeley LUG created a simpler map, with penguin icons marking each city (rather than the plain looking "x"es I had). He also redid the LUG list to be less wordy, and made the intro text stand out more. An updated version, in both color and B&W PDFs, as well as the source document (this time in OpenOffice.org Impress ".odp") are now available here: http://lugod.org/projects/oscon/bay_area_lugs/ Thanks to Jack, as well as Grant Bowman from the Ubuntu California LoCo Team for the feedback on how to spice the flyer up. Marsee Henon from O'Reilly and Larry Cafiero from Fedora (and FeltonLUG) have offered to put copies of the final flyer out at their tables at OSCON, along with the Ubuntu Calif. LoCo. I'm still interested in hearing whether we can get the same flyer exposed at OpenSourceWorld (prev'ly LinuxWorld Expo) next month, as well. Has anyone got any leads? (i.e., businesses or orgs that will be there) [1] My email from yesterday can be found here, among other places: http://lugod.org/mailinglists/archives/vox/2009-07/msg00013.html PS - Repeat note from last time: I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From nbs at sonic.net Mon Jul 13 18:05:14 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:05:14 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] "Bay Area LUGs" flyer and O'Reilly Message-ID: <200907140105.n6E15ETn015777@bolt.sonic.net> Marsee Henon at O'Reilly has made a blog posting about the LUG flyer that Jack DeSlippe put together (based on my original, and with input from Grant Bowman, Rick Moen, me, and probably others I've forgotten). http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/07/find-your-bay-area-linux-user-group.html She has also agreed to print a run of flyers for OSCON next week, which she will split with the Ubuntu California LoCo Team. (Grant, from that team, has offered to go get them from the O'Reilly table.) This Wednesday, she'll grab whatever latest revision we have up, so if you have any suggestions or corrections (hi, Larry!), let us know ASAP! PS - Repeat note from last time: I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! PPS - I'm still wondering if anyone knows of any .ORG booths at OSWorld (what used to be LinuxWorld, in August) that could help distribute this flyer at that event, too. PPPS - This flyer is also useful to have out at LUG meetings (hint, hint!) -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From jim at well.com Mon Jul 13 20:56:46 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:56:46 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] "Bay Area LUGs" flyer and O'Reilly In-Reply-To: <200907140105.n6E15ETn015777@bolt.sonic.net> References: <200907140105.n6E15ETn015777@bolt.sonic.net> Message-ID: <1247543806.6437.103.camel@jim-laptop> bill: how do we get some copies? any way we can help out? anyone in sf: i'm going to oscon thursday, july 23, leaving sometime in the AM, will walk the floors and maybe help out at a booth, will attend two python seminars both in room B starting at 7, ending around 9:30 or a little later, to drive back to SF. anyone want a ride? i can pick you up in the AM and drive you back after the python stuff is over. On Mon, 2009-07-13 at 18:05 -0700, nbs wrote: > Marsee Henon at O'Reilly has made a blog posting about the LUG flyer > that Jack DeSlippe put together (based on my original, and with input > from Grant Bowman, Rick Moen, me, and probably others I've forgotten). > > http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/07/find-your-bay-area-linux-user-group.html > > She has also agreed to print a run of flyers for OSCON next week, > which she will split with the Ubuntu California LoCo Team. > (Grant, from that team, has offered to go get them from the O'Reilly table.) > > This Wednesday, she'll grab whatever latest revision we have up, so if > you have any suggestions or corrections (hi, Larry!), let us know ASAP! > > PS - Repeat note from last time: > I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever > contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. > Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! > > PPS - I'm still wondering if anyone knows of any .ORG booths at OSWorld > (what used to be LinuxWorld, in August) that could help distribute > this flyer at that event, too. > > PPPS - This flyer is also useful to have out at LUG meetings (hint, hint!) > From rick at linuxmafia.com Mon Jul 13 21:17:49 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:17:49 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] "Bay Area LUGs" flyer and O'Reilly In-Reply-To: <1247543806.6437.103.camel@jim-laptop> References: <200907140105.n6E15ETn015777@bolt.sonic.net> <1247543806.6437.103.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <20090714041749.GC26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting jim (jim at well.com): > how do we get some copies? Step 1: Print out a copy of http://lugod.org/projects/oscon/bay_area_lugs/LugFlyer-Color4.pdf . Step 2: Take it down to Kinko's. Step 3: Profit! More seriously: 1. Print _non-white_ sheets. Anything but white, but bright colours are best (red, pink, bright yellow, orange...) 2. For future flyers (not this one), design it from the get-go to be _any_ format other than a plain 8.5"x11" sheet. Personally, I think tri-fold is good. Why? Because 8 1/2 x 11 on white paper is the path of least resistance, with the result that almost everybody does it. Look at the freebie table at any convention, and you'll observe a sea of 8 1/2 x 11 white sheets, lost among others of their kind. Anything you can do to stand out from the herd is thus advantageous. Clue: Kinko's has stacks of coloured sheets you can use. ;-> From nbs at sonic.net Tue Jul 14 03:12:37 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:12:37 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming Message-ID: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> A few years ago (2004?) I decided it would be a neat idea to write a book about programming for kids. Maybe do it collaboratively, and release it under a nice open license. I asked around (including this list) to figure out what modern language would be suitable for kids, and almost everyone said Python. Fast forward to 30 minutes ago. I have not written a book, though the idea has been in the back of my mind. Then I come across this book review over at Slashdot: http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1349203/Hello-World And one of the comments leads me to: http://openbookproject.net/thinkCSpy/ So apparently, while I was snoozing[*], TWO books have been created. "Hello World!" is a print book, written by a father/son team. "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" is a collab'd book at the Open Book Project. How nifty is that!? :) [*] Changing jobs a few times, having our first baby, and moving back and forth between towns. ;) Oh, and developing/maintaining Tux Paint, and helping run a Linux User Group, too! -- -bill! Sent from my computer From jackofnotrades at gmail.com Tue Jul 14 07:45:54 2009 From: jackofnotrades at gmail.com (Jeff Bragg) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:45:54 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming In-Reply-To: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> References: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> Message-ID: <2f8a56f70907140745q496635d7p40d7f357016a5778@mail.gmail.com> I could be wrong, but I believe the second one is the same text Asheesh was using while teaching a Python course through Noisebridge several months ago. I think Jim and Alex K. were attending for awhile, and could confirm (or deny) that. MIT's Scratch language might be of interest to you. It seems to be aimed at presenting basic programming concepts to kids in an engaging way, and appears to be doing a decent job of it. On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 3:12 AM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > A few years ago (2004?) I decided it would be a neat idea to write > a book about programming for kids. Maybe do it collaboratively, and > release it under a nice open license. I asked around (including this list) > to figure out what modern language would be suitable for kids, and almost > everyone said Python. > > Fast forward to 30 minutes ago. I have not written a book, though the idea > has been in the back of my mind. Then I come across this book review over > at Slashdot: > > http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1349203/Hello-World > > And one of the comments leads me to: > > http://openbookproject.net/thinkCSpy/ > > > So apparently, while I was snoozing[*], TWO books have been created. > "Hello World!" is a print book, written by a father/son team. > "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" is a collab'd book at the > Open Book Project. > > How nifty is that!? :) > > > [*] Changing jobs a few times, having our first baby, and moving back and > forth between towns. ;) Oh, and developing/maintaining Tux Paint, > and helping run a Linux User Group, too! > > -- > -bill! > Sent from my computer > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a_kleider at yahoo.com Tue Jul 14 09:42:54 2009 From: a_kleider at yahoo.com (Alex Kleider) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:42:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming In-Reply-To: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> Message-ID: <280294.34525.qm@web110609.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Here's a link to another one: http://pythonbook.coffeeghost.net/ It's by a guy who frequents NoiseBridge here in the City; I came across him at the Phthon classes started by Asheesh and now being carried on by Dan. Jim has been a faithful attendee as have I before summer travels took me away. cheers, alex a_kleider at yahoo.com --- On Tue, 7/14/09, Bill Kendrick wrote: > From: Bill Kendrick > Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming > To: "SF-LUG" > Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 3:12 AM > > A few years ago (2004?) I decided it would be a neat idea > to write > a book about programming for kids.? Maybe do it > collaboratively, and > release it under a nice open license.? I asked around > (including this list) > to figure out what modern language would be suitable for > kids, and almost > everyone said Python. > > Fast forward to 30 minutes ago.? I have not written a > book, though the idea > has been in the back of my mind.? Then I come across > this book review over > at Slashdot: > > ? http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1349203/Hello-World > > And one of the comments leads me to: > > ? http://openbookproject.net/thinkCSpy/ > > > So apparently, while I was snoozing[*], TWO books have been > created. > "Hello World!" is a print book, written by a father/son > team. > "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" is a collab'd book > at the > Open Book Project. > > How nifty is that!? :) > > > [*] Changing jobs a few times, having our first baby, and > moving back and > ? ? forth between towns. ;)? Oh, and > developing/maintaining Tux Paint, > ? ? and helping run a Linux User Group, too! > > -- > -bill! > Sent from my computer > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Tue Jul 14 10:44:12 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:44:12 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming In-Reply-To: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> References: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> Message-ID: <1247593452.6437.124.camel@jim-laptop> There's also Al Sweigart's "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python": Here's a link with a blurb from the author: http://groups.google.com/group/freecomputerbooks/web/invent-your-own-computer-games-with-python-2008-albert-sweigart Here's a link that presents downloads for this and other Python-oriented computer "books": http://freecomputerbooks.com/langPythonBooks.html The XO laptop (One Laptop Per Child) has a Python programming activity: http://www.laptop.org/en/ Seems to me your idea to write something that introduces programming to children is still a good idea. The "something" may or may not be a book, per se. I think an interactive game could be good: something that starts simple and, as it builds, presents exercises that are "pythonic", an important concept that, seems to me, is largely missing in Python books and other material. (In my view, "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python" is frustratingly incomplete in its mission.) On Tue, 2009-07-14 at 03:12 -0700, Bill Kendrick wrote: > A few years ago (2004?) I decided it would be a neat idea to write > a book about programming for kids. Maybe do it collaboratively, and > release it under a nice open license. I asked around (including this list) > to figure out what modern language would be suitable for kids, and almost > everyone said Python. > > Fast forward to 30 minutes ago. I have not written a book, though the idea > has been in the back of my mind. Then I come across this book review over > at Slashdot: > > http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1349203/Hello-World > > And one of the comments leads me to: > > http://openbookproject.net/thinkCSpy/ > > > So apparently, while I was snoozing[*], TWO books have been created. > "Hello World!" is a print book, written by a father/son team. > "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" is a collab'd book at the > Open Book Project. > > How nifty is that!? :) > > > [*] Changing jobs a few times, having our first baby, and moving back and > forth between towns. ;) Oh, and developing/maintaining Tux Paint, > and helping run a Linux User Group, too! > From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 14 11:31:13 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:31:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming Message-ID: <950464.39315.qm@web82702.mail.mud.yahoo.com> what a fascinating thread! it happens that i'm re-reading "structure and interpretation of computer programs", by ableson and sussman isbn0-07-000-422-6, these bits from the forward and introduction immediately came to mind when i thought about young people, computing and communication: "...the source of the exhiliration associated with computer programming is the continual unfolding within the mind and on the computer of mechanisms expressed as programs, and the explosion of perception they generate..." ...and "...a computer language is not just a way of gettng a computer to perform operations, but rather ... a novel formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology..." x From jim at well.com Tue Jul 14 10:58:09 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:58:09 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Books for kids about programming In-Reply-To: <2f8a56f70907140745q496635d7p40d7f357016a5778@mail.gmail.com> References: <20090714101237.GC26297@sonic.net> <2f8a56f70907140745q496635d7p40d7f357016a5778@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1247594289.6437.133.camel@jim-laptop> You remember correctly, Jeff. What was a sf-lug study group moved to the Noisebridge location at 83C Weise (near Mission and 16th), and as part of leaving San Francisco passed the leader role to Dan Silverstein, who's still using the "Think Like..." book (currently about half-way through, for those who'd like to join in: mondays at 6:30). On Tue, 2009-07-14 at 07:45 -0700, Jeff Bragg wrote: > I could be wrong, but I believe the second one is the same text > Asheesh was using while teaching a Python course through Noisebridge > several months ago. I think Jim and Alex K. were attending for > awhile, and could confirm (or deny) that. > > MIT's Scratch language might be of interest to you. It seems to be > aimed at presenting basic programming concepts to kids in an engaging > way, and appears to be doing a decent job of it. > > On Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 3:12 AM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > A few years ago (2004?) I decided it would be a neat idea to > write > a book about programming for kids. Maybe do it > collaboratively, and > release it under a nice open license. I asked around > (including this list) > to figure out what modern language would be suitable for kids, > and almost > everyone said Python. > > Fast forward to 30 minutes ago. I have not written a book, > though the idea > has been in the back of my mind. Then I come across this book > review over > at Slashdot: > > http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/1349203/Hello-World > > And one of the comments leads me to: > > http://openbookproject.net/thinkCSpy/ > > > So apparently, while I was snoozing[*], TWO books have been > created. > "Hello World!" is a print book, written by a father/son team. > "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" is a collab'd book at > the > Open Book Project. > > How nifty is that!? :) > > > [*] Changing jobs a few times, having our first baby, and > moving back and > forth between towns. ;) Oh, and developing/maintaining Tux > Paint, > and helping run a Linux User Group, too! > > -- > -bill! > Sent from my computer > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug From jim at well.com Tue Jul 14 11:40:21 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:40:21 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: Re: [school-discuss] Programming for Kids] Message-ID: <1247596821.6437.138.camel@jim-laptop> as seen on the school-discuss list: To: schoolforge-discuss at schoolforge.net Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Programming for Kids Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:34:51 +0200 >> While Python (especially VPython) certainly has >> merits as an environment for young programmers, > > I'm curious if anyone has taught a course using Snake Wrangling for Kids? > > http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kids/ > my last course for python was not entirely based on it but i got a lot of inspiration from that excellent book if you want to know more, stay tuned on python edu-sig list From rafa-el at att.net Tue Jul 14 11:47:57 2009 From: rafa-el at att.net (Rafael Vanoni) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:47:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: Re: [school-discuss] Programming for Kids] In-Reply-To: <1247596821.6437.138.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1247596821.6437.138.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <4A5CD2DD.5050201@att.net> Not a book, but on the same topic, one of my co-workers wrote up a programmer's abc a few years ago -> http://blogs.sun.com/barts/entry/a_programmer_s_abcs Rafael jim wrote: > as seen on the school-discuss list: > > > To: schoolforge-discuss at schoolforge.net > Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Programming for Kids > Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:34:51 +0200 > >>> While Python (especially VPython) certainly has >>> merits as an environment for young programmers, >> I'm curious if anyone has taught a course using Snake Wrangling for Kids? >> >> http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kids/ >> > > my last course for python was not entirely based on it but i got a lot > of inspiration from that excellent book > > if you want to know more, stay tuned on python edu-sig list > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 14 11:50:54 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:50:54 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: Re: [school-discuss] Programming for Kids] In-Reply-To: <4A5CD2DD.5050201@att.net> References: <1247596821.6437.138.camel@jim-laptop> <4A5CD2DD.5050201@att.net> Message-ID: <20090714185054.GJ26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Rafael Vanoni (rafa-el at att.net): > Not a book, but on the same topic, one of my co-workers wrote up a > programmer's abc a few years ago -> > http://blogs.sun.com/barts/entry/a_programmer_s_abcs I see your song, and raise you http://steve.savitzky.net/Tools/TeX/alphabet.html . From toya at linefeed.org Wed Jul 15 09:03:39 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:03:39 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help Message-ID: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> Hi, I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start testing it for SF. I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing department of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university here might be able to help me out with it. I appreciate any help. Toya SFCCP.net From jackofnotrades at gmail.com Wed Jul 15 10:01:42 2009 From: jackofnotrades at gmail.com (Jeff Bragg) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:01:42 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> References: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> Message-ID: <2f8a56f70907151001r667648b3h91285eebff7f729f@mail.gmail.com> You might try San Francisco State University's Dept. of Geosciences at http://tornado.sfsu.edu/. There are various contact names and methods listed on the site. Of course, the university is so strapped due to budget cuts, etc that they are not accepting new students for the fall semester, so I have no idea how cooperative or available they'll be. You could also try SF Government pages at http://www.sfgov.org/; one of the transportation- or housing-related agencies might have that information. Or you could skip straight to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency at http://www.sfmta.com/cms/home/sfmta.php. And nextbushas to be getting bus locations from somewhere, though their information is more likely to describe bus routes than neighborhood boundaries (and I have no idea what they'd be willing to share). Good luck with your search. On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM, toya wrote: > Hi, > > I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free > software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start testing it > for SF. > > I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get > some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing department > of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. > > Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the > neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with > the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university > here might be able to help me out with it. > > I appreciate any help. > > Toya > SFCCP.net > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rigelc at gmail.com Wed Jul 15 10:14:02 2009 From: rigelc at gmail.com (Rigel Christian) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:14:02 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> References: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> Message-ID: I'd echo jack's suggestion to check with the MTA. A few years ago i was tinkering with similar stuff and though i had to go down to their office and sign a form saying something or other, they were willing to let me have the current GPS data for the bus routes. good luck On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM, toya wrote: > Hi, > > I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free > software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start testing it > for SF. > > I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get > some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing department > of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. > > Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the > neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with > the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university > here might be able to help me out with it. > > I appreciate any help. > > Toya > SFCCP.net > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Wed Jul 15 10:31:14 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:31:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> References: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> Message-ID: <181583.23821.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi Toya, I can think of three places of the top of my head. Cloud Made (www.cloudmade.com) has a bunch of data from their mapping parties. The regional EPA office (uh, I forgot the correct term) a geographical mapping? office in SF. And you can always, probably more for spot checks, get latitude & longitude from Google Maps. Since they don't have control of the source files, it might be a little off. Probably grenade accurracy. Goodluck, Vince ________________________________ From: toya To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:03:39 AM Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help Hi, I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start testing it for SF. I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing department of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university here might be able to help me out with it. I appreciate any help. Toya SFCCP.net _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From toya at linefeed.org Wed Jul 15 12:30:18 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:30:18 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: <2f8a56f70907151001r667648b3h91285eebff7f729f@mail.gmail.com> References: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> <2f8a56f70907151001r667648b3h91285eebff7f729f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A5E2E4A.4090701@linefeed.org> Thank you all for the replies, it help me a lot. I will start contacting the MTA and CloudMade people. :) Toya Jeff Bragg wrote: > You might try San Francisco State University's Dept. of Geosciences at > http://tornado.sfsu.edu/. There are various contact names and methods > listed on the site. Of course, the university is so strapped due to > budget cuts, etc that they are not accepting new students for the fall > semester, so I have no idea how cooperative or available they'll be. > > You could also try SF Government pages at http://www.sfgov.org/; one > of the transportation- or housing-related agencies might have that > information. Or you could skip straight to San Francisco Municipal > Transportation Agency at http://www.sfmta.com/cms/home/sfmta.php. And > nextbus has to be getting bus locations from > somewhere, though their information is more likely to describe bus > routes than neighborhood boundaries (and I have no idea what they'd be > willing to share). > > Good luck with your search. > > On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM, toya > wrote: > > Hi, > > I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free > software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start > testing it > for SF. > > I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get > some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing > department > of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. > > Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the > neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with > the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university > here might be able to help me out with it. > > I appreciate any help. > > Toya > SFCCP.net > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Wed Jul 15 13:20:54 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:20:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] ST. ANTHONY'S TECH FAIRE! Message-ID: <483378.80627.qm@web82706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> hello sfluggers! it's time for the next 'tech faire' down at st. anthony's on golden gate avenue! as with last couple of times, we'll be setting up a table with 6 Ubuntu stations, and will also assist some folks with installation of Ubuntu [or other small-footprint distro's on old underpowered machines]. additionally, we're hoping that this tech faire will result in a more continuous presence by SF-Lug down there, or possibly a new arm of our mighty organization. as with the last couple of events, this is an open call for volunteers to help out with the ubuntu table, help evangelize linux and send some underprivileged folk back home with working computers and a new starry outlook on life, finally released from the demon clutches of that nasty old Microsoft thing. here's what i know at current time: name of event: Tenderloin Tech Fair date: Saturday, July 25th. location: uh, 460 golden gate, near taylor in downtown SF. load in/set up: 8am start time of event: 10am end time of event: 4pm [volunteers don't need to participate in set-up, although i'm sure we'd be happy for the help. although we'd like to see people helping for 2 hours, there's no minimum - if you can just show up to say 'hi', that's great, it helps us show them that we are a community.] food? yes. pizza and various tasty and healthful snacks will be provided. do you need to bring anything? no, but you may want to bring copies of 'useful' distros. mostly we need people to be ambassadors for linux and help out people who can't legally use windoze on their computifiers. any questions or comments? let me know! your humble mail list admin; lx From slash5toaster at gmail.com Wed Jul 15 15:17:23 2009 From: slash5toaster at gmail.com (Clyde Jones) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:17:23 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: <4A5E2E4A.4090701@linefeed.org> References: <4A5DFDDB.8090108@linefeed.org> <2f8a56f70907151001r667648b3h91285eebff7f729f@mail.gmail.com> <4A5E2E4A.4090701@linefeed.org> Message-ID: <294686ad0907151517q162734fi7b3a2f68c397b947@mail.gmail.com> Don't forget all the freely available GIS data from the USGS and the Census department. ftp://ftp2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2008/06_CALIFORNIA/06075_San_Francisco_County On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:30, toya wrote: > Thank you all for the replies, it help me a lot. I will start contacting > the MTA and CloudMade people. > :) > Toya > > Jeff Bragg wrote: >> You might try San Francisco State University's Dept. of Geosciences at >> http://tornado.sfsu.edu/. ?There are various contact names and methods >> listed on the site. ?Of course, the university is so strapped due to >> budget cuts, etc that they are not accepting new students for the fall >> semester, so I have no idea how cooperative or available they'll be. >> >> You could also try SF Government pages at http://www.sfgov.org/; one >> of the transportation- or housing-related agencies might have that >> information. ?Or you could skip straight to San Francisco Municipal >> Transportation Agency at http://www.sfmta.com/cms/home/sfmta.php. ?And >> nextbus has to be getting bus locations from >> somewhere, though their information is more likely to describe bus >> routes than neighborhood boundaries (and I have no idea what they'd be >> willing to share). >> >> Good luck with your search. >> >> On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM, toya > > wrote: >> >> ? ? Hi, >> >> ? ? I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free >> ? ? software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start >> ? ? testing it >> ? ? for SF. >> >> ? ? I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get >> ? ? some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing >> ? ? department >> ? ? of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. >> >> ? ? Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the >> ? ? neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with >> ? ? the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university >> ? ? here might be able to help me out with it. >> >> ? ? I appreciate any help. >> >> ? ? Toya >> ? ? SFCCP.net >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ? ? _______________________________________________ >> ? ? sf-lug mailing list >> ? ? sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> ? ? http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -- We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. -Buddha From jr at inconspicuous.org Wed Jul 15 15:51:28 2009 From: jr at inconspicuous.org (John Reilly) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:51:28 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help [Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 10] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4A5E5D70.2050304@inconspicuous.org> sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com wrote: > From: toya > Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: <4A5DFDDB.8090108 at linefeed.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hi, > > I am working on a website that works with maps API etc. Is a free > software people are developing in Brazil and I want to start testing it > for SF. > > I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hint of where I can get > some data about San Francisco. If there is any geoprocessing department > of universities here that I could get in touch to get this data. > > Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the > neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with > the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university > here might be able to help me out with it. > Hi Toya, A good place to start looking for geospatial data is the USGS and various agencies that use spatial data. Have a look at http://www.usgs.gov/ngpo/ http://edc2.usgs.gov/geodata/index.php http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getgislist Those are just a few links I pulled from http://www.google.com/search?q=usgs+spatial+data because I can't remember anything more specific - its a few years since I've done any spatial stuff, and I mostly used commercial or private datasets, but I know there is lots of data on the USGS sites in various formats. Good luck, John From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Wed Jul 15 23:22:16 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:22:16 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Fwd: [buug] 2009 System Administrator Appreciation Party (FREE) (2009-07-29 6p-10p in S.F.) Message-ID: <20090715232216.13617bj93uw8kz0o@webmail.rawbw.com> ----- Forwarded message from pewterbot9 at gmail.com ----- Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:54:32 -0700 From: "Pewter Bot" Subject: [buug] 2009 System Administrator Appreciation Party (FREE) To: buug Event Details Are you a System Administrator? Do you work hard 365 days per year, 24 hours per day to keep your network up and running, but are shown little appreciation? Then this party is for you! On July 29, join OpenDNS ? the world's largest and fastest-growing DNS provider ? and Meraki ? the world's leading cloud-based wireless LAN provider ? as well as other System Administrators from around the Bay and beyond to take a break from work and celebrate 2009 System Administrator Month. We'll shower you with apprecation, give you great music, stiff drinks and the company of some of the coolest, hardest working, most talented people around. Spread the word and invite your friends! When Wednesday, July 29, 2009 from 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM (PT) Where DNA Lounge 375 Eleventh Street, between Folsom and Harrison (near Harrison) San Francisco, CA The event is FREE. Register here: http://2009sysadminappreciationparty.eventbrite.com/ _______________________________________________ Buug mailing list Buug at weak.org http://www.weak.org/mailman/listinfo/buug ----- End forwarded message ----- From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Thu Jul 16 02:22:16 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:22:16 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20090716022216.18975lahx4r1os4c@webmail.rawbw.com> > Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:03:39 -0700 > From: toya > Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > Pretty much I am looking for latitude and longitude data for the > neighborhoods of SF. For a city in Brazil we could get this data with > the university department of geoprocessing, so I think some university > here might be able to help me out with it. > > I appreciate any help. There's the USGS maps, e.g.: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=usgs+maps&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g10 http://topomaps.usgs.gov/ Digital Raster Graphics http://topomaps.usgs.gov/drg/ Download free GeoPDF versions from the USGS Store ... That will get you to ZIPed PDF files of USGS maps down to the 7.5 minute series - that might be about the most accurate way to correlate latitude/longitude on map. May also be more usefully used in conjunction with other maps (e.g. for neighborhood names and boundaries, more complete set of street/alley names, etc.). Might not be so useful outside of the US, though (that's what the US in USGS stands for). Many public libraries often have local USGS maps (e.g. San Francisco Public library may have most or all of the hardcopy maps covering San Francisco - the hardcopy ones are pretty big - if I recall correctly, they're roughly 2.5 x 2.5 ft. for, e.g. 7.5 minute series maps. Last I looked for them, Oakland Public Library had a pretty good set too (perhaps also including some or much of San Francisco - though perhaps not or not as detailed). Some recreational/sports stores sometimes also have the USGS maps for cities or their parks and other popular recreation areas (e.g. REI used to stock and have lots of USGS maps for sale - not sure if they still do). From sverma at sfsu.edu Thu Jul 16 10:01:55 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:01:55 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] OLPC-SF meets on Saturday, July 18, 2009 Message-ID: <5fb387c70907161001i76f9bde1qab8208d02a7e5a98@mail.gmail.com> Details posted at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea Sameer -- Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Information Systems San Francisco State University San Francisco CA 94132 USA http://verma.sfsu.edu/ http://opensource.sfsu.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bill at wards.net Thu Jul 16 12:00:05 2009 From: bill at wards.net (bill at wards.net) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] NEXT WEEK: PenLUG meeting 07/23/2009 Message-ID: PENINSULA LINUX USERS' GROUP (PenLUG) PRESENTS: +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Date: |Thursday, July 23, 2009 | |---------+-----------------------------------------------------------| |Time: |6:00 - 8:00 PM | |---------+-----------------------------------------------------------| | |Bayshore Technology Park | |Location:|1300 Island Drive | | |Redwood City, CA 94065 | | |Suite 106 - Training Room | |---------+-----------------------------------------------------------| |RSVP: |Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=95531483001| | |or mail rsvp at penlug.org | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Agenda: * 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Electronics Recycling by ACCRC * 6:00 PM Free pizza arrives * 6:15 PM Free book giveaways or other prizes * 6:30 PM Presentation begins * 8:00 PM Meeting ends Electronics Recycling by ACCRC Peninsula Linux Users' Group, Qualys, Harvest Properties, and Alameda County Computer Resource Center present an electronics waste collection event. ACCRC is a nonprofit computer recycler with a heart. For example, they provide refurbished computers running Linux to schools in impoverished areas. ACCRC will accept: Small household appliances, UPS Batteries, Telephones, TV's, Computers, Fax Machines ACCRC will NOT accept: Washer machines, Dryers, Stoves, Refrigerators, Freezers, Batteries, Liquids, Air Conditioners Note: They particularly want old CRT monitors and TV's, because the California State subsidy for recycling those is a major income stream for ACCRC. The ACCRC truck (probably a yellow Penske rental truck) will be in the parking lot at 1300 Island Drive from 3-6pm. There is a separate Facebook event for the recycling: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=94436229132 Kyle Rankin, Where'd my Files Go? - A Guide to the Modern Ubuntu Distribution While you might not be able to tell at a cursory glance, much has changed behind the scenes on a modern Ubuntu system, from what you might be used to if you have used Linux for years. For example, did you know Ubuntu is phasing out the System V init? That you can't loopback-mount the initrd? In this talk, Kyle will discuss the current changes Ubuntu is making to what we might consider the traditional Linux system. There's a little something for everyone on the talk: For Linux newcomers who are curious about what's under the hood, Kyle will cover the traditional and modern boot process, including how init works, and follow up with a guide to where important files are in Ubuntu. For the experienced Linux user, Kyle will show you how (and why) things have changed, and where you can look now when you want to, for instance, change the default runlevel on an Ubuntu system. Kyle Rankin Kyle Rankin is a systems architect for Quinstreet, Inc., the current president of the North Bay Linux Users Group, the author of Knoppix Hacks, Knoppix Pocket Reference, Linux Multimedia Hacks, and Ubuntu Hacks, and has contributed to a number of other O'Reilly books. Kyle is also a columnist for Linux Journal, and has had articles featured in PC Magazine, TechTarget, and other publications. Kyle has spoken at PenLUG several times before: * December 9, 2004: Introduction to Knoppix * January 26, 2006: DVD Authoring with Linux (Video) * March 22, 2007: MPlayer RSVP Although it is not required, we like to have an idea of how many people to expect, so if possible please email rsvp at penlug.org if you are planning to attend. GETTING THERE For information on getting to the meeting, please see: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1300+Island+Drive,+Redwood+City,+CA http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/DrivingDirectionsQualys http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/TransitDirectionsQualys Traffic on 101 can be pretty bad in the evening, so we encourage you to check traffic conditions before driving by dialing 5-1-1 on your phone or visiting www.511.org, and if possible to take public transit (best bet: bicycle via Caltrain) or carpool to this meeting. MORE INFORMATION See www.penlug.org for more information. This notice is being sent to the following mailing lists: members at penlug.org announce at penlug.org sf-lug at linuxmafia.com balug-talk at lists.balug.org svlug at lists.svlug.org svevents at yahoogroups.com vox at lists.lugod.org Please reply to suggest any additions or other changes. From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 16 12:25:31 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:25:31 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] .ORG pavillion opening at OSCON! Message-ID: <200907161925.n6GJPVku004008@bolt.sonic.net> Surprise news just came in! There is now a booth available in the .ORG pavillion at OSCON next week. I've been asked if we (the LUGs of the area) are still interested in the space. The booth already has carpet, one counter and a stool. May at O'Reilly tells me: "All you would need is electricity and internet." Despite the 20 minutes I've spent just now ;^)... I really don't have time to organize this, esp. on such short notice. (I'll be gone all weekend, half of which will be Community Leadership Conference.) And I've barely got the time to make OSCON for the one day I was planning on going, as it is! I've just emailed the originally list of volunteers (see them at: http://www.lugod.org/projects/oscon/ towards the bottom), to see if any of them want to take the reigns. In the meantime, I figured I'd let _all_ of the LUGs know what's going on -- including the ones I didn't get ahold of until we were in the middle of constructing the LUG flyer/map. Email me off-list (or, at the least, Cc me so I'm certain catch it!) if you can help out in any way. Especially if you want to take over the organizational role! :^) PS - Repeat note from all of my previous blasts: I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From jr at inconspicuous.org Thu Jul 16 13:07:21 2009 From: jr at inconspicuous.org (John Reilly) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:07:21 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help [Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 10] In-Reply-To: <4A5E5D70.2050304@inconspicuous.org> References: <4A5E5D70.2050304@inconspicuous.org> Message-ID: <4A5F8879.6060800@inconspicuous.org> John Reilly wrote: > A good place to start looking for geospatial data is the USGS and > various agencies that use spatial data. Another thing that I probably should have mentioned is that you should probably look for WGS-84 based data, although I'd guess that most lat/long data out there is WGS-84. That is the lat/long co-ordinate system used by GPS. Believe it or not, there are several lat/long systems and the same point on earth may have a different lat/long depending on the co-ordinate system used. More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System Cheers, John From toya at linefeed.org Thu Jul 16 12:57:32 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:57:32 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help [Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 10] In-Reply-To: <4A5F8879.6060800@inconspicuous.org> References: <4A5E5D70.2050304@inconspicuous.org> <4A5F8879.6060800@inconspicuous.org> Message-ID: <4A5F862C.9030308@linefeed.org> > John Reilly wrote: >> A good place to start looking for geospatial data is the USGS and >> various agencies that use spatial data. > Another thing that I probably should have mentioned is that you should > probably look for WGS-84 based data, although I'd guess that most > lat/long data out there is WGS-84. That is the lat/long co-ordinate > system used by GPS. Believe it or not, there are several lat/long > systems and the same point on earth may have a different lat/long > depending on the co-ordinate system used. More info at > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System > > Cheers, > John The software is using / datum/ WGS84 and the lat/long data is to create a polygon which will mark the borders of each neighborhood. An example, this is the data for a neighborhood of the city we are testing in Brazil: POLYGON((-51.993490154818 -29.463637685188,-51.9929975992176 -29.4631359452736,-51.9922892005093 -29.4623482607523,-51.9904152201333 -29.4603797935915,-51.9886701868564 -29.4589509982135,-51.9865147108895 -29.4572934772796,-51.984064948238 -29.4554095462505,-51.9809189726264 -29.4522897091702,-51.9802952445761 -29.4517176001217,-51.9795817494458 -29.4511708039215,-51.9789160349822 -29.4514942443497,-51.9795437251165 -29.457842414099,-51.9723026722602 -29.4585247922021,-51.9728761115375 -29.4629333212678,-51.9717684120918 -29.4634820718969,-51.9709481963804 -29.4639205920359,-51.9706225832859 -29.4643554921221,-51.9702529956772 -29.4645023649397,-51.9701324330451 -29.4648276443849,-51.9700111836459 -29.4650808397021,-51.9698480307149 -29.4652622512457,-51.9693145986383 -29.4655184398539,-51.9689070083785 -29.4660043987769,-51.9689090641969 -29.4662206508777,-51.9686634725473 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-29.4686443205556,-51.9864517180645 -29.4686797513535,-51.9865792106673 -29.4690752856336,-51.9867881046741 -29.4693620920334,-51.9870783793517 -29.469540161312,-51.9874081377918 -29.4695377150398,-51.9876131824553 -29.4694280603622,-51.9877752614894 -29.469138502339,-51.9878126369431 -29.4687417456477,-51.9878084446881 -29.4683092440492,-51.987764432007 -29.4680212155622,-51.9875974648811 -29.4678061973375,-51.9875122353597 -29.4675184745854,-51.9873861379484 -29.4672670993699,-51.9871363783736 -29.467016641298,-51.986929243904 -29.4669100532969,-51.9868440170829 -29.4666223300171,-51.9866767052353 -29.4663712596463,-51.9867577439145 -29.4662264811886,-51.9872523500578 -29.466222813154,-51.9881598472646 -29.4662881671152,-51.9888602000196 -29.4662469209222,-51.9890261179303 -29.4663538212394,-51.9891529177454 -29.4666772784576,-51.9895273833311 -29.4670349296923,-51.9898990407234 -29.4671042546212,-51.990267907369 -29.4668852531973,-51.9906772786411 -29.4665938514712,-51.9909217892291 -29.4663036760859,-51.9908383037252 -29.4661961644892,-51.9907114993427 -29.465872717989,-51.9909140801625 -29.4655107659457,-51.9910338757411 -29.4651133856649,-51.9912783716465 -29.4648232187686,-51.9917708764102 -29.4646032833536,-51.9923028409598 -29.4642028300027,-51.9927125467914 -29.4639474730853,-51.993490154818 -29.463637685188)) > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 16 15:02:08 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:02:08 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Multi-LUG booth at OSCON's .ORG pavillion IS HAPPENING! [July 22/23, San Jose] Message-ID: <200907162202.n6GM28P5012441@bolt.sonic.net> As a follow-up to my last post, where I said: > Surprise news just came in! There is now a booth available in the > .ORG pavillion at OSCON next week. I've been asked if we (the LUGs of the > area) are still interested in the space. Jim Stockford from SF-LUG has offered to help organize. Sent via Ron Wellman: "I have just spoken to Jim, and on his behalf I am saying yes, collectively we will set it up. Of course we do need volunteers for wed and thurs." Jim's email address is: jim AT well DOT com Sameer, Leigh and Ajay have so far offered to help staff the booth. I'm about to update this web page with the current info: http://lugod.org/projects/oscon/ Send Jim and I your details if you want to help, and I'll add you to the volunteer chart at the bottom of the page. Thanks Ron, Jim, and everyone! PS - Repeat note from all of my previous blasts: I'm sending this to either the discussion mailing list, or whatever contact email address I could find via your LUG's website. Feel free to pass this along as you see fit! -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From a_kleider at yahoo.com Thu Jul 16 20:02:00 2009 From: a_kleider at yahoo.com (Alex Kleider) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:02:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help [Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 10] In-Reply-To: <4A5F8879.6060800@inconspicuous.org> Message-ID: <950780.82416.qm@web110603.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> I have found use of UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator projection) rather than Latitude and Longitude to be much more user friendly. Any GPS worth its salt can be set to use either. Instead of dealing with degrees, minutes and seconds, one deals with a metric grid: Canadian topo maps have the grid lines printed on the maps, the USGS released some like this about 15 or more years ago but they didn't catch on; The current American maps have UTM tick marks in the margins so you can draw your own lines. Try it, you'll like it:-) Steering this thread back to Linux and Open Source: I wish Garmin would release their Topo US and Topo Canada data and the software to interface this data with their GPSs to run under Linux. cheers, alex a_kleider at yahoo.com --- On Thu, 7/16/09, John Reilly wrote: > From: John Reilly > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] geoprocessing help [Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 10] > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 1:07 PM > John Reilly wrote: > > A good place to start looking for geospatial data is > the USGS and various agencies that use spatial data. > Another thing that I probably should have mentioned is that > you should probably look for WGS-84 based data, although I'd > guess that most lat/long data out there is WGS-84.? > That is the lat/long co-ordinate system used by GPS.? > Believe it or not, there are several lat/long systems and > the same point on earth may have a different lat/long > depending on the co-ordinate system used.? More info at > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System > > Cheers, > John > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 16 21:11:47 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:11:47 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Interesting new game for Linux Message-ID: <4b5781040907162111o721ba589q477e703a6652e80b@mail.gmail.com> hi, Frictional Games has ported some cool, scary games for Linux. The games are called the Penumbra series, and basically it is a horror survival game. You have to run around a dark Greenland mind fighting zombie dogs and evading infected humans. The coolest thing about the game is that the physics engine makes gravity work just like you would expect it to. Here is the compressed link to a blog about the games: http://is.gd/1BGtk Here is the uncompressed link: http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-you-afraid-you-will-be.html Frictional games has the game on sale for $5 USD from tomorrow through Monday morning. You might like it if you are a gamer. And hey, for $5 USD, it is a great way to support a small company that is supporting Linux. c u -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wellmanron at gmail.com Fri Jul 17 08:55:32 2009 From: wellmanron at gmail.com (ron wellman) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:55:32 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling Message-ID: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> jim, I can work wed or thurs but not both. Since you're there a short day on wed, perhaps that would be best? ron -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Fri Jul 17 09:27:41 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:27:41 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling In-Reply-To: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> References: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1247848061.6557.118.camel@jim-laptop> sounds right. i can give you a ride from san francisco down there but not back. i believe getting to sam trans or cal train is pretty easy from the show place. jim 415 823 4590 my cellphone, call anytime On Fri, 2009-07-17 at 08:55 -0700, ron wellman wrote: > jim, > > I can work wed or thurs but not both. Since you're there a short day > on wed, perhaps that would be best? > > ron > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug From toya at linefeed.org Fri Jul 17 10:44:56 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:44:56 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Brazil president at FISL10 Message-ID: <4A60B898.4020102@linefeed.org> Hi, I would like to share this: I was at the 10th edition of Free Software International Forum (FISL) in Brazil and was one of the luckies who got to see President Lula speech. He spoke about free software in Brazil and how it is important for the country. He remembered the time (when he was first elected - he is at his second mandate now) when people met him at his house to discuss the adoption and support of Free Software by his government. He also spoke about an internet law project in Brazil that would restrict freedom on the internet condemning it - one more case on the battle around the world against the criminalization of internet users and sharing files on the internet. This was an important thing for the free software community world wide as John Maddog Hall points out at his post for linux magazine: Meeting the President of Brazil at FISL 10 http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/Online/Blogs/Paw-Prints-Writings-of-the-maddog/Meeting-the-President-of-Brazil-at-FISL-10 The translation of the speech can be found here: http://softwarelivre.org/portal/fisl10/lula-s-speech-at-fisl-10-in-english?view=true To add, at this recent interview with Stallman on the current state of GNU/Linux, he mention about his conversation with Lula: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/07/11/neowin-exclusive-stallman-on-the-current-state-of-gnulinux bye, Toya From rafa-el at att.net Fri Jul 17 11:24:38 2009 From: rafa-el at att.net (Rafael Vanoni) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:24:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] SF OpenSolaris UG, July 27th meeting Message-ID: <4A60C1E6.3040908@att.net> Hi folks The San Francisco OpenSolaris User Group is changing its monthly meeting's format to include technical presentations, and we'd like to invite anyone who's interested in hearing about OpenSolaris and some of the new stuff we've been working on to stop by. We're meeting on the 27th at 6pm at 660 3rd St, here's the current line up: OpenSolaris.org Overview (Content/OGB/BootCamp Summary) (Michelle Olson) Installing OSOL on laptop (dual-boot/Vxm/VirtualBox) (Luc) OpenSolaris and Power Management (Rafael Vanoni) How SongBird is put together--for Dummies (Steve Lau) ~15 minutes each, lightning talk-style. We'll head to 21st Amendment around 7pm, after the presentations. If you're interested, please rsvp at http://www.meetup.com/San-Francisco-OpenSolaris-User-Group/calendar/10713456/ Thanks, Rafael From sverma at sfsu.edu Fri Jul 17 11:38:00 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:38:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling In-Reply-To: <1247848061.6557.118.camel@jim-laptop> References: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> <1247848061.6557.118.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <5fb387c70907171138o5019676ahb97ddf266607abbb@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 9:27 AM, jim wrote: > > > sounds right. i can give you a ride from > san francisco down there but not back. i > believe getting to sam trans or cal train > is pretty easy from the show place. > jim > 415 823 4590 my cellphone, call anytime > > > On Fri, 2009-07-17 at 08:55 -0700, ron wellman wrote: > > jim, > > > > I can work wed or thurs but not both. Since you're there a short day > > on wed, perhaps that would be best? > > > > ron > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > I plan on going Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the mornings, and leave around 1:30 or 2pm. I have to be back in SF by 3pm. I can pick up anyone who wants to head there from Daly City BART or SF State (19 & Holloway) Sameer -- Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Information Systems San Francisco State University San Francisco CA 94132 USA http://verma.sfsu.edu/ http://opensource.sfsu.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Fri Jul 17 12:07:07 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:07:07 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Brazil president at FISL10 In-Reply-To: <4A60B898.4020102@linefeed.org> References: <4A60B898.4020102@linefeed.org> Message-ID: <4b5781040907171207h19077eccxf94e15e3e613eb10@mail.gmail.com> hi, This is super-good news! There are pictures of Lula here, just click on the links: http://blog.worldlabel.com/2009/brazilian-president-lula-da-silva-brings-attention-to-free-software.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Jul 17 12:12:30 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:12:30 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] SF OpenSolaris UG, July 27th meeting In-Reply-To: <4A60C1E6.3040908@att.net> References: <4A60C1E6.3040908@att.net> Message-ID: <20090717191230.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Rafael Vanoni (rafa-el at att.net): > Hi folks > > The San Francisco OpenSolaris User Group is changing its monthly > meeting's format to include technical presentations, and we'd like to > invite anyone who's interested in hearing about OpenSolaris and some of > the new stuff we've been working on to stop by. > > We're meeting on the 27th at 6pm at 660 3rd St, here's the current line up: Good to hear about the group, which so far appears to _mostly_ meet on the last Monday of (most) months. Suggestion: Put full details of upcoming meetings near the top of your Web page, and point people to that Web page (not just to something on Meetup.com) within each announcement. Speaking of which, the group's Web page and mailing list are reachable from: http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/sfosug/ If the group actually cares about attracting new attendees, then "read the archives to find out about next month's meeting details" and "This location is shown only to members [of the meetup.com group]" aren't a good way to do it. Other arrogant and presumptuous suggestions: ;-> http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Linux_PR/newlug.html From rafa-el at att.net Fri Jul 17 12:19:05 2009 From: rafa-el at att.net (Rafael Vanoni) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:19:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] SF OpenSolaris UG, July 27th meeting In-Reply-To: <20090717191230.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <4A60C1E6.3040908@att.net> <20090717191230.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4A60CEA9.6080703@att.net> Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Rafael Vanoni (rafa-el at att.net): > >> Hi folks >> >> The San Francisco OpenSolaris User Group is changing its monthly >> meeting's format to include technical presentations, and we'd like to >> invite anyone who's interested in hearing about OpenSolaris and some of >> the new stuff we've been working on to stop by. >> >> We're meeting on the 27th at 6pm at 660 3rd St, here's the current line up: > > Good to hear about the group, which so far appears to _mostly_ meet on > the last Monday of (most) months. > > Suggestion: Put full details of upcoming meetings near the top of your > Web page, and point people to that Web page (not just to something on > Meetup.com) within each announcement. > > Speaking of which, the group's Web page and mailing list are reachable > from: http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/sfosug/ > > If the group actually cares about attracting new attendees, then "read > the archives to find out about next month's meeting details" and "This > location is shown only to members [of the meetup.com group]" aren't a > good way to do it. > > Other arrogant and presumptuous suggestions: ;-> > http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Linux_PR/newlug.html Thank you for the suggestions, I'll pass it along to the leaders :) cheers, Rafael From nbs at sonic.net Fri Jul 17 12:40:00 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:40:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70907171138o5019676ahb97ddf266607abbb@mail.gmail.com> References: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> <1247848061.6557.118.camel@jim-laptop> <5fb387c70907171138o5019676ahb97ddf266607abbb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090717194000.GB23124@sonic.net> On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:38:00AM -0700, Sameer Verma wrote: > > I plan on going Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the mornings, and leave > around 1:30 or 2pm. I have to be back in SF by 3pm. I can pick up anyone > who wants to head there from Daly City BART or SF State (19 & Holloway) FYI, for those interested in staffing the LUG booth, the _expo_ part of OSCON is only Wed & Thur. -bill! From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Fri Jul 17 13:11:53 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:11:53 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BALUG: Tu 2009-07-21 Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions; + other news Message-ID: <20090717131153.84423wlhe23s690k@webmail.rawbw.com> BALUG: Tu 2009-07-21 Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions; + other news Bay Area Linux User Group (BALUG) Tuesday 6:30 P.M. 2009-07-21 Please RSVP if you're planning to come (see further below). For our 2009-07-21 BALUG meeting, we're excited to have Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions[1] Regular Expressions are a highly powerful tool for identifying strings of text of interest (which may then be further manipulated, etc.) Regular Expressions are present in a wide variety of Linux/POSIX/SUS/UNIX/BSD tools, libraries, and languages, much - if not most - of which is Open Source or for which Open Source versions exist. Some examples include ed, grep, egrep, expr, vi, sed, awk, perl, C (libraries), Apache, some shells, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and many others. In this talk, Michael Paoli will give a whirlwind overview of Regular Expressions basics, some of the more advanced and powerful capabilities, comparative overview of how Regular Expressions differ in many of the various places they're implemented, and various interesting bits along the way. Mostly in the contexts of Linux/UNIX systems administration and utility programming, Michael Paoli has been wrangling Regular Expressions for well over 15 years, including perl regular expressions for about a decade. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions So, if you'd like to join us please RSVP: rsvp at balug.org **Why RSVP??** Well, don't worry we won't turn you away, but the RSVPs really help the Four Seas Restaurant plan the meal and they help ensure that we'll be able to eat upstairs in the private banquet room. Meeting Details... 6:30pm Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 2009-07-21 Four Seas Restaurant http://www.fourseasr.com/ 731 Grant Ave. San Francisco, CA 94108 Easy PARKING: Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny http://www.sfpsg.com/ Cost: The meetings are always free, but dinner is $13 After meeting meeting (?) Presuming enough folks want to after the main meeting, those interested may gather at a nearby venue (e.g. pub) for further discussion on, e.g.: o BALUG steering committee (talk about what BALUG wants/needs to do and possible changes, etc.) o stuff one can do to help BALUG o ideas for possible future talks/presentations (got contacts/leads?) o random Linux, etc. topics o yet more regular expression stuff o random networking o insert your topic here :-) miscellaneous note for those paying really close attention - if you earlier heard about or were expecting a "working in the business" type panel discussion that was earlier mentioned for 2009-07-21, that will likely get rescheduled for some future date (encountered too many folks on vacation or otherwise unavailable, and insufficient lead time for 2009-07-21 to make a viable date for the panel discussion). ------------------------------ Additional upcoming BALUG meetings: 2009-08-18 (spearker/presentation to be determined/confirmed) 2009-09-15 Christian Einfeld on: Help yourself by helping the underdog... public schools. (Linux, Open Source, ...) ------------------------------ Feedback on our publicity/announcements (e.g. contacts or lists where we should get our information out that we're not presently reaching, or things we should do differently): publicity-feedback at balug.org http://www.balug.org/ From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Fri Jul 17 13:43:05 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:43:05 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling In-Reply-To: <20090717194000.GB23124@sonic.net> References: <2a0eb8360907170855g3b8de49bqaaa678af8ea2840f@mail.gmail.com> <1247848061.6557.118.camel@jim-laptop> <5fb387c70907171138o5019676ahb97ddf266607abbb@mail.gmail.com> <20090717194000.GB23124@sonic.net> Message-ID: <412180.56071.qm@web82801.mail.mud.yahoo.com> I was originally scheduled to volunteer at OSCon. But, I won't be able to make it. I might actually have work. Oh, CalTrain is about half a block from HPPavilion. When you leave the Millbrae Bart station, you're in the Millbrae CalTrain Station. ________________________________ From: Bill Kendrick To: Sameer Verma Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com; ron wellman Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 12:40:00 PM Subject: Re: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:38:00AM -0700, Sameer Verma wrote: > > I plan on going Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the mornings, and leave > around 1:30 or 2pm. I have to be back in SF by 3pm. I can pick up anyone > who wants to head there from Daly City BART or SF State (19 & Holloway) FYI, for those interested in staffing the LUG booth, the _expo_ part of OSCON is only Wed & Thur. -bill! _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Sat Jul 18 17:20:46 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:20:46 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug meets monday evening from 6 to 8 at cafe enchante Message-ID: <1247962846.6557.219.camel@jim-laptop> sf-lug meets this monday night from 6 PM to 8 PM (or so) at cafe enchante on geary blvd at 25th avenue in san francisco. From wellmanron at gmail.com Sun Jul 19 02:55:35 2009 From: wellmanron at gmail.com (ron wellman) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:55:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon scheduling Message-ID: <2a0eb8360907190255n23493111r1530b1567576334d@mail.gmail.com> the trollies stio in front of HP Center. CalTain is at the old train depot, a number of blocks away, less than 10. maybe the trollies go there now. or it's an easy walk. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Mon Jul 20 07:33:19 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:33:19 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [TAML-WNT] Computer Hardware Chart] Message-ID: <4A64802F.4090506@sfo.com> This might be of interest to people working with hardware. It is mostly connectors and sockets labled as to type/ -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [TAML-WNT] Computer Hardware Chart Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:43:58 +0100 From: Tony Cooke Reply-To: taml at lists.worldnewstrust.com To: Team Amiga (WorldNewsTrust) It`s a large photo collage. http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs49/i/2009/199/8/4/Computer_hardware_poster_1_7_by_Sonic840.png -- Tony Cooke www.tonycooke.snipped.net _______________________________________________ TAML mailing list TAML at lists.worldnewstrust.com http://lists.worldnewstrust.com/listinfo.cgi/taml-worldnewstrust.com later Bobbie Sellers From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Mon Jul 20 16:25:18 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:25:18 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BALUG: REMINDER - TOMORROW!: Tu 2009-07-21 Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions; etc Message-ID: <20090720162518.22312zz2aaxvr6kg@webmail.rawbw.com> BALUG: REMINDER - TOMORROW!: Tu 2009-07-21 Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions; etc Bay Area Linux User Group (BALUG) Tuesday 6:30 P.M. 2009-07-21 Please RSVP if you're planning to come (see further below). For our 2009-07-21 BALUG meeting, we're excited to have Michael Paoli on Regular Expressions[1] Regular Expressions are a highly powerful tool for identifying strings of text of interest (which may then be further manipulated, etc.) Regular Expressions are present in a wide variety of Linux/POSIX/SUS/UNIX/BSD tools, libraries, and languages, much - if not most - of which is Open Source or for which Open Source versions exist. Some examples include ed, grep, egrep, expr, vi, sed, awk, perl, C (libraries), Apache, some shells, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and many others. In this talk, Michael Paoli will give a whirlwind overview of Regular Expressions basics, some of the more advanced and powerful capabilities, comparative overview of how Regular Expressions differ in many of the various places they're implemented, and various interesting bits along the way. Mostly in the contexts of Linux/UNIX systems administration and utility programming, Michael Paoli has been wrangling Regular Expressions for well over 15 years, including perl regular expressions for about a decade. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions So, if you'd like to join us please RSVP: rsvp at balug.org **Why RSVP??** Well, don't worry we won't turn you away, but the RSVPs really help the Four Seas Restaurant plan the meal and they help ensure that we'll be able to eat upstairs in the private banquet room. Meeting Details... 6:30pm Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 2009-07-21 Four Seas Restaurant http://www.fourseasr.com/ 731 Grant Ave. San Francisco, CA 94108 Easy PARKING: Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny http://www.sfpsg.com/ Cost: The meetings are always free, but dinner is $13 After meeting meeting (?) Presuming enough folks want to after the main meeting, those interested may gather at a nearby venue (e.g. pub) for further discussion on, e.g.: o BALUG steering committee (talk about what BALUG wants/needs to do and possible changes, etc.) o stuff one can do to help BALUG o ideas for possible future talks/presentations (got contacts/leads?) o random Linux, etc. topics o yet more regular expression stuff o random networking o insert your topic here :-) Feedback on our publicity/announcements (e.g. contacts or lists where we should get our information out that we're not presently reaching, or things we should do differently): publicity-feedback at balug.org http://www.balug.org/ From jim at well.com Mon Jul 20 22:25:09 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:25:09 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BayPIGgies meeting at OSCON Thursday July 23, 2009: Semantic Apps with cubicweb Message-ID: <1248153909.6642.11.camel@jim-laptop> BayPIGgies meeting at OSCON Thursday July 23, 2009: Semantic Apps with CubicWeb, by Sandrine Ribeau Meetings start with a Newbie Nugget, a short discussion of an essential Python feature, specially for those new to Python. Tonight's Newbie Nugget: Metaclasses, by Almir Karic NOTE: The July 23 BayPIGgies meeting is at OSCON, room B2, at 8:00 PM. Come at 7:00 PM for Wesley Chun's "What Is Python" talk in room B2. You must register to get in: Register to attend OSCON (free registration) https://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/register What's FREE at OSCON? http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/content/free The BayPIGgies meeting is part of the Birds of a Feather program: http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/stype/BoF Info about the BayPIGgies July Meeting http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/10349 Info about "What Is Python", by Wesley Chun, 7:00 PM Thursday July 23, Room B2 http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/10214 LOCATION is at OSCON: San Jose McEnery Convention Center 150 West San Carlos St. San Jose, CA 95113 http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/content/hotel BayPIGgies meeting information is available at http://baypiggies.net/new/plone ------------------------ Agenda ------------------------ ..... 8:00 PM ........................... General hubbub, any first-minute announcements. ..... 8:05 PM to 8:15 PM ................ Newbie Nugget: Metaclasses, by Almir Karic An all around look at metaclasses, covering intro, uses (good and bad), and alternatives. ..... 8:15 PM to 9:00 PM ................ Tonight's talk: Semantic Apps with CubicWeb by Sandrine Ribeau The CubicWeb framework makes a construction game of building semantic web applications that have both a HTML/Ajax rich user interface and a RDF/OWL-based data interface. This talk introduces the design of CubicWeb, focusing on key differences from other frameworks, such as applying views to selections of objects implementing the required interface, multi-database support, migration and versioning for maintenance over several years, and truly reusable components, with examples of integration within the Linked Data cloud, with Google Maps, and with faceted search. ..... 9:00 PM to 9:30 PM ................ Mapping and Random Access Mapping is a rapid-fire audience announcement of topics the announcers are interested in. Random Access follows immediately to allow follow up individually on the announcements and other topics of interest. From jim at well.com Tue Jul 21 10:45:31 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:45:31 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] Message-ID: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Holmes Wilson To: info-member at gnu.org Subject: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it. Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:37:21 -0400 Dear FSF member, Have you seen this story? Last week, Amazon deleted purchased copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from the ebook readers of hundreds of users. Yesterday, FSF's Defective by Design campaign responded by giving the Kindle hundreds of 1-star reviews, but now we need your help. Can you share our campaign on Identi.ca and Reddit? http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248 http://www.reddit.com/r/gnu/comments/93608/amazon_can_delete_your_books/ This occasion marks the relaunch of our Defective by Design Amazon tagging campaign, and we couldn't have picked a better target. New York Times tech writer David Pogue summarizes it best: "This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for?thought they owned .... You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony? The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were '1984' and 'Animal Farm.'" Read more: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248 http://www.reddit.com/r/gnu/comments/93608/amazon_can_delete_your_books/ Amazon's use of DRM and proprietary software gives them total control over the books on every user's Kindle. And the fact that we're talking something as personal as a book on your virtual bookshelf reminds us that basic freedoms we've taken for granted are threatened as soon as we depend on DRM-laden devices and proprietary software. You can join in the action too, helping us save potential Kindle buyers from being Swindled, on Amazon's own site. We'll be tagging the Kindle as "defective by design" and "1984", and we'll be writing persuasive, honest, 1-star reviews. Instructions on how to participate here: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248 Help us reach our goal of 1,984 reviews! Over the coming weeks, we'll be selecting more DRM-infected products for the tags and the 1-star reviews they deserve. We're looking for hot new products, or products that make particularly appalling use of DRM. If you'd like to suggest one, email us at info at defectivebydesign.org. We'd also like to invite you to participate in the campaign. We won't usually be sending these messages to the info-member list, so if you'd like to be part of this ongoing campaign to inform the public and tip the scales against DRM, join the Defective by Design list, here: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/user/register Thanks for your support! Sincerely, John, Matt, Holmes, Sarah, and Peter DRM Elimination Team From nbs at sonic.net Tue Jul 21 12:22:44 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:22:44 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:45:31AM -0700, jim wrote: > Have you seen this story? Last week, Amazon deleted purchased copies of > George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from the ebook readers of hundreds > of users. Yesterday, FSF's Defective by Design campaign responded by > giving the Kindle hundreds of 1-star reviews, but now we need your help. I think the worst story related to this is that of a high school student who had bought '1984' to read for a class assignment. Not ONLY did Amazon end up removing the book from the kid's Kindle, but it ended up wiping out the ANNOTATIONS AND NOTES the kid had been taking!!! In other words, it wasn't just a case of "oops, we shouldn't have sold that to you, here's your 99 cents back," but it actually destroyed the kid's own work. -bill! (Disclaimer: I'm CTO of web-based service that allows authors to publish ebooks, and we don't do any kind of DRM. I don't own a Kindle, and it looks like I never will, at this rate. Yikes.) From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 21 12:29:28 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:29:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] (no subject) Message-ID: <491689.85644.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> hello LUGgers, just another reminder about this weekend's... Tenderloin Tech Fair we'll be demonstrating Linux and installing appropriate distros for people who attend the event. volunteers will be fed - last time we had coffee/donuts in the morning and a pizza lunch. this is a very friendly event, and a great opportunity to evangelize Linux. the event runs for 4 hours mid-day, and we've got an extra two hours before and after to deal with our equipment - we have six stations of Ubuntu-equipped PCs to use for demonstration purposes. please consider coming down for an hour or three to help out! event location: Computer Center, Saint Anthony Foundation 150 Golden Gate Ave [2 blocks from market st.] San Francisco CA 94102 event date: Saturday, July 25th. set up starts at: 8:30am doors will open at: 10:00am event will end at: 2:00pm teardown will end at: 4:00pm Sign ups have begun for the classes, tutoring, tech repair with ReliaTech and Linux meetings for open source software. From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 21 12:31:01 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:31:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! Message-ID: <72297.53662.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> sorry about that, forgot the subject line! > hello LUGgers, > > just another reminder about this weekend's... > > Tenderloin Tech Fair > > we'll be demonstrating Linux and installing appropriate > distros for people who attend the event.? volunteers > will be fed - last time we had coffee/donuts in the morning > and a pizza lunch.? > > this is a very friendly event, and a great opportunity to > evangelize Linux.? the event runs for 4 hours mid-day, > and we've got an extra two hours before and after to deal > with our equipment - we have six stations of Ubuntu-equipped > PCs to use for demonstration purposes. > > please consider coming down for an hour or three to help > out! > > event location: > Computer Center, Saint Anthony Foundation > 150 Golden Gate Ave [2 blocks from market st.] > San Francisco CA 94102 > > event date: > Saturday, July 25th. > > set up starts at: > 8:30am > > doors will open at: > 10:00am > > event will end at: > 2:00pm > > teardown will end at: > 4:00pm > > Sign ups have begun for the classes, tutoring, tech repair > with ReliaTech > and Linux meetings for open source software. > > > > > From peterson.rohen at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 12:48:29 2009 From: peterson.rohen at gmail.com (Rohen Peterson) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:48:29 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> Message-ID: I think one article I read on the issue pointed out that the Amazon system deleted the content automatically once they removed the third-party vendor that was selling licensed content illegally. Amazon stated they were changing their system to prevent this from happening again. I don't believe the issue is purely DRM. Amazon can't sell illegally copied material, with or without DRM. If they are changing their system already, I think the issue may be moot, unless you wanted to raise a larger question of copyright. Think of this as that time you first heard of that person who wrote a make file with a clean option and deleted all of their code. You fix it and move on. Rohen Peterson On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:22, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:45:31AM -0700, jim wrote: > > Have you seen this story? Last week, Amazon deleted purchased copies of > > George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from the ebook readers of hundreds > > of users. Yesterday, FSF's Defective by Design campaign responded by > > giving the Kindle hundreds of 1-star reviews, but now we need your help. > > > I think the worst story related to this is that of a high school student > who had bought '1984' to read for a class assignment. Not ONLY did > Amazon end up removing the book from the kid's Kindle, but it ended > up wiping out the ANNOTATIONS AND NOTES the kid had been taking!!! > > In other words, it wasn't just a case of "oops, we shouldn't have > sold that to you, here's your 99 cents back," but it actually > destroyed the kid's own work. > > -bill! > (Disclaimer: I'm CTO of web-based service that allows authors to publish > ebooks, and we don't do any kind of DRM. I don't own a Kindle, and > it looks like I never will, at this rate. Yikes.) > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 12:51:19 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:51:19 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! In-Reply-To: <72297.53662.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <72297.53662.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907211251s43e8cbf5v94b9de90f7c5b5b6@mail.gmail.com> hi, Please note that this was previously announced as taking place at 460 Golden Gate Avenue. The correct address is as given below in Lx's announcement, at 150 Golden Gate Ave, which is near Jones! On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Lx Rudis wrote: > > > event location: > > Computer Center, Saint Anthony Foundation > > 150 Golden Gate Ave [2 blocks from market st.] > > San Francisco CA 94102 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kevinjsmith+lug at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 12:59:16 2009 From: kevinjsmith+lug at gmail.com (Kevin J. Smith) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:59:16 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! In-Reply-To: <4b5781040907211251s43e8cbf5v94b9de90f7c5b5b6@mail.gmail.com> References: <72297.53662.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <4b5781040907211251s43e8cbf5v94b9de90f7c5b5b6@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Is there a contact person/web site to register for the event, or is it just drop-in? -KJS On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:51 PM, Christian Einfeldt wrote: > > hi, > > Please note that this was previously announced as taking place at 460 Golden Gate Avenue.? The correct address is as given below in Lx's announcement, at 150 Golden Gate Ave, which is near Jones! > > On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Lx Rudis wrote: >> >> > event location: >> > Computer Center, Saint Anthony Foundation >> > 150 Golden Gate Ave [2 blocks from market st.] >> > San Francisco CA 94102 > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Tue Jul 21 13:01:45 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:01:45 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [JOB POSTING] Senior OS Software Engineer, San Mateo, up to $125K Message-ID: <1248206505.6642.78.camel@jim-laptop> Senior OS Software Engineer is a permanent position with our client, a reputable company in San Mateo CA, salary up to $125K. Please review the job below and send your resume. We shall call to discuss more. We are looking for a Senior OS Software Engineer to track, implement and deploy various security related fixes to the Runtime/Operating System. In addition, the candidate would update several components using the Debian Package Management toolset. Ideal candidate would have ? 5 plus years of experience ? Good knowledge of Debian or Ubuntu ? Excellent C/C++ ? experience with large, complex distributed systems ? understanding of Linux kernel ? knowledge of Perl, and shell scripting. Regards, Gnani Balaraman **************************** EthicalSoft Inc. 2570 North First St, Suite 200 San Jose, CA 95131 Phone:408.273.4553 Email:gnani at ethicalsoft.com http://www.ethicalsoft.com ***************************** From einfeldt at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 13:04:03 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:04:03 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! In-Reply-To: References: <72297.53662.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <4b5781040907211251s43e8cbf5v94b9de90f7c5b5b6@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907211304u350cf269hca58c129bf85bd1d@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 12:59 PM, Kevin J. Smith > wrote: > Is there a contact person/web site to register for the event, or is it > just drop-in? I am not aware of a registration page for the event. If people could mention this event on their blogs and Twitter, that would be awesome. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 21 13:10:11 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:10:11 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> Message-ID: <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Rohen Peterson (peterson.rohen at gmail.com): > I don't believe the issue is purely DRM. Amazon can't sell illegally copied > material, with or without DRM. Suppose a bookstore sold you a book. Then, a week later, you find a note on the bookshelf in the living room saying the bookstore determined that the publisher lacked legal rights to publish that book in your country, and therefore had entered your living room during the night to take the book back. On top of the note, you found exact change equalling what you'd spent. (Checking the original receipt, you also found fine print saying that customer premises are considered part of the store, and occasionally books must be removed from the store for various business reasons.) Would you be a bit put out? I would. The bookstore, upon finding out that it's sold some number of customers including me books to which a publisher had lacked legal rights, might have a small tort problem. So might the publisher. However, their seizing the book back from me -- without a court order and some sheriff's deputies to implement it -- strikes me as moderately insane and not to be tolerated. From peterson.rohen at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 13:28:46 2009 From: peterson.rohen at gmail.com (Rohen Peterson) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:28:46 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: Rick, I'm agreeing with much of what you are saying. I just wanted to point out that if Amazon changes their system to prevent reclaiming sold products, the DRM argument doesn't really factor in here. I'm not familiar enough with the Kindle's licensing to argue on if they can legally take the book back or not. Rohen Peterson On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 13:10, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Rohen Peterson (peterson.rohen at gmail.com): > > > I don't believe the issue is purely DRM. Amazon can't sell illegally > copied > > material, with or without DRM. > > Suppose a bookstore sold you a book. Then, a week later, you find a > note on the bookshelf in the living room saying the bookstore determined > that the publisher lacked legal rights to publish that book in your > country, and therefore had entered your living room during the night to > take the book back. On top of the note, you found exact change > equalling what you'd spent. (Checking the original receipt, you also > found fine print saying that customer premises are considered part of > the store, and occasionally books must be removed from the store for > various business reasons.) > > Would you be a bit put out? I would. > > The bookstore, upon finding out that it's sold some number of customers > including me books to which a publisher had lacked legal rights, might > have a small tort problem. So might the publisher. > > However, their seizing the book back from me -- without a court order > and some sheriff's deputies to implement it -- strikes me as moderately > insane and not to be tolerated. > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ttrafford at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 19:32:38 2009 From: ttrafford at gmail.com (Tyler Trafford) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:32:38 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4A667A46.4090906@gmail.com> Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Rohen Peterson (peterson.rohen at gmail.com): > >> I don't believe the issue is purely DRM. Amazon can't sell illegally copied >> material, with or without DRM. > > Suppose a bookstore sold you a book. Then, a week later, you find a > note on the bookshelf in the living room saying the bookstore determined > that the publisher lacked legal rights to publish that book in your > country, and therefore had entered your living room during the night to > take the book back. While Amazon's actions here set a disturbing precedent, what happened here is absolutely nothing like the comparison you are trying to make. The books from Amazon on the Kindle are never owned* by the consumer- all that is bought is really just viewing rights. [*] Otherwise you could sell it to someone else when you were done, which is forbidden by the EULA. -- Tyler Trafford A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals, 1831 From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 21 20:03:20 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:03:20 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [FSF] Amazon, 1984, and what we're doing about it.] In-Reply-To: <4A667A46.4090906@gmail.com> References: <1248198331.6642.62.camel@jim-laptop> <20090721192244.GC30645@sonic.net> <20090721201010.GS26829@linuxmafia.com> <4A667A46.4090906@gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090722030320.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Tyler Trafford (ttrafford at gmail.com): > While Amazon's actions here set a disturbing precedent, what happened > here is absolutely nothing like the comparison you are trying to make. > > The books from Amazon on the Kindle are never owned* by the consumer- > all that is bought is really just viewing rights. Indeed the legal form of the transaction is set up so that the fine print consistently taketh away what the marketing wording and commonsense understanding (i.e., of the concept of "book") seems to promise -- and perhaps the most important long-term lesson is that you haven't actually bought anything that's truly yours in any lasting or reliable sense, when you use this or other DRMed content. In any event, whether retroactively and unilaterally un-selling a file _is_, despite EULAs, compellingly like grabbing a book from someone's living room may be a matter for the courts to decide. If the copyright barons were permitted to ban, for example, First Sale Doctrine rights just through EULA clauses, you can bet they would have. From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Wed Jul 22 12:43:14 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:43:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! Message-ID: <334799.43632.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> hi gang, > Kevin J. Smith > wrote: > > Is there a contact person/web site to register for the > event, yes. ryan at st. anthony's forwarded me this yesterday: "...Below you'll find Kari Gray's website with all the appropriate info for the Tech Fair. http://ctnbayarea.org/content/tenderloin-computer-help-day-one-one-tutoring You can sign up yourself and others from SFLug. Understand, lx, that even if the website indicates that there are no more volunteers needed (meaning we're full) SFLug is still needed. If you or any other SFLug folks can't sign up to volunteer because the website is full, don't worry about the website, you and the SFLug folks will definitely be needed on Saturday the 25th..." thanks, and i hope to see some of you there! i'll be there at 0830 to help set up the six linux stations. if you have even an hour to spare, your show of support will be much appreciated. time it right and you get lunch, too! lx From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Wed Jul 22 15:40:08 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:40:08 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Regular Expressions - materials, etc. from BALUG presentation 2009-07-21 Message-ID: <20090722154008.82884yeh00au5iww@webmail.rawbw.com> I've put up the materials, etc. I used in giving the talk/presentation: http://www.rawbw.com/~mp/unix/regular_expressions/ It may get updated, enhanced, etc. (e.g. already fixed one typo). That was from yesterday's talk/presentation[1] at BALUG[2] footnotes/references: 0. http://www.rawbw.com/~mp/unix/regular_expressions/ 1. http://lists.balug.org/pipermail/balug-announce-balug.org/2009-July/000133.html 2. http://www.balug.org/ From sverma at sfsu.edu Wed Jul 22 16:17:50 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:17:50 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Open Source for America... Message-ID: <5fb387c70907221617y4fbc2399l11be173e1a2ed71@mail.gmail.com> FYI. http://www.opensourceforamerica.org/ Sameer -- Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Information Systems San Francisco State University San Francisco CA 94132 USA http://verma.sfsu.edu/ http://opensource.sfsu.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wellmanron at gmail.com Wed Jul 22 21:13:38 2009 From: wellmanron at gmail.com (ron wellman) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:13:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] oscon report for wednesday Message-ID: <2a0eb8360907222113v1ed7bbdbr1cc27c8b8c76b205@mail.gmail.com> I closed down the booth at 4;30 and have taken the laptops home for safekeeping and for recharging. The crowd was light this afternoon, except duringthe snacking period. There were plenty of volunteers and printed materials. Jim, I gave your pass to Sameer, and he apparently forgot to return it. I will give you mine when you pick up the laptops in the morning. However it does not have the blue stripe to get you into conferences; maybe marcie can help you out. Thanks for everyone's help today! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jstrazza at yahoo.com Wed Jul 22 23:48:35 2009 From: jstrazza at yahoo.com (John F. Strazzarino) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:48:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Looking for a Linux solution to a Windows problem In-Reply-To: <20090722030320.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <135270.67309.qm@web35604.mail.mud.yahoo.com> A friend has a laptop running XP/Pro; the motherboard went bad. He removed the hard drive and put it into a USB external case and plugged that into a Vista Premium machine. He can access all files from the external drive. However, password protected files which were created under the Administrator account under XP/Pro cannot be accessed; even though he signed on as Administrator on the Vista Machine. Is there some Linux software which can remove the password from the files or is there a better solution? John From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 07:15:10 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:15:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] event reminder; july 25- tenderloin tech fair! In-Reply-To: <334799.43632.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <334799.43632.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907230715r37ce4457vcdff2a1afda9090b@mail.gmail.com> hi, I was able to sign up, but as someone says below, please do show up even if there is no more room on the list. Please let the guards know that you are a volunteer, and not a client, so that you don't have to wait in line to get in. Just come right up to the front door at 150 Golden Gate Avenue, and tell them you are a computer volunteer, and they will let you right in. If you have any troubles getting in or finding the place, please feel free to call me at 415-351-1300 and I will try to come down and get you. If you call and I don't answer, it means that I didn't hear my phone, because it can get noisy in there, so please just hang up and call again immediately until I do pick up. Please bring your favorite distros to show off. Please also bring tools for triaging and repairing computers, as we will be assisting with that kind of work. Thanks! On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 12:43 PM, Lx Rudis wrote: > > hi gang, > > > > Kevin J. Smith > > > wrote: > > > > Is there a contact person/web site to register for the > > event, > > yes. ryan at st. anthony's forwarded me this yesterday: > > "...Below you'll find Kari Gray's website with all the appropriate info for > the Tech Fair. > > http://ctnbayarea.org/content/tenderloin-computer-help-day-one-one-tutoring > > You can sign up yourself and others from SFLug. Understand, lx, that even > if the website indicates that there are no more volunteers needed (meaning > we're full) SFLug is still needed. > > If you or any other SFLug folks can't sign up to volunteer because the > website is full, don't worry about the website, you and the SFLug folks > will definitely be needed on Saturday the 25th..." > > thanks, and i hope to see some of you there! i'll be there at 0830 to help > set up the six linux stations. if you have even an hour to spare, your show > of support will be much appreciated. > > time it right and you get lunch, too! > > lx > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 07:34:23 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:34:23 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Looking for a Linux solution to a Windows problem In-Reply-To: <135270.67309.qm@web35604.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20090722030320.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> <135270.67309.qm@web35604.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907230734g63ba7659y570a57cb6151757a@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 11:48 PM, John F. Strazzarino wrote: > > Is there some Linux software which can remove the password from the files > or is there a better solution? > I am a relatively simple end user, but I would guess that using a live CD would allow him to move the files to an external hard drive, where he could move the files to a Linux machine and change the permissions on the Linux machine and access the files from the Linux machine. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 09:38:35 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:38:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! Message-ID: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> hi, Great news. Amazon UK refunded the Microsoft tax on an ASUS machine. Here is the compressed URL for the story: http://bit.ly/4r31q Here is the uncompressed URL: http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/07/21/getting-your-microsoft-tax-refunded-1010-for-amazon-uk/ Please pass along this news! I will be submitting this story to Slashdot and Free Software Daily. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 23 09:52:05 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:52:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com): > Great news. Amazon UK refunded the Microsoft tax on an ASUS machine. Here > is the compressed URL for the story: > > http://bit.ly/4r31q > > Here is the uncompressed URL: > > http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/07/21/getting-your-microsoft-tax-refunded-1010-for-amazon-uk/ A useful story that's ideally documented for posterity. Thanks! -- Rick Moen There was an old man Said with a laugh, "I rick at linuxmafia From Peru, whose lim'ricks all Cut them in half, the pay is .com Looked like haiku. He Much better for two." --Emmet O'Brien From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 10:21:00 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:21:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> hi, > A useful story that's ideally documented for posterity. Thanks! > Rick, did Microsoft alter the EULA in response to the refund efforts? I thought I saw something to that effect on your website, but then I lost the story and I can't find it again: http://linuxmafia.com/refund/coverage.html Thx for being a second pair of eyes. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 23 10:31:30 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:31:30 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com): > Rick, did Microsoft alter the EULA in response to the refund efforts? Not sure. It turned out that there was a great deal of variation, from OEM to OEM and from country to country, in the EULA even at that time. There were rumours that they were dropping the "If you don't accept these terms, you may not use this software and must return it for refund" (paraphrased) language, but I keep seeing it referred to in new cases, so apparently not. From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 11:11:12 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:11:12 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907231111l1ccc0a84k11c2c8fa6c4d3e3a@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com): > > > Rick, did Microsoft alter the EULA in response to the refund efforts? > > Not sure. It turned out that there was a great deal of variation, from > OEM to OEM and from country to country, in the EULA even at that time. > There were rumours that they were dropping the "If you don't accept > these terms, you may not use this software and must return it for > refund" (paraphrased) language, but I keep seeing it referred to in new > cases, so apparently not. Refunds were ordered in Italy: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/07/10/27/1952257/Italian-Judge-Tells-HP-To-Refund-Pre-Installed-XP?art_pos=7 France: http://news.slashdot.org/story/08/05/19/0154224/French-Judge-Orders-Refund-For-Pre-Installed-XP?art_pos=4 and Israel: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/12/03/1949230/Persistence-Pays-Off-With-Israels-First-Windows-Refund?art_pos=1 And the cool thing is that the most recent case of Alan Lord in the UK didn't even involve the courts. Amazon UK just paid up! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 11:29:30 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:29:30 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <4b5781040907231111l1ccc0a84k11c2c8fa6c4d3e3a@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231111l1ccc0a84k11c2c8fa6c4d3e3a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907231129u21ae52beh5c1cf36fafa94ff0@mail.gmail.com> Here is the slashodot firehose story, in case anyone with a Slashdot account would like to vote for the story: http://slashdot.org/submission/1043701/Amazon-UK-refunding-Windows-license-fees -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikkimc at earthlink.net Thu Jul 23 11:39:38 2009 From: mikkimc at earthlink.net (Mikki McGee) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:39:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <4b5781040907231129u21ae52beh5c1cf36fafa94ff0@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231111l1ccc0a84k11c2c8fa6c4d3e3a@mail.gmail.com> <4b5781040907231129u21ae52beh5c1cf36fafa94ff0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A68AE6A.1010102@earthlink.net> Hi all: Does this apply in the United States, Or just in the European Countries and UK? Mikki McGee (thinking of a Asus eee from Amazon) Christian Einfeldt wrote: > Here is the slashodot firehose story, in case anyone with a Slashdot > account would like to vote for the story: > > http://slashdot.org/submission/1043701/Amazon-UK-refunding-Windows-license-fees > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 23 11:44:23 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (nbs) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:44:23 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Photos of the Multi-LUG booth at OSCON 2009 Message-ID: <200907231844.n6NIiNvP031245@bolt.sonic.net> I took a bunch of photos at OSCON, and put many of them up at the LUGOD website just now: http://www.lugod.org/photos/2009.07.22/ If you have any you'd like to share (esp. from today's day of the expo), please send them my way! If I missed listing any booth volunteers, or people to thank, tell me! Also, I took the liberty of hitting _almost_ every other booth in the expo hall, and inviting them to contact the local LUGs if they wanted to set up speaking engagements. (Having Jack DeSlippe's LUG flyer & map to hand out to all of them was very useful. :^) ) -- Bill Kendrick root at lugod.org President Linux Users' Group of Davis http://www.lugod.org/ (Your address: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com ) From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 23 11:44:18 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:44:18 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <4A68AE6A.1010102@earthlink.net> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231021g791caf63pca678c65637c78c2@mail.gmail.com> <20090723173130.GO18928@linuxmafia.com> <4b5781040907231111l1ccc0a84k11c2c8fa6c4d3e3a@mail.gmail.com> <4b5781040907231129u21ae52beh5c1cf36fafa94ff0@mail.gmail.com> <4A68AE6A.1010102@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4b5781040907231144x186f58a8u6432d23bcb4ea161@mail.gmail.com> If you read Alan Lord's blog, and follow all of the steps, you should be able to make it work. On the other hand, there are lots of places that you can get netbooks with Linux pre-installed. Just let this list know if you need help finding those places. One of those places is a store right here in the San Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley) called Zareason.com . I have purchased several machines from ZaReason. They provide good service and they are honest and reliable. c u -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Sat Jul 25 10:56:29 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:56:29 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Reminder, St. Anthony installfest Message-ID: <4b5781040907251056s76f4df55g37772fa922099f19@mail.gmail.com> There is an installfest today at St. Anthony Foundation at 150 Golden Gate Ave between Jones and Leavenworth. It will be happening today until 2 pm, so come on down! Be sure to tell the guard at the door that you are a volunteer, so you don't have to wait in line! Please be sure to bring your screwdrivers and needlenose pliers! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Tue Jul 28 09:56:49 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:56:49 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [JOB POSTING] LAMP software engineer in SF $100K to $130K Message-ID: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> [JOB] Lead LAMP Developer, San Francisco | 100-130k This is a full time, on-site, salaried position located in San Francisco. Locals only please. One of the most admired and respected publishing companies in the U.S., our client was founded in 1967 and over the years has developed a reputation for award-winning, innovative books. The company continues to challenge conventional publishing wisdom, setting trends in both subject and format, maintaining a list that includes fine art titles in design, art, architecture, and photography. They are looking for a seasoned software engineer with strong LAMP skills to join its new technology team. The Lead Developer will be developing and extending internal content management systems, building new applications, and doing extensive database design. Responsibilities will range from working with business leaders to define requirements, to managing the launch process and many tasks in between. This is a challenging position requiring in-depth knowledge of LAMP technologies, as well as a strong command of CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. The job is based in San Francisco. OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES: . Designing and developing new applications or enhancements current system . Developing multi-dimensional taxonomic search applications . Developing frameworks for flowing user-generated content into a dynamic website . Helping to refine the technical architecture of the site and the applications developed for the site . Investigating new web technologies and determining their role in the business . Working with product management team to identify promising new technologies and developing proofs-of-concept . Serving as development lead on projects involving contract development teams . Refining business requirements for new site features, and working with editorial team to enhance site usability REQUIRED: . Expert-level proficiency in PHP. Familiarity with Zen Cart a strong plus . Expert-level proficiency in JavaScript. JQuery a strong plus . Active working knowledge of AJAX . Deep applied knowledge of XML, XSLT, SOAP/REST, CSS, DHTML, and XHTML . Solid understanding of Apache 1.3 and 2.0 operations and integration in a Linux/Unix environment . Development experience with the MySQL platform. Exposure to database clustering required DESIRED: . Experience in coding within a Python/Django framework and/or Java a strong plus . Experience with coding iPhone-friendly applications a strong plus . Experience "writing for the cloud" a strong plus . Experience with Endeca or other enterprise search technologies a strong plus To be considered, please submit your resume and your salary requirements to beau-AT-open-source-staffing.com Thank you, Beau J. Gould Open Source Staffing www.open-source-staffing.com beau-AT-open-source-staffing.com PHP & MySQL Discussion / Jobs http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1958013 IT Management Conference: http://www.ManageIT.me - Learn from the Greatest Minds in IT! Creators of MySQL & PHP + Gary Vaynerchuk + Chief-Execs at IBM, Forbes, HBO, GE, AIG, Citigroup, more! From tigakub at mac.com Tue Jul 28 10:47:42 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:47:42 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. Thank you all for your time. -edj Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 11:03:16 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:03:16 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090728180315.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? 65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% phosphorus, 0.35% potassium, 0.25% sulphur, 0.15% sodium, and 0.05% magnesium, the remaining 0.7% being a mixture of copper, zinc, selenium, molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, manganese, cobalt, and iron, plus trace amounts of lithium, strontium, aluminum, silicon, lead, vanadium, arsenic, and bromine. (Reference: H. A. Harper, V. W. Rodwell, P. A. Mayes, _Review of Physiological Chemistry_, 16th ed., Lange Medical Publications, Los Altos, CA 1977.) -- Rick Moen There was an old man Said with a laugh, "I rick at linuxmafia From Peru, whose lim'ricks all Cut them in half, the pay is .com Looked like haiku. He Much better for two." --Emmet O'Brien From andrewevansc at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:03:10 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:03:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: Answer 1: I would say without a doubt that which brings us together more than anything else is our dislike for the proprietary Windows operating system (see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ ) . Second, our collective identity is formed through our lust for free and open source baller software that makes the world go 'round. Andrew P.S. Am I supposed to CC the list or should that go in the TO part...? On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Edward Janne wrote: > Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the > Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum > I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San > Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is > how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories > of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I > will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong > answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. > Thank you all for your time. > > -edj > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From peterson.rohen at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:06:17 2009 From: peterson.rohen at gmail.com (Rohen Peterson) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:06:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: I'd go with someone that uses Linux semi-regularly with the ability to log in into the system and perform all tasks they need to perform, which the exception of those dependent on non-Linux software/supported hardware. Oh, and they do this willingly. Rohen Peterson On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 10:47, Edward Janne wrote: > Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the > Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum > I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San > Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is > how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories > of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I > will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong > answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. > Thank you all for your time. > > -edj > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 11:07:50 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:07:50 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > Answer 1: I would say without a doubt that which brings us together more > than anything else is our dislike for the proprietary Windows operating > system (see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ ) . Microsoft-bashing, how very quaint. Doesn't have a damned thing to do with Linux, though. From andrewevansc at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:15:55 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:15:55 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has ANYTHING to do with Linux?! Wow. The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". Tell a Linux guru that she's gotta set up an open source cart on Windows IIS server, and watch their reaction. It's usually not a big smile... On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > Answer 1: I would say without a doubt that which brings us together more > > than anything else is our dislike for the proprietary Windows operating > > system (see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ ) . > > Microsoft-bashing, how very quaint. > > Doesn't have a damned thing to do with Linux, though. > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Blake.Haggerty at Sapphire.com Tue Jul 28 11:17:50 2009 From: Blake.Haggerty at Sapphire.com (Blake Haggerty) Date: 28 Jul 2009 14:17:50 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? Message-ID: <1236154380.1248805070200.JavaMail.cfservice@webserver72> I'd say its somebody who enjoys taking things apart, putting them back together, taking a look at the "guts" of things, building something of there own rather than purchasing the stores product. Some who likes to show off a little and say "look what I just did". Typically I think Linux people are not satisfied with what is availalbe on the commercial markets and they like to change, build and hack things to fit their needs, whether that be an operating system or a flash light. Blake Haggerty Permanent Placement Specialist Sapphire Technologies U.S., a Randstad company 27 Maiden Lane San Francisco, CA 94108 (p) (415) 788-8488 (f) (415) 788-2592 www.sapphirena.com -----Original Message----- From:Edward Janne tigakub at mac.com To: "sf-lug at linuxmafia.com" ; Sent: Jul 28, 2009 10:48:33 AM Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. Thank you all for your time. -edj Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 11:21:13 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:21:13 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090728182112.GV26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ Andrew makes a point, though probably not the point he had in mind: The "LinuxKong image by Carol Benioff, concept by John Lowry" thing on SF-LUG's Web page is, IMO, imaginative and nicely drawn but unfortunate in theme: It suggests that Linux is about (presumably metaphorical) warfare against a legacy proprietary operating system. It is not, and I personally rather resent getting lumped along with the behaviour of people who never outgrew software-advocacy, which is a disease of the zero-sum proprietary software world. I would suggest that it'd be nice if SF-LUG could, at some point, re-do that logo with a less embarrassing conception of some sort. From slash5toaster at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:22:22 2009 From: slash5toaster at gmail.com (Clyde Jones) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:22:22 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <294686ad0907281122n451253f9j14e2714df15538e2@mail.gmail.com> On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:15, Andrew E wrote: > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! Wow. The questioner details that they are > interested in "group identity". Tell a Linux guru that she's gotta set up an > open source cart on Windows IIS server, and watch their reaction. It's > usually not a big smile... > Bah - any sysadmin will just balk at having to do work. I agree with Rick, once you get past the chest thumping and flag-waving, it's just a tool. I run Debian at home cause it does what I need. I run things on Windows at work because that is what is needed; I run other things on Solaris cause that's what's best for that function. I want a choice of tools. -- We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. -Buddha From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:24:22 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:24:22 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907281124sd9a5a1bs258fc30e2bc81899@mail.gmail.com> Ask 10 Linux users this question and you'll get 14 different answers. I believe Rick's answer here, Andrew, points to the chemical makeup of humans, but bear in mind that I failed biology three times in college. A true Linux user is one who truly uses Linux. Next question . . . [although forgive me for my morbid curiosity regarding where this questionnaire may be heading] Larry Cafiero On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Andrew E wrote: > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! Wow. The questioner details that they are > interested in "group identity". Tell a Linux guru that she's gotta set up an > open source cart on Windows IIS server, and watch their reaction. It's > usually not a big smile... > > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > >> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): >> >> > Answer 1: I would say without a doubt that which brings us together more >> > than anything else is our dislike for the proprietary Windows operating >> > system (see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ ) . >> >> Microsoft-bashing, how very quaint. >> >> Doesn't have a damned thing to do with Linux, though. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Tue Jul 28 11:25:14 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:25:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair Message-ID: <234890.47223.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> g'day luggers: as usual, the St. Anthony's Tech Fair was a success, and they continue to support and celebrate our involvement in the Computer Lab. we were mentioned several times during the volunteer introductions and imvho we are _very_ well thought of by this group! BIG THANKS to Christian who came in at 0830 to help me set up our small demo station, and also stayed for the duration. we had several interesting visitors [including one of the main guys behind Ubuntu California LoCo], got about four people to sign up for the SF-LUG list and we distributed 5 'UCLoCo' copies of Xubuntu to interested users. the overall feel of the day was relaxed - it was more like an SF-LUG meeting than problem solving - most of our guests were experienced Linux users, and the remainder were there to experience the ease of using Ubuntu - one user spent most of his visit using firefox to study paleontology sites, but accepted an Xubuntu disc at the end of it. our group discussion centered on fairly geeky stuff - virtualization using Xen and other systems came up several times. as with last time, we were well fed, with nuts, fruit and pastry breakfast in the morning, pizza in the afternoon. future plans: i've been invited to start making a regular presence at St. Anthony's, and have volunteered to do two 4 hour on-sites per month. right now i'm working out what those days will be, and i'll report back as soon as the date/times are confirmed - as with the tech fair, i'd love to see SF-LUGgers involved in this project. initially, i'll just be inventorying and maintaining our small fleet of Ubuntu machines - 9 complete systems. eventually i hope to add a couple of 'older' machines with smaller distros. ryan [St. Anthony's onsite Lab manager] and i will be setting up a couple of dual-boot machines for their drop-in computer lab, this will likely happen about 4 weeks from now. we're still putting together details on how we'll run this test, but our intent is to eventually install Ubuntu on _all_ their machines down there, effectively making their entire fleet dual-boot. ryan has reported to me that an increasing number of their clients are using Ubuntu and other distros. it's his opinion that these people will make it a point to come in if they know another Linux person is on-site. if this happens, we'll either establish a "St. Anthony's LUG" or announce a 'third monthly meeting' for SF-LUg. more reports as things of interest occur. if any of this interests _you_ and you have any ideas for this project, please drop me a line! lx From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 11:26:18 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:26:18 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! I'd explain the joke, but unfortunately that tends to destroy the humour value. For others, presumably. > The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". I'm guessing that my calling into question the fundamental assumptions behind the questionnaire's design and wording went right over your head. > Tell a Linux guru.... Oh, _do_ tell me all about Linux gurus. This'll be good, I'm sure. From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:27:38 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:27:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <294686ad0907281122n451253f9j14e2714df15538e2@mail.gmail.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <294686ad0907281122n451253f9j14e2714df15538e2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907281127q48249cc9ya493037dc9916ced@mail.gmail.com> Well, let's just see where this is heading . . . . On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Clyde Jones wrote: > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:15, Andrew E wrote: > > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has > > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! Wow. The questioner details that they are > > interested in "group identity". Tell a Linux guru that she's gotta set up > an > > open source cart on Windows IIS server, and watch their reaction. It's > > usually not a big smile... > > > Bah - any sysadmin will just balk at having to do work. I agree with > Rick, once you get past the chest thumping and flag-waving, it's just > a tool. > > I run Debian at home cause it does what I need. I run things on > Windows at work because that is what is needed; I run other things on > Solaris cause that's what's best for that function. > > I want a choice of tools. > > -- > We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With > our thoughts, we make the world. > -Buddha > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Tue Jul 28 11:31:35 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:31:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <4A6F4407.4030405@sfo.com> Edward Janne wrote: > Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at > the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my > curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to > study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The > theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through > ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or > dislikes. To gather this data I will post a series of questions to the > mailing list. There are no wrong answers. My aim is to understand > group identity from your point of view. Thank you all for your time. > > -edj > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? Use of GNU/LInux among any other possible qualifiers. The user of Linux does not have to have great technical knowledge but is willing to find out how to use those open source tools to the best of their ability. IMO later Bobbie Sellers From peterson.rohen at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:37:05 2009 From: peterson.rohen at gmail.com (Rohen Peterson) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:37:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <4A6F4407.4030405@sfo.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <4A6F4407.4030405@sfo.com> Message-ID: I think this question might need to be modified to "What are the characteristics of a Linux user?" Does this sound about right? Rohen Peterson On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:31, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > Edward Janne wrote: > >> Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the >> Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum >> I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San >> Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is >> how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories >> of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I >> will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong >> answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. >> Thank you all for your time. >> >> -edj >> >> Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? >> > > Use of GNU/LInux among any other possible qualifiers. > The user of Linux does not have to have great technical knowledge but is > willing > to find out how to use those open source tools to the best of their > ability. > > IMO > later > Bobbie Sellers > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrewevansc at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:38:47 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:38:47 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has > > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! > > I'd explain the joke, but unfortunately that tends to destroy the humour > value. For others, presumably. > > > The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". > > I'm guessing that my calling into question the fundamental assumptions > behind the questionnaire's design and wording went right over your head. > > > Tell a Linux guru.... > > Oh, _do_ tell me all about Linux gurus. This'll be good, I'm sure. > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kevinjsmith+lug at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:45:34 2009 From: kevinjsmith+lug at gmail.com (Kevin J. Smith) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:45:34 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: (Dons Nomex suit) On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Andrew E wrote: > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? > > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > >> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): >> >> > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has >> > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! >> >> I'd explain the joke, but unfortunately that tends to destroy the humour >> value. For others, presumably. >> >> > The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". >> >> I'm guessing that my calling into question the fundamental assumptions >> behind the questionnaire's design and wording went right over your head. >> >> > Tell a Linux guru.... >> >> Oh, _do_ tell me all about Linux gurus. This'll be good, I'm sure. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:47:54 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:47:54 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907281147md49bdd9u372c666f0b3cd049@mail.gmail.com> Allow me to go out on a limb and make the brazen assumption that the questioner takes into account that the hostility and righteousness in question (and it is questionable) is not necessarily a quality unique to Linux users; possibly it's one that is shared with, oh I don't know, humanity in general? Sadly, the speed to which discussions like this degenerate, arguably, might be a, ahem, "quality" I sure would like to hear the next question . . . . On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Andrew E wrote: > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? > > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > >> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): >> >> > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has >> > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! >> >> I'd explain the joke, but unfortunately that tends to destroy the humour >> value. For others, presumably. >> >> > The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". >> >> I'm guessing that my calling into question the fundamental assumptions >> behind the questionnaire's design and wording went right over your head. >> >> > Tell a Linux guru.... >> >> Oh, _do_ tell me all about Linux gurus. This'll be good, I'm sure. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jackofnotrades at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 11:48:42 2009 From: jackofnotrades at gmail.com (Jeff Bragg) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:48:42 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <2f8a56f70907281148x40cfd6ecnc523b55eff702e90@mail.gmail.com> @Andrew E: How about we leave the ad hominem attack behind and focus on helping the original questioner with his project. You don't have to like or agree with Rick, but he is faithfully debating the point without resorting to flawed logical premises. You registered your answer with the questioner, now please keep your flame wars off-channel, because I really don't give a damn about it. For the record, I agree with Rick's original answer (the implications of which should by now be obvious). On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Andrew E wrote: > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? > > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > >> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): >> >> > LOL!!!! And your chemistry answer of elements and their percentages has >> > ANYTHING to do with Linux?! >> >> I'd explain the joke, but unfortunately that tends to destroy the humour >> value. For others, presumably. >> >> > The questioner details that they are interested in "group identity". >> >> I'm guessing that my calling into question the fundamental assumptions >> behind the questionnaire's design and wording went right over your head. >> >> > Tell a Linux guru.... >> >> Oh, _do_ tell me all about Linux gurus. This'll be good, I'm sure. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 11:59:17 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:59:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090728185917.GX18928@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? Oh-oh! You forgot to call me arrogant. Which I'm pretty sure puts your OS-advocacy licence for non-sequitur personal attacks at risk, as I'm quite sure that's a mandatory component. (I can't help noticing that you refer to me as a Linux user, presumably in contrast to you. Indeed, sonny, been using it as the foundation of my computing since '93, including to provide this mailing list facility to SF-LUG. Yr. welcome.) From andrewevansc at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 12:09:57 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:09:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728185917.GX18928@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728185917.GX18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: I am currently writing from a Windows machine, so you got me there. I am 25, so you probably have a couple decades on me. You've used Linux a lot longer than me and I'm sure you could school me on scripts any day. And just because I make more money than you doesn't give me the right to criticize, so I will respectfully withhold my comments until the next exhilarating question. And yes, thank you for your services hosting this, etc. On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? > > Oh-oh! You forgot to call me arrogant. Which I'm pretty sure puts your > OS-advocacy licence for non-sequitur personal attacks at risk, as I'm > quite sure that's a mandatory component. > > (I can't help noticing that you refer to me as a Linux user, presumably > in contrast to you. Indeed, sonny, been using it as the foundation of my > computing since '93, including to provide this mailing list facility to > SF-LUG. Yr. welcome.) > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From david at sterryit.com Tue Jul 28 12:13:14 2009 From: david at sterryit.com (david at sterryit.com) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:13:14 +0000 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? Message-ID: <1109835814-1248808393-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1957648157-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> I think a linux user is best characterized by their ability to recognize power and utility as separate from familiarity. We constantly spend time learning new programs and configuration techniques that give us more power to do what we want. An extension of this is recognition of new licensing regimes that allow us to cooperatively build and maintain a massive amount of free software. Using free software licenses we are able to develop and service what the largest and most powerful software companies increasingly cannot. Thanks for the question. Next? ------Original Message------ From: Rick Moen Sender: sf-lug-bounces at linuxmafia.com To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? Sent: Jul 28, 2009 11:59 AM Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? Oh-oh! You forgot to call me arrogant. Which I'm pretty sure puts your OS-advocacy licence for non-sequitur personal attacks at risk, as I'm quite sure that's a mandatory component. (I can't help noticing that you refer to me as a Linux user, presumably in contrast to you. Indeed, sonny, been using it as the foundation of my computing since '93, including to provide this mailing list facility to SF-LUG. Yr. welcome.) _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T From maiwurd at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 12:14:39 2009 From: maiwurd at gmail.com (mai wurd) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:14:39 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 26 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: 1. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? As can be seen by the responses to your inquiry. . . we are smart sometimes elitist and in need of displaying this whenever we can. Hence the quest to exhibit knowledge having nothing to do with what makes a Linux user a Linux user. Not to digress --- A Linux user tends to have been in youth the ones who took everything apart to see how it works. Later having determined how some things work asked ourselves how can we make it do ???? something that may not have been its' original objective. Now we have an almost infinite option for configuration in our OS [Linux] WooooHoooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 12:00 PM, wrote: > Send sf-lug mailing list submissions to > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > sf-lug-owner at linuxmafia.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of sf-lug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? > (Rick Moen) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:59:17 -0700 > From: Rick Moen > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true > Linux user? > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: <20090728185917.GX18928 at linuxmafia.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > Questioner: notice the hostility and righteousness. Maybe that's an > > occasional quality of a Linux user? Stuck up nerd? > > Oh-oh! You forgot to call me arrogant. Which I'm pretty sure puts your > OS-advocacy licence for non-sequitur personal attacks at risk, as I'm > quite sure that's a mandatory component. > > (I can't help noticing that you refer to me as a Linux user, presumably > in contrast to you. Indeed, sonny, been using it as the foundation of my > computing since '93, including to provide this mailing list facility to > SF-LUG. Yr. welcome.) > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > End of sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 26 > ************************************** > -- Always think about positive affirmations before going to sleep. This spirit guides our subconscious as we sleep and creates our reality. Giving thanks, for that which has not happened yet, allows a spirit/life pattern to manifest in our lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jackofnotrades at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 12:23:45 2009 From: jackofnotrades at gmail.com (Jeff Bragg) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:23:45 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728185917.GX18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <2f8a56f70907281223x7b3142bei2fdb07ebadbfd349@mail.gmail.com> > And just because I make more money than you doesn't give me the right to > criticize You seem to make a lot of assumptions. Again, please, keep it off-channel. This kind of commentary (from any side) is really just adding noise, and I'm getting sick of feeling like I'm sitting in a junior high class. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From x351912 at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 12:27:18 2009 From: x351912 at gmail.com (ted) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:27:18 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 26 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1248809238.3265.1.camel@unknown> > 1. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? > (Rick Moen) Can we skip the the part where one party calls the other party Hitler? I am a true linux user. I use linux at home and at the office. Ted (not a linux guru) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 197 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 12:53:58 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:53:58 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090728195358.GW26829@linuxmafia.com> Taking a more direct swing at the question posed: Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? "Mu." Your question cannot rightly be answered as posed, because it rests on incorrect assumptions. (http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/mu.html) The concept of "true Linux user" comes across as assuming that Linux is necessarily some sort of ideological cause. This is not the case, and I for one am really, really, _really_ tired of visitors assuming that it is -- though the attitude has, thankfully, been refreshingly rare since (1) the 1998 Netscape open-sourcing, (2) the shipment of Linux versions of almost all SQL databases a couple of months later, and (3) the revelation that corporate usage (among other places) of Linux and open source was already very high and that they'd just not been telling the truth about it. So: As several people have commented, Linux (meaning both the kernel and the various distributions built on it) is a tool. It has practical value that benefits from long-term reliability on account of developer culture, architecture, and legal considerations involving licensing. There are undoubtedly a huge variety of other reasons some people profess to like it, and reasons why other people profess to dislike it, including ideology (daft as that might be) or even liking or disliking the colour of disc that it came on. I.e., your notion of "group identity" in this context, of shared normative values, is highly questionable. Would you approach a bunch of users of Milwaukee Tools Sawzalls, and ask them what a "true Sawzall user" is, and what their "group identity" is like? They'd look at you like you might be a little strange. Like the Sawzall, Linux (distribution or kernel) is a powerful tool.[1] Unlike the Sawzall, Linux is far, far more complex and flexible in application; hence, you find Linux user groups and not Sawzall ones. Therefore, imagine me looking at you like you might be a little strange. But perhaps you'd like to reconsider the basis of your question. [1] It also has, more famously, been compared to Milwaukee's Hole-Hawg: http://eccentric.cx/linux_hawg.pdf From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Tue Jul 28 14:03:41 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:03:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <40549.13901.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Based on the emails exchanged, I wonder if a lack of social skills might be apart of the identity. ________________________________ From: Edward Janne To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:47:42 AM Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. Thank you all for your time. -edj Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Tue Jul 28 14:17:02 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:17:02 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <40549.13901.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <40549.13901.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20090728211702.GB12322@sonic.net> On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 02:03:41PM -0700, vincent polite wrote: > Based on the emails exchanged, I wonder if a lack of social skills might > be apart of the identity. No, that's simply "what's a true internet mailing list subscriber?" ;) I have a true Linux user at home. He's just over 2.5 years old, and he uses our Roku Netflix Player (which happens to be a Linux-based device) to watch Pink Panther and Kipper Cartoons, and Thomas the Tank Engine. One of his first discoveries on the Roku, though, was the original Star Trek, complete season 1. So, unsurprisingly, he's also already a Star Trek fan. (Plus, I occasionally let him bang on my laptop to play with Tux Paint, but he's still a bit young to be trusted with $1000 equipment.) -bill! (who now officially has more Linux _devices_ in the house than Linux computers: two laptops vs Tivo, Netflix Player, NAS and GP2X. Maybe the router, too, not sure. Don't care. I just want things to work.) From tigakub at mac.com Tue Jul 28 14:17:37 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:17:37 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is concerned, there are no wrong answers. All points of view are valuable. No response is wrong, including those that question my approach or motivations. It is really about trying to see things from your subjective points of view and how they relate to group identity (in so far as one can be said to exist). I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real names, or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my questions) in my paper unless you specifically give me permission to do so. I will use names picked at random. If you would prefer I use your real name or any other identifier, please let me know. I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be an aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a "participant- observer". That basically means that I have to acknowledge to myself that I cannot expect to be entirely impartial, and that by my very presence in the group, I will affect group dynamic to some degree. That's ok as long as I try my best to keep that to a minimum. Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first one if you like. -edj Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? From nbs at sonic.net Tue Jul 28 14:23:41 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:23:41 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090728212341.GC12322@sonic.net> On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 02:17:37PM -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? (1) Disgust at the poor design of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, and hatred for the latter due to incredible frustration using it on a friend's laptop, and losing work. (2) Inability afford Mac. (3) Inability to program games on Windows or Mac, but figuring it out (via X-Window) on Solaris at school. Discovery that "some 'Red Hat' thing" lets you run Linux on a comodity PC. Ability afford a used P133 for $300, right after graduating from college with a CS degree. (4) Haven't looked back. (Except some WinXP at a recent job, which was just horrid, and nearly as frustrating as Win95 was back in the late 1990s.) Go hooked on the Open Source / Free Software ideals, the ability to cheaply utilize hardware, and the communities I've become part of (and/or founded[*]) [*] I'm partially to blame for the creation of http://www.lugod.org/ & almost entirely to blame for http://www.tuxpaint.org/ (The latter was also formed thanks to the former. ;^) ) -- -bill! Sent from my computer From bliss at sfo.com Tue Jul 28 15:10:46 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:10:46 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4A6F7766.6010705@sfo.com> Edward Janne wrote: > Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is > concerned, there are no wrong answers. All points of view are > valuable. No response is wrong, including those that question my > approach or motivations. It is really about trying to see things from > your subjective points of view and how they relate to group identity > (in so far as one can be said to exist). > > I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real > names, or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my > questions) in my paper unless you specifically give me permission to > do so. I will use names picked at random. If you would prefer I use > your real name or any other identifier, please let me know. > > I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be > an aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a > "participant-observer". That basically means that I have to > acknowledge to myself that I cannot expect to be entirely impartial, > and that by my very presence in the group, I will affect group dynamic > to some degree. That's ok as long as I try my best to keep that to a > minimum. > > Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first > one if you like. > > -edj > > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? My friends (some of them at least) on Team Amiga Mailing List were starting to use Linux and one sent me copies of the ISO files so that I could use a Windows laptop since deceased to make Linux installation disks. I had been an Amiga User and the company Commodore Business Machines was ruined by the owner so there would be no more new Amiga computers and mine had started to wear out. later Bobbie Sellers From peterson.rohen at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 15:11:08 2009 From: peterson.rohen at gmail.com (Rohen Peterson) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:11:08 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: Question #2: I heard about Linux and decided to check it out by diving in head first. I found out it was easier to manage my C and Java coding, applications for everything were free and fairly good, and I got interested by messing around with a new type of toy. I got addicted to the options, the security, the infatuation with the ability to fix software bugs myself. Rohen Peterson On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 14:17, Edward Janne wrote: > Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is concerned, > there are no wrong answers. All points of view are valuable. No response is > wrong, including those that question my approach or motivations. It is > really about trying to see things from your subjective points of view and > how they relate to group identity (in so far as one can be said to exist). > > I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real names, > or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my questions) in > my paper unless you specifically give me permission to do so. I will use > names picked at random. If you would prefer I use your real name or any > other identifier, please let me know. > > I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be an > aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a "participant-observer". That > basically means that I have to acknowledge to myself that I cannot expect to > be entirely impartial, and that by my very presence in the group, I will > affect group dynamic to some degree. That's ok as long as I try my best to > keep that to a minimum. > > Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first one > if you like. > > -edj > > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 15:14:38 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:14:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is > concerned, there are no wrong answers. All points of view are valuable. > No response is wrong, including those that question my approach or > motivations. However, in the name of saving wastes of time and trouble, please consider asking only questions not founded in erroneous assumptions. In my experience, most people here are generous with their free time, but need to expend it where it will do the most good. > I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real > names, or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my > questions) in my paper unless you specifically give me permission to do > so. I deliberately put my real name and e-mail address at the bottom of everything I say online for a good reason: If I'm willing to say it at all, then I'm willing to stand behind it by name. So, yes, if you quote me, please do use my real name. > I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be an > aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a "participant-observer". That > basically means that I have to acknowledge to myself that I cannot expect > to be entirely impartial, and that by my very presence in the group, I > will affect group dynamic to some degree. Hey, there's a long history of that, e.g., when the Samoans played pranks on Margaret Meade because they thought she was a credulous prat, and she reported them as real research results. ;-> > Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first > one if you like. > > -edj > > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? Hey, Edward, shouldn't you be conducting this survey _off_ the mailing list? I mean, you're "affecting group dynamic" in the sense of basically taking over the mailing list to run your survey _on the list_. Traditionally, students seeking to get Linux user group participation on a survey put up a Web form somewhere and ask members to take the quiz _there_. From chinku.linux at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 15:09:50 2009 From: chinku.linux at gmail.com (chaitanya mehandru) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:39:50 +0530 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <24b40b2b0907281509we0ed4c8w3b45ef3c21f010c@mail.gmail.com> I became a linux user in a way similar to when someone joins a university-- I mean we are among intellectual people and then we start trying new things and get interested more once we get to know about them. In addition, I recently wrote a paper on Power/Performance benefits of using Linux and open-source software on Mobile Internet Devices and exploring newer usage models. I have been using linux for 2years now and want to keep adding years to it.....Linux is amazing to me!!! On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 2:47 AM, Edward Janne wrote: > Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is concerned, > there are no wrong answers. All points of view are valuable. No response is > wrong, including those that question my approach or motivations. It is > really about trying to see things from your subjective points of view and > how they relate to group identity (in so far as one can be said to exist). > > I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real names, > or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my questions) in > my paper unless you specifically give me permission to do so. I will use > names picked at random. If you would prefer I use your real name or any > other identifier, please let me know. > > I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be an > aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a "participant-observer". That > basically means that I have to acknowledge to myself that I cannot expect to > be entirely impartial, and that by my very presence in the group, I will > affect group dynamic to some degree. That's ok as long as I try my best to > keep that to a minimum. > > Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first one > if you like. > > -edj > > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pmpope at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 16:44:04 2009 From: pmpope at gmail.com (PMPope) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:44:04 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4A6F8D44.3020800@gmail.com> as you areDear Mr. Janne, elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users,as you are, I am thrilled you have come to examine us. Yet also to put yourself to task, as we say, and you, yourself so aptly state: /but to be a> "participant-observer" / Please go here first: GNU GPL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html) & RTFM, as LXers must often do the same. This isn't because, poor beasts that we are, we have forgotten what we have read yesterday. The innovations distributed inside the non-proprietary & Open Source w0rld of LX & FSF & Mozilla (did you notice how they all seem to meld into an intoxicating concoction?) are far more dynamic than those of the corporate overlords, who bequeath updates and patches like handing out 'Scooby snacks' (i realize I may be dating myself with that one;^). Here is an info page: http://www.linux.org/info/ & here the Debian page: http://www.debian.org {One of my personal faves} But don't feel like you NEED to use that one {It's an acquired taste}. You can use ANY distro you like: http://distrowatch.com OR get some news about various distros http://www.distrowatch.net & if all of this is somehow TOO OVERWHELMING you could simply come back to this SF-Lug or any Lug (Worldwide) and ask for some more or different help, in any language you could possibly speak. We're here for ya, pal. This is called community. Peace PMPope -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 17:32:40 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:32:40 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> 1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire? 2. As long as you're plowing onward: Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether you are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or why. The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former one, i.e., that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why on earth would you want to know? What possible use would you (or your professor) have for that information? Don't you also need to know _when_? If you do, why don't you say so? And, actually, the question also fails to say what you mean by "become a Linux user". Do you mean "used a shell account on a Linux machine"? Do you mean "installed a Linux distribution"? Do you mean "used in any way a device that runs Linux"? Hundreds of millions of people use devices that run Linux, including all TiVo users, all Palm Pre users, all Google G1 users, all Motorola RAZRv6 users, all users of the Google search engine, users of many and perhaps most of the world's Web servers, and pretty much anyone who's used software that's done DNS queries. Among others. I first became _aware_ of being at that moment running processes on a Linux machine in 1992, when I logged into a shell account on a friend's experimental machine. I first constructed (i.e., software-loaded) a Linux machine in 1993, using downloaded copies of H.J. Liu's boot and root floppy images for constructing such systems. From tigakub at mac.com Tue Jul 28 18:41:35 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:41:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> On Jul 28, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > 1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire? I have six further questions. Some one suggested I post them one at a time, but perhaps in the interests of brevity I should simply post them all at once. But I should like to wait to see if others feel this research is too disruptive. > 2. As long as you're plowing onward: > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > >> Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether > you > are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or > why. > The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former > one, i.e., > that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and > running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why on > earth would you want to know? What possible use would you (or your > professor) have for that information? Don't you also need to know > _when_? If you do, why don't you say so? The aim is to obtain qualitative data which describes cultural characteristics, rather than quantitative data which often become meaningless statistics that tempt the researcher into drawing conclusions where none can really be made. Certainly "when" one first started using Linux could be considered an indicator of how familiar a user is with Linux, but doesn't really account for frequency or depth of use. Asking "how" someone first became a Linux user will reveal to me many things. Was it out of necessity? Was it out of curiosity? It goes a long way to revealing different types of Linux users, although of course not an exhaustive taxonomy. And if the questions sound open ended and vague, that is how it should be. I am not supposed to steer the study one way or another, but to leave it up to the respondents to decide how they wish to respond. How you choose to interpret my questions is interesting in its own right. Your responses, for instance, have already answered several of my other questions. > And, actually, the question also fails to say what you mean by > "become a > Linux user". Do you mean "used a shell account on a Linux > machine"? Do > you mean "installed a Linux distribution"? Do you mean "used in any > way > a device that runs Linux"? You have identified three broad categories. I presume you consider all these to be Linux users in a narrow sense. Are there sub-groups within the Linux community? Do those who can rebuild the kernel regularly gather to guffaw at the antics of less proficient users? > Hundreds of millions of people use devices that run Linux, including > all > TiVo users, all Palm Pre users, all Google G1 users, all Motorola > RAZRv6 > users, all users of the Google search engine, users of many and > perhaps > most of the world's Web servers, and pretty much anyone who's used > software that's done DNS queries. Among others. It certainly never occurred to me that one may be a Linux user without even knowing it. Makes sense though, just as most iPhone users don't know they're using OS X, or even care for that matter. That will be fascinating to discuss in my paper. I'm especially interested to know how incidental or unwitting users are perceived by "true" (and I use this word tentatively) Linux users. Questions that come to mind: Do you like or dislike the idea that some users are not even aware that they are using Linux? Is recognition of the platform important? Why? > I first became _aware_ of being at that moment running processes on a > Linux machine in 1992, when I logged into a shell account on a > friend's > experimental machine. I first constructed (i.e., software-loaded) a > Linux machine in 1993, using downloaded copies of H.J. Liu's boot and > root floppy images for constructing such systems. That is very cool! How did it feel to do that? What do you think of how easy it is to install Linux now? -edj From sverma at sfsu.edu Tue Jul 28 19:35:20 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:35:20 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Fwd: Debian decides to adopt time-based release freezes In-Reply-To: <20090729010802.GA29421@melusine.alphascorpii.net> References: <20090729010802.GA29421@melusine.alphascorpii.net> Message-ID: <5fb387c70907281935s179808f3j207db67a43605a5c@mail.gmail.com> This is a major achievement. Sameer ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Meike Reichle Date: Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 6:08 PM Subject: Debian decides to adopt time-based release freezes To: debian-announce at lists.debian.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Debian Project http://www.debian.org/ Debian adopts time-based release freezes press at debian.org July 29th, 2009 http://www.debian.org/News/2009/20090729 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian decides to adopt time-based release freezes The Debian project has decided to adopt a new policy of time-based development freezes for future releases, on a two-year cycle. Freezes will from now on happen in the December of every odd year, which means that releases will from now on happen sometime in the first half of every even year. To that effect the next freeze will happen in December 2009, with a release expected in spring 2010. The project chose December as a suitable freeze date since spring releases proved successful for the releases of Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (codenamed "Etch") and Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("Lenny"). Time-based freezes will allow the Debian Project to blend the predictability of time based releases with its well established policy of feature based releases. The new freeze policy will provide better predictability of releases for users of the Debian distribution, and also allow Debian developers to do better long-term planning. A two-year release cycle will give more time for disruptive changes, reducing inconveniences caused for users. Having predictable freezes should also reduce overall freeze time. Since Debian's last release happened on Feb. 14th 2009, there will only be approximately a one year period until its next release, Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (codenamed "Squeeze"). This will be a one-time exception to the two-year policy in order to get into the new time schedule. To accommodate the needs of larger organisations and other users with a long upgrade process, the Debian project commits to provide the possibility to skip the upcoming release and do a skip-upgrade straight from Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 ("Lenny") to Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (not yet codenamed). Although the next freeze is only a short time away, the Debian project hopes to achieve several prominent goals with it. The most important are multi-arch support, which will improve the installation of 32 bit packages on 64 bit machines, and an optimised boot process for better boot performance and reliability. The new freeze policy was proposed and agreed during the Debian Project's yearly conference, DebConf, which is currently taking place in Caceres, Spain. The idea was well received among the attending project members. About Debian ------------ The Debian Project is an association of Free Software developers who volunteer their time and effort in order to produce the completely free operating system Debian GNU/Linux. Contact Information ------------------- For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at , send mail to , or contact the stable release team at -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-announce-REQUEST at lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster at lists.debian.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Jul 28 19:53:40 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:53:40 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> References: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090729025340.GB18928@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > On Jul 28, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > >> 1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire? > > I have six further questions. Some one suggested I post them one at a > time, but perhaps in the interests of brevity I should simply post them > all at once. > > But I should like to wait to see if others feel this research is too > disruptive. > >> 2. As long as you're plowing onward: > >> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): >> >>> Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? >> >> As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether >> you >> are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or >> why. >> The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former one, >> i.e., >> that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and >> running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why on >> earth would you want to know? What possible use would you (or your >> professor) have for that information? Don't you also need to know >> _when_? If you do, why don't you say so? > > The aim is to obtain qualitative data which describes cultural > characteristics, rather than quantitative data which often become > meaningless statistics that tempt the researcher into drawing > conclusions where none can really be made. Again, this assumes there _are_ cultural characteristics that are unambiguously characteristic of Linux use. You seem mostly interested in attitudinal characteristics, which strike me as particularly unlikely to be findable. > Asking "how" someone first became a Linux user will reveal to me > many things. Was it out of necessity? Was it out of curiosity? It goes a > long way to revealing different types of Linux users, although of course > not an exhaustive taxonomy. Now, your intent is at least a little clearer. Of course, you run the risk of omitting data from members of the target audience who think it's tacky and self-indulgent to run on at the mouth about themselves without being able to think of a compelling reason. ;-> > You have identified three broad categories. I presume you consider all > these to be Linux users in a narrow sense. Are there sub-groups within > the Linux community? Sure. Self-assigned, other-assigned, delusional, real. It's endless. Why don't you have a look around? That's a matter I'll return to, in a moment. > Do those who can rebuild the kernel regularly > gather to guffaw at the antics of less proficient users? I assume this is a rhetorical question. You can answer it yourself, by just looking. In fact, I figure you might be able to answer quite a lot of questions you're likely to ask, just by looking. You might consider saying what you've done to try to find answers, before turning to tap limited volunteer resources to answer them for you: It helps reassure those volunteers that you're not just a sponge for answers, that you respect our time. We've learned over time that seeing at least a modest effort to find things out correlates strongly with ability to learn. Much as it would be nice to have time and energy to help everyone on earth, life and time are limited, so one must concentrate one's efforts where they're likely to do the most good. You'll find more reasoning of that sort in the essay "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way", written a decade ago by Eric S. Raymond and some Scandinavian-American guy on the S.F. Peninsula whom I shave in the mornings. http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html or http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Essays/smart-questions.html Of course, the really awkward part is that volunteers' willingness to help is, in general, targeted at people who've shown an interest in learning Linux in order to become proficient, with at least reasonable likelihood that they'll stick around to help others in the same way, further perpetuating the body of knowledge and understanding from which the answerer also benefited in his/her day. In other words, one common participant answer to the "What's in it for me? What justifies that expenditure of my time?" question is "To repay the debt of gratitude I owe to the people who taught me". And the problem is: You're not asking in that spirit. You've basically merely, instead, asked people to help you with your homework. > That will be fascinating to discuss in my paper. I'm especially > interested to know how incidental or unwitting users are perceived by > "true" (and I use this word tentatively) Linux users. Variously, I'm sure. E.g., it's wryly amusing to hear someone say he/she could never possibly bother to learn how to use Linux while frobbing a TiVo remote. Rumours of the death of irony are at least slightly exaggerated. > Questions that come to mind: Do you like or dislike the idea that some > users are not even aware that they are using Linux? Is recognition of > the platform important? Why? Personally, I've trained myself almost entirely out of the habit of deciding whether I like or dislike particular parts of reality -- let alone deciding that everyone else need to hear about it. (A large fraction of those of us who predate the Human Potential Movement still cling stubbornly to the perspective that the world probably isn't about us personally.) I'm afraid that I'd need to approach those sorts of questions from a process angle. To explain, some people are process people; others are not. It's difficult to become proficient in technology if one does not (or cannot, anyway) think in terms of process. At a typical firm, you might hear a member of the sales department say "The Web server is down. Fix it." This would fetch over, in due course, a tired member of the IT staff, who might patiently ask "And what exactly have you tested, that supports you assertion that the Web server is down?" That is a process question. The salesman is not thinking process: He/she has no means of distinguishing the Web server being down from the DNS being unreachable, a routing problem, a hung Web browser, a loose ethernet cable on his/her workstation, etc. So: When you ask "Is recognition of the platform important?", I immediately think of the obvious process qualifier: "Important to _what_?" If one is attempting to accomplish something in particular, and somehow a particular individual's ignorance of the existence of Linux in various places is an obstacle, then by definition the lack of that recognition is important. However, I'm not easily imaginng where this concern could be relevant. [Constructing an early Linux system:] > That is very cool! How did it feel to do that? Seeing that it was sixteen years ago, I'm not sure I'd even be able to accurately report how it felt. > What do you think of how easy it is to install Linux now? That question's not just open-ended. It's sort of gaping skywards. ;-> -- Rick Moen "The Internet sees your competence and wisdom as damage, rick at linuxmafia.com and will route around it." -- Anil Dash http://twitter.com/anildash/status/2897466042 From sverma at sfsu.edu Tue Jul 28 20:00:48 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:00:48 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Hannah Montana Linux? Message-ID: <5fb387c70907282000v6a44e2c7hb3d4224c2a916cf1@mail.gmail.com> Just saw this and fell off my chair laughing! http://hannahmontana.sourceforge.net/ Sameer -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:12:12 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:12:12 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248880332.6860.74.camel@jim-laptop> a linux user is someone who uses linux on a regular basis, the definition might include a stipulation with respect to some purpose. i say get rid of the word "true" in your question. On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 10:47 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at > the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my > curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to > study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The > theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through > ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or > dislikes. To gather this data I will post a series of questions to the > mailing list. There are no wrong answers. My aim is to understand > group identity from your point of view. Thank you all for your time. > > -edj > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:14:32 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:14:32 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728180315.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180315.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <1248880472.6860.78.camel@jim-laptop> On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 11:03 -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? > > 65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% > phosphorus, 0.35% potassium, 0.25% sulphur, 0.15% sodium, and 0.05% > magnesium, the remaining 0.7% being a mixture of copper, zinc, selenium, > molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, manganese, cobalt, and iron, > plus trace amounts of lithium, strontium, aluminum, silicon, lead, > vanadium, arsenic, and bromine. i believe there are trace amounts of gold as well. > > (Reference: H. A. Harper, V. W. Rodwell, P. A. Mayes, _Review of > Physiological Chemistry_, 16th ed., Lange Medical Publications, Los > Altos, CA 1977.) > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:20:03 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:20:03 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090728182112.GV26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728182112.GV26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <1248880803.6860.83.camel@jim-laptop> first negative criticism of the image i know of, and sensible. my thanks. anyone got replacement suggestions? jim On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 11:21 -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ > > Andrew makes a point, though probably not the point he had in mind: > The "LinuxKong image by Carol Benioff, concept by John Lowry" thing > on SF-LUG's Web page is, IMO, imaginative and nicely drawn but > unfortunate in theme: It suggests that Linux is about (presumably > metaphorical) warfare against a legacy proprietary operating system. > It is not, and I personally rather resent getting lumped along with > the behaviour of people who never outgrew software-advocacy, which > is a disease of the zero-sum proprietary software world. > > I would suggest that it'd be nice if SF-LUG could, at some point, re-do > that logo with a less embarrassing conception of some sort. > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From rigelc at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 08:21:54 2009 From: rigelc at gmail.com (Rigel Christian) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:21:54 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <1248880472.6860.78.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180315.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> <1248880472.6860.78.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: strange that the putative chemical makeup of a human does not appear to include any of the most abundant element in the universe - stupidity On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 11:14 AM, jim wrote: > On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 11:03 -0700, Rick Moen wrote: >> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): >> >> > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? >> >> 65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% >> phosphorus, 0.35% potassium, 0.25% sulphur, 0.15% sodium, and 0.05% >> magnesium, the remaining 0.7% being a mixture of copper, zinc, selenium, >> molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, manganese, cobalt, and iron, >> plus trace amounts of lithium, strontium, aluminum, silicon, lead, >> vanadium, arsenic, and bromine. > i believe there are trace amounts of gold as well. > >> >> (Reference: H. A. Harper, V. W. Rodwell, P. A. Mayes, _Review of >> Physiological Chemistry_, 16th ed., Lange Medical Publications, Los >> Altos, CA 1977.) >> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:22:45 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:22:45 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair In-Reply-To: <234890.47223.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <234890.47223.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1248880965.6860.85.camel@jim-laptop> what kind of help do you need and whom do we contact to get involved? On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 11:25 -0700, Lx Rudis wrote: > g'day luggers: > > as usual, the St. Anthony's Tech Fair was a success, and they continue to support and celebrate our involvement in the Computer Lab. we were mentioned several times during the volunteer introductions and imvho we are _very_ well thought of by this group! > > BIG THANKS to Christian who came in at 0830 to help me set up our small demo station, and also stayed for the duration. > > we had several interesting visitors [including one of the main guys behind Ubuntu California LoCo], got about four people to sign up for the SF-LUG list and we distributed 5 'UCLoCo' copies of Xubuntu to interested users. > > the overall feel of the day was relaxed - it was more like an SF-LUG meeting than problem solving - most of our guests were experienced Linux users, and the remainder were there to experience the ease of using Ubuntu - one user spent most of his visit using firefox to study paleontology sites, but accepted an Xubuntu disc at the end of it. our group discussion centered on fairly geeky stuff - virtualization using Xen and other systems came up several times. > > as with last time, we were well fed, with nuts, fruit and pastry breakfast in the morning, pizza in the afternoon. > > future plans: > i've been invited to start making a regular presence at St. Anthony's, and have volunteered to do two 4 hour on-sites per month. right now i'm working out what those days will be, and i'll report back as soon as the date/times are confirmed - as with the tech fair, i'd love to see SF-LUGgers involved in this project. > > initially, i'll just be inventorying and maintaining our small fleet of Ubuntu machines - 9 complete systems. eventually i hope to add a couple of 'older' machines with smaller distros. > > ryan [St. Anthony's onsite Lab manager] and i will be setting up a couple of dual-boot machines for their drop-in computer lab, this will likely happen about 4 weeks from now. we're still putting together details on how we'll run this test, but our intent is to eventually install Ubuntu on _all_ their machines down there, effectively making their entire fleet dual-boot. > > ryan has reported to me that an increasing number of their clients are using Ubuntu and other distros. it's his opinion that these people will make it a point to come in if they know another Linux person is on-site. if this happens, we'll either establish a "St. Anthony's LUG" or announce a 'third monthly meeting' for SF-LUg. > > more reports as things of interest occur. if any of this interests _you_ and you have any ideas for this project, please drop me a line! > > lx > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:37:57 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:37:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <1248881877.6860.95.camel@jim-laptop> [top posting: how did you become a linux user?] exposure to unix (bsd and at&t), exposure to windows 1.0 and forward, exposure to microsoft business practices and news that microsoft was convicted on all 22 charges of criminal business practices. the richness of the unix command set and the beauty of the philosophy of small, single-purpose programs contrasted well against the continued clunkiness of windows releases; that contrast along with the outrageous immorality of microsoft practices made linux an attractive choice (in the early 1990s). notably, linux has improved well in its successive releases, which vindicates my choice of collaborative, community oriented software development. On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 14:17 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Wow! Thanks guys for your great responses! As far as my paper is > concerned, there are no wrong answers. All points of view are > valuable. No response is wrong, including those that question my > approach or motivations. It is really about trying to see things from > your subjective points of view and how they relate to group identity > (in so far as one can be said to exist). > > I forgot to mention in the first post that I will not use your real > names, or post any personal information (beyond your responses to my > questions) in my paper unless you specifically give me permission to > do so. I will use names picked at random. If you would prefer I use > your real name or any other identifier, please let me know. > > I also must mention that the point of this study is not for me to be > an aloof and disconnected observer, but to be a "participant- > observer". That basically means that I have to acknowledge to myself > that I cannot expect to be entirely impartial, and that by my very > presence in the group, I will affect group dynamic to some degree. > That's ok as long as I try my best to keep that to a minimum. > > Here's the next question, but please continue to respond to the first > one if you like. > > -edj > > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 08:50:06 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:50:06 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> your questions are not disruptive in my mind. i like that people are interacting over your questions--it's interesting to see the variety. my take is that it will be better to have the questions one at a time (in separate emails), so that each discussion can be tracked separately. jim On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 18:41 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > On Jul 28, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > > > 1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire? > > I have six further questions. Some one suggested I post them one at a > time, but perhaps in the interests of brevity I should simply post > them all at once. > > But I should like to wait to see if others feel this research is too > disruptive. > > > 2. As long as you're plowing onward: > > > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > > > >> Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > > > As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether > > you > > are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or > > why. > > The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former > > one, i.e., > > that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and > > running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why on > > earth would you want to know? What possible use would you (or your > > professor) have for that information? Don't you also need to know > > _when_? If you do, why don't you say so? > > The aim is to obtain qualitative data which describes cultural > characteristics, rather than quantitative data which often become > meaningless statistics that tempt the researcher into drawing > conclusions where none can really be made. Certainly "when" one first > started using Linux could be considered an indicator of how familiar a > user is with Linux, but doesn't really account for frequency or depth > of use. Asking "how" someone first became a Linux user will reveal to > me many things. Was it out of necessity? Was it out of curiosity? It > goes a long way to revealing different types of Linux users, although > of course not an exhaustive taxonomy. > > And if the questions sound open ended and vague, that is how it should > be. I am not supposed to steer the study one way or another, but to > leave it up to the respondents to decide how they wish to respond. How > you choose to interpret my questions is interesting in its own right. > Your responses, for instance, have already answered several of my > other questions. > > > And, actually, the question also fails to say what you mean by > > "become a > > Linux user". Do you mean "used a shell account on a Linux > > machine"? Do > > you mean "installed a Linux distribution"? Do you mean "used in any > > way > > a device that runs Linux"? > > You have identified three broad categories. I presume you consider all > these to be Linux users in a narrow sense. Are there sub-groups within > the Linux community? Do those who can rebuild the kernel regularly > gather to guffaw at the antics of less proficient users? > > > Hundreds of millions of people use devices that run Linux, including > > all > > TiVo users, all Palm Pre users, all Google G1 users, all Motorola > > RAZRv6 > > users, all users of the Google search engine, users of many and > > perhaps > > most of the world's Web servers, and pretty much anyone who's used > > software that's done DNS queries. Among others. > > It certainly never occurred to me that one may be a Linux user without > even knowing it. Makes sense though, just as most iPhone users don't > know they're using OS X, or even care for that matter. That will be > fascinating to discuss in my paper. I'm especially interested to know > how incidental or unwitting users are perceived by "true" (and I use > this word tentatively) Linux users. > > Questions that come to mind: Do you like or dislike the idea that some > users are not even aware that they are using Linux? Is recognition of > the platform important? Why? > > > I first became _aware_ of being at that moment running processes on a > > Linux machine in 1992, when I logged into a shell account on a > > friend's > > experimental machine. I first constructed (i.e., software-loaded) a > > Linux machine in 1993, using downloaded copies of H.J. Liu's boot and > > root floppy images for constructing such systems. > > > That is very cool! How did it feel to do that? What do you think of > how easy it is to install Linux now? > > -edj > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 08:55:43 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:55:43 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180315.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> <1248880472.6860.78.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907290855kde3b00fh4ad972df23fed696@mail.gmail.com> On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:21 AM, Rigel Christian wrote: > strange that the putative chemical makeup of a human does not appear > to include any of the most abundant element in the universe - > stupidity That's odd -- I don't seem to see stupidity on the periodic table. Is that a new element? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrewevansc at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 09:18:09 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:18:09 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <1248880803.6860.83.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728182112.GV26829@linuxmafia.com> <1248880803.6860.83.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: The image rocks! I show people all the time. Everyone loves it. On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:20 AM, jim wrote: > > first negative criticism of the image i know of, > and sensible. my thanks. anyone got replacement > suggestions? > jim > > > On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 11:21 -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > > Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > > > > > see SF LUG logo at http://www.sf-lug.org/ > > > > Andrew makes a point, though probably not the point he had in mind: > > The "LinuxKong image by Carol Benioff, concept by John Lowry" thing > > on SF-LUG's Web page is, IMO, imaginative and nicely drawn but > > unfortunate in theme: It suggests that Linux is about (presumably > > metaphorical) warfare against a legacy proprietary operating system. > > It is not, and I personally rather resent getting lumped along with > > the behaviour of people who never outgrew software-advocacy, which > > is a disease of the zero-sum proprietary software world. > > > > I would suggest that it'd be nice if SF-LUG could, at some point, re-do > > that logo with a less embarrassing conception of some sort. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jackofnotrades at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 09:30:21 2009 From: jackofnotrades at gmail.com (Jeff Bragg) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:30:21 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <2f8a56f70907290930m6d559acayf502f18c6e289abe@mail.gmail.com> Gradually and inexorably. For me, it took awhile for familiarity with MS to yield to the power of Linux. Using it daily (both at home and at work) helped a lot to highlight the real advantages of using Linux (which in my mind have little to do with Microsoft). Ultimately, Linux allows me to do just about anything I want to with it; it seems like much more of a fight in any other OS I've tried. As a hacker (in the non-noxious sense), that appeals to me a lot. On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:50 AM, jim wrote: > > > your questions are not disruptive in my > mind. i like that people are interacting > over your questions--it's interesting to > see the variety. my take is that it will be > better to have the questions one at a time > (in separate emails), so that each discussion > can be tracked separately. > jim > > > On Tue, 2009-07-28 at 18:41 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > > On Jul 28, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > > > > > 1. Edward, how long _is_ your questionnaire? > > > > I have six further questions. Some one suggested I post them one at a > > time, but perhaps in the interests of brevity I should simply post > > them all at once. > > > > But I should like to wait to see if others feel this research is too > > disruptive. > > > > > 2. As long as you're plowing onward: > > > > > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > > > > > >> Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? > > > > > > As stated, this question lacks context, i.e., we can't tell whether > > > you > > > are asking _by what method_ each respondent became a Linux user, or > > > why. > > > The literal-minded interpretation of your question is the former > > > one, i.e., > > > that you're asking after the mechanics of initially installing and > > > running Linux -- but that doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why on > > > earth would you want to know? What possible use would you (or your > > > professor) have for that information? Don't you also need to know > > > _when_? If you do, why don't you say so? > > > > The aim is to obtain qualitative data which describes cultural > > characteristics, rather than quantitative data which often become > > meaningless statistics that tempt the researcher into drawing > > conclusions where none can really be made. Certainly "when" one first > > started using Linux could be considered an indicator of how familiar a > > user is with Linux, but doesn't really account for frequency or depth > > of use. Asking "how" someone first became a Linux user will reveal to > > me many things. Was it out of necessity? Was it out of curiosity? It > > goes a long way to revealing different types of Linux users, although > > of course not an exhaustive taxonomy. > > > > And if the questions sound open ended and vague, that is how it should > > be. I am not supposed to steer the study one way or another, but to > > leave it up to the respondents to decide how they wish to respond. How > > you choose to interpret my questions is interesting in its own right. > > Your responses, for instance, have already answered several of my > > other questions. > > > > > And, actually, the question also fails to say what you mean by > > > "become a > > > Linux user". Do you mean "used a shell account on a Linux > > > machine"? Do > > > you mean "installed a Linux distribution"? Do you mean "used in any > > > way > > > a device that runs Linux"? > > > > You have identified three broad categories. I presume you consider all > > these to be Linux users in a narrow sense. Are there sub-groups within > > the Linux community? Do those who can rebuild the kernel regularly > > gather to guffaw at the antics of less proficient users? > > > > > Hundreds of millions of people use devices that run Linux, including > > > all > > > TiVo users, all Palm Pre users, all Google G1 users, all Motorola > > > RAZRv6 > > > users, all users of the Google search engine, users of many and > > > perhaps > > > most of the world's Web servers, and pretty much anyone who's used > > > software that's done DNS queries. Among others. > > > > It certainly never occurred to me that one may be a Linux user without > > even knowing it. Makes sense though, just as most iPhone users don't > > know they're using OS X, or even care for that matter. That will be > > fascinating to discuss in my paper. I'm especially interested to know > > how incidental or unwitting users are perceived by "true" (and I use > > this word tentatively) Linux users. > > > > Questions that come to mind: Do you like or dislike the idea that some > > users are not even aware that they are using Linux? Is recognition of > > the platform important? Why? > > > > > I first became _aware_ of being at that moment running processes on a > > > Linux machine in 1992, when I logged into a shell account on a > > > friend's > > > experimental machine. I first constructed (i.e., software-loaded) a > > > Linux machine in 1993, using downloaded copies of H.J. Liu's boot and > > > root floppy images for constructing such systems. > > > > > > That is very cool! How did it feel to do that? What do you think of > > how easy it is to install Linux now? > > > > -edj > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tigakub at mac.com Wed Jul 29 09:38:35 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:38:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Kinds of Linux user In-Reply-To: <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> Thanks, Jim. On Jul 29, 2009, at 8:50 AM, jim wrote: > your questions are not disruptive in my > mind. i like that people are interacting > over your questions--it's interesting to > see the variety. my take is that it will be > better to have the questions one at a time > (in separate emails), so that each discussion > can be tracked separately. > jim So in the absence of any negative response I shall continue. -edj Question 3: Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How would you describe them? From andrewevansc at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 10:12:57 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:12:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Kinds of Linux user In-Reply-To: <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> Message-ID: Answer 3: I believe that a large part of one's expertise in Linux is defined by their ability to *bust out fatty shell scripts*. Therein lies the power of Linux: being able to tell the computer exactly what to do, step by step. Also, the advanced user knows where the f&*#$ everything is located, from deep in the /etc to the far reaches of the various libs. *Beginner*: knows ls,cd,cp,mv commands, hates using vi *Intermediate*: learns grep and loves it, hates using vi *advanced*: pipes commands, creates shell scripts and cron jobs (hmm... does apache skills fit under linux skills?????), starts to like vi *expert*: i'm not there yet, but they usually have cats On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 9:38 AM, Edward Janne wrote: > Thanks, Jim. > > On Jul 29, 2009, at 8:50 AM, jim wrote: > > your questions are not disruptive in my >> mind. i like that people are interacting >> over your questions--it's interesting to >> see the variety. my take is that it will be >> better to have the questions one at a time >> (in separate emails), so that each discussion >> can be tracked separately. >> jim >> > > So in the absence of any negative response I shall continue. > > -edj > > Question 3: Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How would > you describe them? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tigakub at mac.com Wed Jul 29 10:42:20 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:42:20 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux applications In-Reply-To: <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> Message-ID: <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, what functionality is unique to Linux? From rick at linuxmafia.com Wed Jul 29 11:05:44 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:05:44 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Kinds of Linux user In-Reply-To: References: <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090729180544.GF26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Andrew E (andrewevansc at gmail.com): > *expert*: i'm not there yet, but they usually have cats Those come preinstalled: $ which cat /bin/cat -- Rick Moen "The Internet sees your competence and wisdom as damage, rick at linuxmafia.com and will route around it." -- Anil Dash http://twitter.com/anildash/status/2897466042 From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Wed Jul 29 11:41:48 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:41:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair Message-ID: <809574.17283.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> jim s: > what kind of help do you need thanks for the reply! in my last email, i outlined several upcoming tasks that i could use help with: 1-inventorying the small 'fleet' of machines we keep in a basement closet there. 2-triage, upgrade and maintenance of the fleet. 3-establish one, possibly two dual-boot Ubuntu/Windows machines in their drop-in lab. 3a-assist in monitoring that test. 4-...this one is still vague, but we [linux enthusiasts] need to start _being there_ a couple of predictable times a month. courtesy of Christian's efforts, we've now got a fledgling Linux community down there. it's time to grow it. st. anthony's wants more linux presence down there, and currently they see SF-LUG as being that presence. this could be expressed in a variety of ways; currently it's a day of linux outreach during their quarterly 'tech fairs'. ryan, karl and kari want to see more of us. they've offered access to facilities down there, have _reminded me_ that they _want_ to test out dual-boot systems in the drop-in lab, and they enthusiastically support the idea of some sort of linux group meeting down there regularly. it's up to us how we proceed on this. if we wish we can expand SF-LUG's influence, exploit existing tools such as our own wiki or forum and announce a third monthly meeting to be held downtown at st. anthony's. this reminds me: some of the conversations i had with attendees were very provocative. one guy, upon being handed an Xubuntu disc _immediately_ asked about how one goes about getting 'linux certification', in other words it was a request for exactly the sort of 'red hat certification' group that jim was trying to kickstart here 2 years ago. i don't want to natter on about this, as i know there are much more important threads going on right now with the Sf-LUG list. on the other hand, i do want all members to know that we have a _big_ opportunity for both Linux and ourselves opening up downtown, and the door is being held open for us. all we need to do is share some of our [limited, scattered] time. jim s: > and whom do we > contact to get involved? right now, just me. lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net i hope to hear from some of you soon! this has been a really fun, rewarding volunteer effort for me. i'd love to see more of you directly involved. your humble mail admin, lx From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Wed Jul 29 12:11:21 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:11:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] more st. anthony's outreach info Message-ID: <394279.38504.qm@web82706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> hello sfluggers, ryan from st. anthony's just got back to me. he's saying that _wednesdays_ are a good day for system maintenance, most likely afternoons. he's going to meet next tuesday to confirm wednesdays for linux visits, and also get confirmation that we can move forward with: -dual boot test for drop-in lab -regular 'linux meetings' ala Linux User Group lx From einfeldt at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 13:23:40 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:23:40 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] more st. anthony's outreach info In-Reply-To: <394279.38504.qm@web82706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <394279.38504.qm@web82706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907291323n531f8dd9qa02e6ff27616f8c1@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 3:11 PM, Lx Rudis wrote: > > he's going to meet next tuesday to confirm wednesdays for linux visits, and > also get confirmation that we can move forward with: > > -dual boot test for drop-in lab > -regular 'linux meetings' ala Linux User Group > This is really awesome news! Thanks so much! Please keep us up to date! c u -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Wed Jul 29 15:07:49 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:07:49 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux applications In-Reply-To: <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> References: <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090729220749.GB13821@sonic.net> On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 10:42:20AM -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? On a regular basis: Konsole to do a lot of generic day-to-day stuff, including SSH'ing to my ISP's shell, so I can run Mutt to check my email, or SSH'ing various places to maintain websites and web applications (including my day job). Amarok to listen to music (local and streaming) Konqueror for most web browsing (random pages, daily stuff like bank account, etc.) Firefox for day-job, Facebook, SourceForge and Google (Maps/Calendar) browsing *grumbles about not being compatible with Konqueror* Konversation for chatting with local friends, as well as on a variety of OSS project channels on freenode Kate for some basic text editing and note taking (though sometimes also vi) Gimp for graphics editing/manipulation OpenOffice.org for document loading/creation Dolphin for some file management (esp. photos off my camera's SD card), though most file management is via shell vi for lots of editing, including code maintenance (day job and my own OSS) mplayer for watching local (vs. streamed via Flash) video files > Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to > other platforms? What is the motivation for this? Beyond being open > source, what functionality is unique to Linux? "GNU/Linux," what I consider the 'operating system' (kernel plus lots of userspace tools and glue), is what makes Linux a lot easier to deal with than other platforms. Environments like Cygwin on Windows can help, a _little_, but generally you cannot get past the fact that you're running on a cumbersome, buggy, and poorly designed OS and GUI. So sure, you can get a lot of OSS stuff for Windows and Mac, including a lot of KDE (my desktop environment of choice), but it's just not as smooth and enjoyable.[*] I've found very little reason to care about running non-Linux, especially since I stopped doing for BREW devices. (That's just bad-on-bad, with a twist of horrid USB drivers, coupled with terrible device-specific implementation issues with BREW itself. When I did J2ME, we at least had saner dev. tools, and I could do all dev. and 'emulator'-based testing under Linux. It totally changed my attitude towards my job, at the time. :) ) [*] Despite recent audio-related annoyances. -bill! (ramble? who, me?) From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 15:42:04 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:42:04 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux applications In-Reply-To: <20090729220749.GB13821@sonic.net> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <20090729220749.GB13821@sonic.net> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907291542o4ed33212s6f6aa676d4aee47f@mail.gmail.com> In fact, Bill's surname used to be Hendrick before he became a KDE desktop user Larry Kafiero Fedora 11 KDE user On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 10:42:20AM -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > > Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? > > On a regular basis: > > Konsole to do a lot of generic day-to-day stuff, > including SSH'ing to my ISP's shell, so I can run Mutt to check my email, > or SSH'ing various places to maintain websites and web applications > (including my day job). > > Amarok to listen to music (local and streaming) > > Konqueror for most web browsing (random pages, daily stuff like bank > account, > etc.) > > Firefox for day-job, Facebook, SourceForge and Google (Maps/Calendar) > browsing > *grumbles about not being compatible with Konqueror* > > Konversation for chatting with local friends, as well as on a variety of > OSS project channels on freenode > > Kate for some basic text editing and note taking (though sometimes also vi) > > Gimp for graphics editing/manipulation > > OpenOffice.org for document loading/creation > > Dolphin for some file management (esp. photos off my camera's SD card), > though most file management is via shell > > vi for lots of editing, including code maintenance (day job and my own OSS) > > mplayer for watching local (vs. streamed via Flash) video files > > > > > Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to > > other platforms? What is the motivation for this? Beyond being open > > source, what functionality is unique to Linux? > > "GNU/Linux," what I consider the 'operating system' (kernel plus > lots of userspace tools and glue), is what makes Linux a lot easier to > deal with than other platforms. Environments like Cygwin on Windows can > help, a _little_, but generally you cannot get past the fact that you're > running on a cumbersome, buggy, and poorly designed OS and GUI. > > So sure, you can get a lot of OSS stuff for Windows and Mac, including > a lot of KDE (my desktop environment of choice), but it's just not as > smooth and enjoyable.[*] > > I've found very little reason to care about running non-Linux, especially > since I stopped doing for BREW devices. (That's just bad-on-bad, with > a twist of horrid USB drivers, coupled with terrible device-specific > implementation issues with BREW itself. When I did J2ME, we at least had > saner dev. tools, and I could do all dev. and 'emulator'-based testing > under Linux. It totally changed my attitude towards my job, at the time. > :) ) > > [*] Despite recent audio-related annoyances. > > -bill! > (ramble? who, me?) > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From scott.edmonds at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 15:55:57 2009 From: scott.edmonds at gmail.com (Scott Edmonds) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:55:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] What makes a true Linux user? In-Reply-To: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> Message-ID: <844bd0fe0907291555x49d50afcv528898f3e432dca2@mail.gmail.com> Hey Ed, Who's the faculty member overseeing your project. Sounds interesting? Thanks. On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Edward Janne wrote: > Hi everyone. My name is Edward Janne and I'm an animation student at the > Academy of Art University here in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum > I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San > Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is > how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories > of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. To gather this data I > will post a series of questions to the mailing list. There are no wrong > answers. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. > Thank you all for your time. > > -edj > > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 17:20:53 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:20:53 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair In-Reply-To: <809574.17283.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <809574.17283.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1248913253.6860.109.camel@jim-laptop> i'm interested and would like to negotiate one or two times a week that i could be down there to help out and also pursue a linux study group. currently i know a fellow with whom i've just committed time to study LPI and Red Hat certification paths. it might work that he and i meet at St. A's and be available to provide support to those with linux problems and include any of St. A's clients interested in joining our effort. any sf-luggers are welcome, as are all others. jim On Wed, 2009-07-29 at 11:41 -0700, Lx Rudis wrote: > jim s: > > what kind of help do you need > > thanks for the reply! > > in my last email, i outlined several upcoming tasks that i could use help with: > > 1-inventorying the small 'fleet' of machines we keep in a basement closet there. > > 2-triage, upgrade and maintenance of the fleet. > > 3-establish one, possibly two dual-boot Ubuntu/Windows machines in their drop-in lab. > 3a-assist in monitoring that test. > > 4-...this one is still vague, but we [linux enthusiasts] need to start _being there_ a couple of predictable times a month. courtesy of Christian's efforts, we've now got a fledgling Linux community down there. it's time to grow it. > > st. anthony's wants more linux presence down there, and currently they see SF-LUG as being that presence. > > this could be expressed in a variety of ways; > currently it's a day of linux outreach during their quarterly 'tech fairs'. ryan, karl and kari want to see more of us. they've offered access to facilities down there, have _reminded me_ that they _want_ to test out dual-boot systems in the drop-in lab, and they enthusiastically support the idea of some sort of linux group meeting down there regularly. > > it's up to us how we proceed on this. if we wish we can expand SF-LUG's influence, exploit existing tools such as our own wiki or forum and announce a third monthly meeting to be held downtown at st. anthony's. > > this reminds me: some of the conversations i had with attendees were very provocative. one guy, upon being handed an Xubuntu disc _immediately_ asked about how one goes about getting 'linux certification', in other words it was a request for exactly the sort of 'red hat certification' group that jim was trying to kickstart here 2 years ago. > > i don't want to natter on about this, as i know there are much more important threads going on right now with the Sf-LUG list. on the other hand, i do want all members to know that we have a _big_ opportunity for both Linux and ourselves opening up downtown, and the door is being held open for us. all we need to do is share some of our [limited, scattered] time. > > jim s: > > and whom do we > > contact to get involved? > > right now, just me. > lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net > > i hope to hear from some of you soon! this has been a really fun, rewarding volunteer effort for me. i'd love to see more of you directly involved. > > your humble mail admin, > lx > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 18:12:57 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:12:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Kinds of Linux user In-Reply-To: <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248916377.6860.137.camel@jim-laptop> [top posting: kinds of linux user] as with any group, individuals are properly aligned as a gradient, probably as data points on a multi-dimensional matrix. classifications are to some degree arbitrary. for any dimension, take the ten percent at the end points and find the mid-point, then try to assign a meaning. trick is to determine the dimensions and how to quantify. command line skills, understanding kernel internals, modules, networking, file systems, use of GUI shells ("desktops"), use of application programs, the list could go on. it's important to acknowledge the existence of linux underlying devices that users generally don't know or care depend on linux as their internals. your intent is probably with respect to using linux on computers for individual work or for data center work, pretty different camps. measurability might include how often a person asks for help as well as how often a person can help others. consider asking users how comfortable they feel: not at all, only a little, fairly much, completely. consider getting figures on who uses linux at all: a little, somewhat, a lot, all the time. for me, the question as to skill level is not worthwhile: one person can be masterful in some areas and not others, and feel more masterful or less so than others may judge. an important question is growth: is the percentage of people who use linux at least a little bit growing, and if so at what rate? another important question is application use: how many are using linux for what kinds of applications, and what's the growth.... On Wed, 2009-07-29 at 09:38 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Thanks, Jim. > > On Jul 29, 2009, at 8:50 AM, jim wrote: > > > your questions are not disruptive in my > > mind. i like that people are interacting > > over your questions--it's interesting to > > see the variety. my take is that it will be > > better to have the questions one at a time > > (in separate emails), so that each discussion > > can be tracked separately. > > jim > > So in the absence of any negative response I shall continue. > > -edj > > Question 3: Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How > would you describe them? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 18:17:47 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:17:47 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux applications In-Reply-To: <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248916667.6860.143.camel@jim-laptop> at home, personally, email client, browser, GUI text editor, vi, bash, C compiler, python interpreter, some stuff in /bin/ /sbin/ /usr/bin/ /usr/sbin/ not much else. on server machines, nagios, apache, sshd, mysql, /bin/*, /sbin/*, a few things in /usr/{bin,sbin} On Wed, 2009-07-29 at 10:42 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that > starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What > is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, what > functionality is unique to Linux? > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From jim at well.com Wed Jul 29 18:37:29 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:37:29 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux applications In-Reply-To: <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> oh (correction...): firefox, gimp, dia, gedit, command-line: ssh, ftp, no clue what gets ported to other platforms, and i get pissed off if the gnu toolkit gets tweaked such that commands have different options and different behaviors. programs designed for unix type systems are generally portable to other unix type systems, perhaps less so to windows and other operating systems (and vice versa, note "perhaps"). the design of the linux kernel (that which is properly "linux") permits a global filesystem namespace (FHS) and isolated process access to resources (ergo good security), and those aspects have a bearing on portability. (blah-de-blah, mutter, mutter....) On Wed, 2009-07-29 at 10:42 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that > starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What > is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, what > functionality is unique to Linux? > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From einfeldt at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 21:55:54 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:55:54 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair In-Reply-To: <234890.47223.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <234890.47223.qm@web82701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907292155k31ba4cbdy70e7706d74e6fcc3@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Lx Rudis wrote: > future plans: > i've been invited to start making a regular presence at St. Anthony's, and > have volunteered to do two 4 hour on-sites per month. right now i'm working > out what those days will be, and i'll report back as soon as the date/times > are confirmed - as with the tech fair, i'd love to see SF-LUGgers involved > in this project. Thx, and please let this list know about developments! This is interesting! > initially, i'll just be inventorying and maintaining our small fleet of > Ubuntu machines - 9 complete systems. eventually i hope to add a couple of > 'older' machines with smaller distros. We maintain a list here of the equipment to which Lx refers: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rw1t1KwdJvR2sr6NWNQ4Bfw&output=html This spreadsheet allows us to track our equipment across the several projects which SF-LUG members are supporting. This tracking gives us a sense of strengths and weaknesses of our projects' equipment, and gives us a feel for the size of our projects. Currently, for example, we need giga switches and optical mice. If anyone knows where we can get some of these pieces of equipment, that would be great. We also need a few decent monitors and a few working P4 machines with at least 512 MB of RAM. > ryan has reported to me that an increasing number of their clients are > using Ubuntu and other distros. This is music to my ears. And this is also the key benefit of having a presence at St. Anthony -- the clients there actually use low-spec machines and are happy with the same!!! How wonderful to support people who will not reject otherwise decent machines! > it's his opinion that these people will make it a point to come in if they > know another Linux person is on-site. Bingo. > if this happens, we'll either establish a "St. Anthony's LUG" or announce a > 'third monthly meeting' for SF-LUg. Consistency is so important in dealing with the kinds of clients who come to St. Anthony. Lx, thanks for doing such a wonderful job leading the St. Anthony project! It is such a great service to St. Anthony, to their clients, and to this SF-LUG! c u -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tigakub at mac.com Thu Jul 30 09:38:46 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:38:46 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? What do the members of the group do to encourage adoption of the platform? From lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net Thu Jul 30 10:22:09 2009 From: lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net (Lx Rudis) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:22:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth Message-ID: <748312.80302.qm@web82705.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Question 5: Is the Linux user base > growing fast enough? i feel it's growing as fast as FOSS philosophy can allow. so 'yes'. would be great to see linux suddenly explode into the common consciousness, but i'd have to wonder at what cost that would occur. although it's sometimes frustrating, i do accept that part of this movement is about how we think and acquire knowledge, not so much about details like GUI or filesystems. re-learning how to think takes a lot of time. > What do the members of the group do to > encourage adoption of the platform? share. aggressively! ;) From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 10:49:57 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:49:57 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? I can tell that you're not a "process" thinker, because my immediate reaction was "Fast enough to accomplish _what_ specifically?" > What do the members of the group do to encourage adoption of the > platform? Your question suggests the zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset at work. It's kind of depressing to still encounter that in 2009. Quoting myself from http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/26/1040511127721.html (interview, 2002): Q: Do you think you could achieve more if your advocacy was a little less strident? A: I'm reminded of a story about the 19th century US public speaker and political figure Robert G. Ingersoll, who was wildly popular with the public but inspired influential "establishment" detractors by being publicly non-religious: Some reporters came to visit, and asked him about the rumours that his son had gotten drunk during a wild party and fell unconscious under the table. Ingersoll paused for effect, then started: "Well, first of all, he didn't fall under the table. And he wasn't actually unconscious. For that matter, he didn't fall. And there wasn't any party, and he didn't have anything to drink.... And, by the way, I don't have a son." So it's not what I'd call strident, and I don't do advocacy. At least, not in the usual sense of the term. The usual sort of OS advocacy is what the "Team OS/2" crowd used to do: They knew that their favourite software would live or die by the level of corporate acceptance and release/maintenance of proprietary shrink-wrapped OS/2 applications. They lobbied, they lost, IBM lost interest, and now their favourite OS is effectively dead. But Linux is fundamentally different because it and all key applications are open source: the programmer community that maintains it is self-supporting, and would keep it advancing and and healthy regardless of whether the business world and general public uses it with wild abandon, only a little, or not at all. Because of its open-source licence terms, its raw source code is permanently available. Linux cannot be "withdrawn from the market" at the whim of some company - as is slowly happening to OS/2. (Ed: IBM finally pulled the plug on OS/2 on December 10.) Therefore, Linux users are not in a zero-sum competition for popularity with proponents of other operating systems (unlike, say, OS/2, MS-Windows, and Mac OS users). I can honestly wish Apple Computer well with their eye-pleasing and well-made (if a bit slow and inflexible) Mac OS X operating system: wishing them well doesn't mean wishing Linux ill. Note that all of the identifiable "Linux companies" could blow away in the breeze like just so much Enron stock, and the advance of Linux would not be materially impaired, because what matters is source code and the licensing thereof, which has rather little to do with any of those firms' fortunes. Further, and getting back to your original point, I honestly don't care if you or anyone else gets "converted" to Linux. I don't have to. I'm no better off if you do; I'm no worse off if you don't. What I do care about is giving making useful information and help available to people using Linux or interested in it. Why? Partly to redeem the trust shown by others when they helped me. Partly because it's interesting. Partly because researching and then teaching things I usually start knowing little about is the best way I know to learn. And partly out of pure, unadulterated self-interest: people knowing your name is at least a foot in the door, in the IT business. As to stridency, there _is_ a well-known problem of all on-line discussion media. Some people become emotionally invested in positions they've taken in technical arguments, and gratuituously turn technical disagreements into verbal brawls. And unfortunately they tend to be drawn to people like me who attempt to state their views clearly and forcefully. It's as if you were to say "I like herring" and thereby summon every dedicated herring-hater within a hundred-mile radius. The problem comes with the territory. But that causes occasional unpleasantness and back-biting _among_ some on-line Linux users, not an aspect of "advocacy", which isn't something we have much use for, generally - especially where the term refers to convincing the unwilling. Q: What do you hope to achieve by this advocacy? A: I hope to have fun, to learn, to help those willing to "help themselves" by learning about their systems, to become qualified to work professionally with better and more-interesting technology, to spend more of my time around people I enjoy, and to improve my quality of life by improving the grade of tools I work with. Please note that "converting users to Linux" is nowhere on that list. From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 30 11:51:18 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:51:18 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090730185118.GA21436@sonic.net> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 10:49:57AM -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > Note that all of the identifiable "Linux companies" could blow away in > the breeze like just so much Enron stock, and the advance of Linux would > not be materially impaired, because what matters is source code and the > licensing thereof, which has rather little to do with any of those > firms' fortunes. Akin to the "pizza" analogy I came up with years ago, and am oh-so proud of. Someone asked "what if RedHat goes under?" To me, it was like asking "what [would happen to pizza] if RoundTable goes under?" You can (a) go to any of the other fine pizza establishments, and/or (b) bake it yourself, at home. Just get a recipe. -- -bill! Sent from my computer From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 11:54:16 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:54:16 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090730185118.GA21436@sonic.net> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090730185118.GA21436@sonic.net> Message-ID: <20090730185416.GT26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Bill Kendrick (nbs at sonic.net): > Akin to the "pizza" analogy I came up with years ago, and am oh-so proud of. > Someone asked "what if RedHat goes under?" To me, it was like asking > "what [would happen to pizza] if RoundTable goes under?" > > You can (a) go to any of the other fine pizza establishments, and/or > (b) bake it yourself, at home. Just get a recipe. That's a really, really good analogy. Thanks! I might borrow that. From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 12:13:51 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:13:51 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090730185118.GA21436@sonic.net> References: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090730185118.GA21436@sonic.net> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907301213k561f5d91jac49dd2bc153b560@mail.gmail.com> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 11:51 AM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > Akin to the "pizza" analogy I came up with years ago, and am oh-so proud > of. > Someone asked "what if RedHat goes under?" To me, it was like asking > "what [would happen to pizza] if RoundTable goes under?" > > You can (a) go to any of the other fine pizza establishments, and/or > (b) bake it yourself, at home. Just get a recipe. Mmmmmm. Pizza. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Thu Jul 30 12:26:05 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:26:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> Message-ID: <1248981965.6860.172.camel@jim-laptop> On Thu, 2009-07-30 at 09:38 -0700, Edward Janne wrote: > Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? i have driven a stake in the ground: i want to promote linux (and to a lesser extent freeBSD and other Free and Open Source Software), partly to encourage what i think is a moral and rich approach to doing things (collaboration), as well as vindictively (i don't like some of what MSFT has done in the last 15 years--i used to be a MSFT booster, mainly because their compilers were well-designed). so no, the linux user base is not growing fast enough for my taste. > What do the > members of the group do to encourage adoption of the platform? i try to evangelize open source software and encourage anyone who'll listen to me to convert from silo-ware to foss-ware. this means being attentive to people i meet wrt what they're doing with computers, asking a few questions, then possibly making some tentative suggestions with offers to help. i occasionally join some community effort to help support such as St. Anthony's or the KIPP school or OLPC-SF. > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From chinku.linux at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 12:59:54 2009 From: chinku.linux at gmail.com (chaitanya mehandru) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:29:54 +0530 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: References: <1248800209.6860.64.camel@jim-laptop> <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <24b40b2b0907281509we0ed4c8w3b45ef3c21f010c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <24b40b2b0907301259y5b43feadtec9715bacf9633d0@mail.gmail.com> Hi Edward, When I tried linux, i felt like i can do this and i can do that!!! and hence i was feeling that if i stick to linux it wud be a wise choice. If i name something that i have done on windows, i can do it on linux as well in addition to the individual benefits of linux. There is no restriction and to a much greater extent you can urself define what you want the OS to do. Also, security is an important concern and there is nothing to worry about viruses on linux. Regarding my paper, I have analyzed the software power and performance on low power architecture based Mobile Internet Devices. It shows mostly a technical analysis of the multimedia and videoconferencing on x86 architecture. The biggest advantage i had was the availablility of dedicated tools to measure performance but on windows we just have almost nothing. The measurements of memory, processor activity,etc were done with *various tools tht are available only on linux and an equivalent tool on windows is not available*. I remember tht once i proposed some measurements on windows xp, but we figured out tht we dont have enough tools and ended up in quitting anykind of measurements on windows. So, linux solved a major hurdle of tools availabilty to collect data!!! Another reason is tht from performance point of view, linux proves to better in terms of the power consumed in idle mode which is a common scenario on all mobile devices. Running windows and keeping the device idle consumes a little more watts i.e lesser battery life. I hope this information isw useful for you and the above mentioned technicalities wud be good to include in your paper. Let me know if u want to know something more specific. In adition, i just feel tht linux will soon be on most of the computers in every house today becoz of the ease, flexibility and the lelvel of control it offers to an end-user. *-Chaitanya* On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Edward Janne wrote: > Hi Chaitanya, sorry for taking so long to follow up, the response to my > questions has been quite overwhelming. > > I'd be interested to read your paper. Could you elaborate on why you love > Linux so much? > > Thanks! > > -edj > > > On Jul 28, 2009, at 3:09 PM, chaitanya mehandru wrote: > > I became a linux user in a way similar to when someone joins a >> university-- I mean we are among intellectual people and then we start >> trying new things and get interested more once we get to know about them. In >> addition, I recently wrote a paper on Power/Performance benefits of using >> Linux and open-source software on Mobile Internet Devices and exploring >> newer usage models. I have been using linux for 2years now and want to keep >> adding years to it.....Linux is amazing to me!!! >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 13:13:55 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:13:55 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Paid work fixing Mac notebooks Message-ID: <4b5781040907301313nd17005j3644411a392bbc06@mail.gmail.com> One of the schools that our LUG is supporting has some Mac machines with issues. I don't know what the issues are, sorry. I only use Linux machines at the school. But our principal has said that some of the Macs are not working correctly, and the school would be willing to pay to have the Mac machines fixed. If you don't mind working on non-Free machines, please ping me. I don't know how much the school is paying, because the principal doesn't understand computers and so doesn't know how much work needs to be done. You would need to interview the principal and then submit a bid. Thanks either way. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 14:58:04 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:58:04 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <24b40b2b0907301259y5b43feadtec9715bacf9633d0@mail.gmail.com> References: <525BB0BC-DD39-4788-AB07-8B9F6B4A86E4@mac.com> <20090728180750.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090728182618.GW18928@linuxmafia.com> <24b40b2b0907281509we0ed4c8w3b45ef3c21f010c@mail.gmail.com> <24b40b2b0907301259y5b43feadtec9715bacf9633d0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090730215804.GU26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): > Also, security is an important concern and there is nothing to worry about > viruses on linux. Even though there have been 66 viruses and 12 worms released to attack Linux specifically? (Reference: http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus#virus5 ) -- Cheers, The shortest distance between two puns is a straightline. Rick Moen rick at linuxmafia.com From chinku.linux at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 15:28:32 2009 From: chinku.linux at gmail.com (chaitanya mehandru) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:58:32 +0530 Subject: [sf-lug] (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090730222659.GH18928@linuxmafia.com> References: <20090730222659.GH18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <24b40b2b0907301528x59cec232l5173e204cfcb8ce8@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:56 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Hi, looks like you accidentally sent me private mail. If you're > looking for a response, you should post to the mailing list. > (Meanwhile, you should actually consult the URL I provided and > read the text.) > > ----- Forwarded message from chaitanya mehandru > ----- > > Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:49:58 +0530 > From: chaitanya mehandru > To: Rick Moen > X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.4 required=4.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,HTML_MESSAGE, > SPF_PASS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux > user? > > Hi Rick, > So that means linux is at a risk from these viruses/worms? These viruses > will work in some exceptional cases only!!! > Can we say that Linux is still secure as compared to windows? > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:28 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > > > Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): > > > > > Also, security is an important concern and there is nothing to worry > > about > > > viruses on linux. > > > > > > Even though there have been 66 viruses and 12 worms released to attack > > Linux specifically? (Reference: > > http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus#virus5 > ) > > > > > > -- > > Cheers, The shortest distance between two puns is a > > straightline. > > Rick Moen > > rick at linuxmafia.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > > ----- End forwarded message ----- > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chinku.linux at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 15:32:13 2009 From: chinku.linux at gmail.com (chaitanya mehandru) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:02:13 +0530 Subject: [sf-lug] (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <20090730222659.GH18928@linuxmafia.com> References: <20090730222659.GH18928@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <24b40b2b0907301532t7529f0d7i712758a14ba01f5a@mail.gmail.com> What i know is tht the viruses for linux affectonly the local user.....and not keep spreading all over. Well, the text is worth reading. and it also mentions that the virus will change permissions,etc,etc. and affect the files of a user who executed the binary. More i will read.....and also willing to talk about it more with you and other folks. > ----- Forwarded message from chaitanya mehandru > ----- > > Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:49:58 +0530 > From: chaitanya mehandru > To: Rick Moen > X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.4 required=4.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,HTML_MESSAGE, > SPF_PASS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux > user? > > Hi Rick, > So that means linux is at a risk from these viruses/worms? These viruses > will work in some exceptional cases only!!! > Can we say that Linux is still secure as compared to windows? > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:28 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > > > Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): > > > > > Also, security is an important concern and there is nothing to worry > > about > > > viruses on linux. > > > > > > Even though there have been 66 viruses and 12 worms released to attack > > Linux specifically? (Reference: > > http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus#virus5 > ) > > > > > > -- > > Cheers, The shortest distance between two puns is a > > straightline. > > Rick Moen > > rick at linuxmafia.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > > ----- End forwarded message ----- > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 15:39:10 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:39:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux user? In-Reply-To: <24b40b2b0907301532t7529f0d7i712758a14ba01f5a@mail.gmail.com> References: <20090730222659.GH18928@linuxmafia.com> <24b40b2b0907301532t7529f0d7i712758a14ba01f5a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090730223910.GI18928@linuxmafia.com> Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): > What i know is tht the viruses for linux affectonly the local user.....and > not keep spreading all over. Well, the text is worth reading. and it also > mentions that the virus will change permissions,etc,etc. and affect the > files of a user who executed the binary. More i will read.....and also > willing to talk about it more with you and other folks. Uh... if you read the page, you presumably came across text like this: Linux systems' architecture and culture, by design, resist such petty nuisances, and create sufficient default protections that anyone careless enough to be exposed to Linux "malware" (viruses and such) has bigger and more fundamental worries: By and large, you can be hit at all only by being really dumb.[link] By and large, you can suffer system (root) compromise from malware only by being mind-bogglingly dumb. -- Cheers, "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regret to Rick Moen inform you that circumstances are beyond our control." rick at linuxmafia.com --Paul Benoit From tigakub at mac.com Thu Jul 30 16:01:35 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:01:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> Thank you for your illuminating reply. On Jul 30, 2009, at 10:49 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > >> Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? > > I can tell that you're not a "process" thinker, because my immediate > reaction was "Fast enough to accomplish _what_ specifically?" For the purposes of my paper, would you mind going into more detail about how one would become a process thinker? Are there many forms of process, or is there one universal process? Is there a process to becoming a process thinker, or is one simply born a process thinker? Am I on the right track to becoming a process thinker? >> What do the members of the group do to encourage adoption of the >> platform? > > Your question suggests the zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset at work. > It's kind of depressing to still encounter that in 2009. Would you help me rephrase my questions to avoid lending the impression that I have a zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset? I'm not entirely sure what I have said to lead you to believe that. I really don't see how my question can be construed to imply that I believe that increasing the adoption of Linux detracts from other OS usage or vice versa. Is it the .mac in my e-mail? I can't remember ever typing the word "convert" nor validating or condemning any OS. If Linux is a good operating system, I would think everyone would like to see it more widely recognized and used, not because of mindless brand loyalty, but because it can benefit society. Is this an erroneous mind- set? Also, can you help me understand how repeatedly belittling someone who is honestly seeking to understand the Linux community is constructive? Is it some kind of hazing ritual? Someone once threatened in jest to make me install Slackware as an initiation. Is that what you are doing? -edj From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 16:42:26 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:42:26 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> References: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907301642t5706ed05j8c039e544aed81b2@mail.gmail.com> You know, if this were a LUG in which I had some decision-making power regarding the mailing list -- and I don't here (but I do have that power at one elsewhere, incidentally) -- I think I would have done things somewhat differently. Primarily, I would have asked Edward -- "asked," leaving him to comply or not -- to: -- Submit all his questions at once, rather than stringing them along (which, in my opinion, makes it appear that Edward's "making this thing up as he goes along." He may not be, but that's the appearance); and -- Submit an electronic version of the paper, once it's turned in to his class, to the mailing list so we can see the results of his research in which we've given our time; and -- Supply me with his teacher's/faculty advisor's e-mail or other contact information so I can confirm this assignment; and -- Attend a meeting to interview LUG members in person. Second, of the mailing list denizens, I would have asked them -- again, "asked," leaving them to comply or not -- to: -- Answer Edward individually, as to avoid the spike in mailing list traffic which might impede other discussion; and -- Come to a meeting where Edward would be available to ask questions and collect answers. So, Edward, you've asked an awful lot of this group for the benefit of a homework assignment, and I think you should be aware of that. My hope is that you appreciate the effort put forth by everyone who has responded, regardless of the answers. Larry Cafiero On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 4:01 PM, Edward Janne wrote: > Thank you for your illuminating reply. > > On Jul 30, 2009, at 10:49 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): >> >> Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? >>> >> >> I can tell that you're not a "process" thinker, because my immediate >> reaction was "Fast enough to accomplish _what_ specifically?" >> > > For the purposes of my paper, would you mind going into more detail about > how one would become a process thinker? Are there many forms of process, or > is there one universal process? Is there a process to becoming a process > thinker, or is one simply born a process thinker? Am I on the right track to > becoming a process thinker? > > What do the members of the group do to encourage adoption of the >>> platform? >>> >> >> Your question suggests the zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset at work. >> It's kind of depressing to still encounter that in 2009. >> > > Would you help me rephrase my questions to avoid lending the impression > that I have a zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset? I'm not entirely sure what I > have said to lead you to believe that. I really don't see how my question > can be construed to imply that I believe that increasing the adoption of > Linux detracts from other OS usage or vice versa. Is it the .mac in my > e-mail? I can't remember ever typing the word "convert" nor validating or > condemning any OS. If Linux is a good operating system, I would think > everyone would like to see it more widely recognized and used, not because > of mindless brand loyalty, but because it can benefit society. Is this an > erroneous mind-set? > > Also, can you help me understand how repeatedly belittling someone who is > honestly seeking to understand the Linux community is constructive? Is it > some kind of hazing ritual? Someone once threatened in jest to make me > install Slackware as an initiation. Is that what you are doing? > > -edj > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 30 16:55:58 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:55:58 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <7a0d56080907301642t5706ed05j8c039e544aed81b2@mail.gmail.com> References: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> <7a0d56080907301642t5706ed05j8c039e544aed81b2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090730235557.GC8964@sonic.net> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 04:42:26PM -0700, Larry Cafiero wrote: > -- Supply me with his teacher's/faculty advisor's e-mail or other contact > information so I can confirm this assignment; and > > -- Attend a meeting to interview LUG members in person. I appreciate how Sameer Verma and Leigh Jin from SFSU did their research with LUGOD (and other LUGs, I think). Hi guys. ;) > Second, of the mailing list denizens, I would have asked them -- again, > "asked," leaving them to comply or not -- to: > > -- Answer Edward individually, as to avoid the spike in mailing list > traffic which might impede other discussion; and I've found the discussion enjoyable, frankly. ;) -bill! From larry.cafiero at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 17:10:00 2009 From: larry.cafiero at gmail.com (Larry Cafiero) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:10:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090730235557.GC8964@sonic.net> References: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> <7a0d56080907301642t5706ed05j8c039e544aed81b2@mail.gmail.com> <20090730235557.GC8964@sonic.net> Message-ID: <7a0d56080907301710w18ba7d95r59fe7c7f1ac1ac69@mail.gmail.com> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 4:55 PM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > I've found the discussion enjoyable, frankly. ;) Agreed -- and entertaining to boot. But my point is that I'm not sure that a questionnaire of this kind was a.) the best way to run a series of question by us in the first place, and b.) having said that, the best use of the facilities in this mailing list. Again, this is my opinion and my opinion alone (though it's one that's GPLed and readily available to anyone to adopt as their own). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From toya at linefeed.org Thu Jul 30 16:59:29 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:59:29 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <7a0d56080907301710w18ba7d95r59fe7c7f1ac1ac69@mail.gmail.com> References: <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> <7a0d56080907301642t5706ed05j8c039e544aed81b2@mail.gmail.com> <20090730235557.GC8964@sonic.net> <7a0d56080907301710w18ba7d95r59fe7c7f1ac1ac69@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A7233E1.1030504@linefeed.org> My suggestion would be to have at least changed the subject, each question should have being placed on the subject of the msg. That would have made it easier for people to follow and answer... I didn't answer because I got lost in the emails... I saw question 1 and 2 then 5... was a bit confuse. Or put it somewhere -> limesurvey is a good free software for this kind of thing. The idea to go to a meeting is good too. Also, I would suggest to go to install fests like the St Anthony's event, there you will find people who 'just' decided to install linux and I think it would be interested to hear what they have to say. :) just my 2cents since I couldn't reply to the survey. bye, Toya Larry Cafiero wrote: > On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 4:55 PM, Bill Kendrick > wrote: > > > I've found the discussion enjoyable, frankly. ;) > > > Agreed -- and entertaining to boot. But my point is that I'm not sure > that a questionnaire of this kind was a.) the best way to run a series > of question by us in the first place, and b.) having said that, the > best use of the facilities in this mailing list. Again, this is my > opinion and my opinion alone (though it's one that's GPLed and readily > available to anyone to adopt as their own). > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 18:10:01 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:10:01 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> Message-ID: <20090731011001.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > Would you help me rephrase my questions to avoid lending the > impression that I have a zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset? I'm not > entirely sure what I have said to lead you to believe that. It's sort of inherent in the underlying assumption that levels of "adoption of the platform" and the "user base growing fast enough" are significant concerns, in the first place. (If you can't see that, then I'm sorry, but we're probably not going to get anywhere.) We get that from people all the time, generally leading to a polite "You're new here, right?" reaction. ;-> E.g.: Newcomer: "We all need to go out and convince all new and novice computer users to use Firefox." Us: "Why? How's that good for us, except in a very general sense of slightly promoting W3C standards?" Newcomer: "Bringing in hordes of new users would help Firefox development." Us: "Sorry, I can't see how." Newcomer: "It'll help the code by resulting in a great deal more bug reports." Us: "Deluging the Firefox team with badly conceived and probably useless bug reports, not to mention probably misdirected helpdesk requests, would not be helping the project. Probably a lot more like hurting it severely." Newcomer: "More mindshare would better motivate the developers to do a good job." Us: "Again, I can't see it. Developers are already motivated to do a good job. Why would their knowledge that there are suddenly a couple million more users particularly inspire them? Doesn't make sense." Newcomer: "It'd result in more resources being available to the coders." Us: "Excuse me, but how does that work? It's not like there's some fixed-size pool of money, and it's apportioned among Firefox, MSIE, Opera, Safari, Konqueror, and others according to userbase share. The people who get paid are typically getting paid on some other basis entirely, especially in the case of the open source codebases." I swear I've had that exact conversation on mailing lists and newsgroups about a dozen times (though I might be omitting some of the obligatory non-sequitur arguments). > For the purposes of my paper, would you mind going into more detail > about how one would become a process thinker? Pretty much the same way one gets to Carnegie Hall. (I trust you know the joke.) It helps to concentrate for a while on actually figuring out problems, as opposed to just asking other people for the answers -- and I'm not calling particular attention to the fact that you've been rather steadfastly doing the latter and not the former since your arrival, here. Rather, that's my intent to squarely answer your question as posed. Often, the first step is to think to yourself "How would I determine the answer to that question?" For example: When I was a boy, I started having some seasonal allergies (to what exactly was never clear). People would come up and say "Do you have a cold?" For quite a while, that question bothered me in a fundamental way, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Then, one day, upon being asked that question, I suddenly thought: "How would I know?" In other words, having a runny nose logically means _either_ that one encountered an irritant (peeling an onion, whatever) _or_ is having an allergic attack, _or_ is coming down with a cold. So, logically, if someone asks you if you have a cold, your first reaction really ought to be: How would one determine the answer to that question? Is there a process by which one can disambiguate those possibilities, either zeroing in on one as the confirmed cause or managing to eliminate the others as candidates? How do you know you aren't _both_ having an allergic reaction to (e.g.) cat dander or ragweed pollen _and_ coming down with a cold? It turns out, those are often extremely difficult questions to answer, so within reason there is often no way to properly answer the original question. Basically, it's a rather silly question -- which becomes obvious if you think "process", and apparently isn't if you don't. > If Linux is a good operating system, I would think everyone would like > to see it more widely recognized and used, not because of mindless > brand loyalty, but because it can benefit society. Sure, in a very general and low-priority sense, that's possibly the case, except that it's rather ridiculous to suggest that Linux isn't "widely recognised" post-1998, and it's extremely available for use by people wanting it, so in general I have thousands of higher priorities than making sure it's "more widely recognized and used". For that matter, making sure it's "used" sounds rather obnoxiously pushy: It will be "used" to the extent that people find it useful. My attempting to _make_ it be used seems, on the face of it, to be somewhere between rude and pointless, depending on how. Besides, who says Linux is "a good operating system"? Good for what? (Again, that is thinking in _process_ terms.) Isn't it a question of utility, that what's good for one person in his/her particular circumstances would be terrible for another? Why would I want to go about convincing people that Linux is categorically "good", when that is obviously not the case? > Also, can you help me understand how repeatedly belittling someone who > is honestly seeking to understand the Linux community is constructive? Can you understand that peppering us with a series of rather poorly thought out questions in our own community forum, taking over that forum to get us to help you do your homework, is not at all endearing? Can you get, belatedly, my broad hint that your bothering to do a bit of looking around on your own would save a great deal of time for you and for everyone else? > Is it some kind of hazing ritual? Are you having sense-of-entitlement problems? Is this entire conversation going to devolve to questions? From tigakub at mac.com Thu Jul 30 19:11:00 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:11:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: <20090731011001.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <20090728221437.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> <20090729003240.GA15655@linuxmafia.com> <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> <20090731011001.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: On Jul 30, 2009, at 6:10 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > >> Would you help me rephrase my questions to avoid lending the >> impression that I have a zero-sum proprietary-OS mindset? I'm not >> entirely sure what I have said to lead you to believe that. > > It's sort of inherent in the underlying assumption that levels of > "adoption of the platform" and the "user base growing fast enough" > are significant concerns, in the first place. (If you can't see that, > then I'm sorry, but we're probably not going to get anywhere.) > > We get that from people all the time, generally leading to a polite > "You're new here, right?" reaction. ;-> E.g.: > > Newcomer: "We all need to go out and convince all new and novice > computer users to use Firefox." > > Us: "Why? How's that good for us, except in a very general sense of > slightly promoting W3C standards?" > > Newcomer: "Bringing in hordes of new users would help Firefox > development." > > Us: "Sorry, I can't see how." > > Newcomer: "It'll help the code by resulting in a great deal more bug > reports." > > Us: "Deluging the Firefox team with badly conceived and probably > useless bug reports, not to mention probably misdirected helpdesk > requests, would not be helping the project. Probably a lot more > like hurting it severely." > > Newcomer: "More mindshare would better motivate the developers to > do a > good job." > > Us: "Again, I can't see it. Developers are already motivated to > do a > good job. Why would their knowledge that there are suddenly a couple > million more users particularly inspire them? Doesn't make sense." > > Newcomer: "It'd result in more resources being available to the > coders." > > Us: "Excuse me, but how does that work? It's not like there's some > fixed-size pool of money, and it's apportioned among Firefox, MSIE, > Opera, Safari, Konqueror, and others according to userbase share. > The people who get paid are typically getting paid on some other > basis > entirely, especially in the case of the open source codebases." > > I swear I've had that exact conversation on mailing lists and > newsgroups > about a dozen times (though I might be omitting some of the obligatory > non-sequitur arguments). > > > >> For the purposes of my paper, would you mind going into more detail >> about how one would become a process thinker? > > Pretty much the same way one gets to Carnegie Hall. (I trust you know > the joke.) > > > It helps to concentrate for a while on actually figuring out problems, > as opposed to just asking other people for the answers -- and I'm not > calling particular attention to the fact that you've been rather > steadfastly doing the latter and not the former since your arrival, > here. > Rather, that's my intent to squarely answer your question as posed. > > Often, the first step is to think to yourself "How would I determine > the > answer to that question?" For example: When I was a boy, I started > having some seasonal allergies (to what exactly was never clear). > People would come up and say "Do you have a cold?" > > For quite a while, that question bothered me in a fundamental way, > but I > couldn't quite put my finger on why. Then, one day, upon being asked > that question, I suddenly thought: "How would I know?" > > In other words, having a runny nose logically means _either_ that one > encountered an irritant (peeling an onion, whatever) _or_ is having an > allergic attack, _or_ is coming down with a cold. So, logically, if > someone asks you if you have a cold, your first reaction really > ought to > be: How would one determine the answer to that question? Is there a > process by which one can disambiguate those possibilities, either > zeroing in on one as the confirmed cause or managing to eliminate the > others as candidates? How do you know you aren't _both_ having an > allergic reaction to (e.g.) cat dander or ragweed pollen _and_ coming > down with a cold? > > It turns out, those are often extremely difficult questions to answer, > so within reason there is often no way to properly answer the original > question. > > Basically, it's a rather silly question -- which becomes obvious if > you > think "process", and apparently isn't if you don't. > > > >> If Linux is a good operating system, I would think everyone would >> like >> to see it more widely recognized and used, not because of mindless >> brand loyalty, but because it can benefit society. > > Sure, in a very general and low-priority sense, that's possibly the > case, except that it's rather ridiculous to suggest that Linux isn't > "widely recognised" post-1998, and it's extremely available for use by > people wanting it, so in general I have thousands of higher priorities > than making sure it's "more widely recognized and used". For that > matter, making sure it's "used" sounds rather obnoxiously pushy: > It will be "used" to the extent that people find it useful. My > attempting to _make_ it be used seems, on the face of it, to be > somewhere between rude and pointless, depending on how. > > Besides, who says Linux is "a good operating system"? Good for what? > (Again, that is thinking in _process_ terms.) Isn't it a question > of utility, that what's good for one person in his/her particular > circumstances would be terrible for another? Why would I want to go > about convincing people that Linux is categorically "good", when > that is > obviously not the case? > >> Also, can you help me understand how repeatedly belittling someone >> who >> is honestly seeking to understand the Linux community is >> constructive? > > Can you understand that peppering us with a series of rather poorly > thought out questions in our own community forum, taking over that > forum > to get us to help you do your homework, is not at all endearing? Can > you get, belatedly, my broad hint that your bothering to do a bit of > looking around on your own would save a great deal of time for you and > for everyone else? > >> Is it some kind of hazing ritual? > > Are you having sense-of-entitlement problems? > > Is this entire conversation going to devolve to questions? > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug Thank you for your very pointed response. It would have sufficed to simply ask me to stop. you needn't have taken so much of your valuable time with your hint that I was obviously too obtuse to get. Thank you for pointing out one more of my deficiencies. For what it's worth, your responses have given me a lot of data to work with. They have been very informative if not entirely pleasant to read. As for the hazing question, it was mainly earnest. I thought you might be giving me a hard time to see how persistent I would be. I now see that I was wrong and that you simply do not want me here. I respect that. -edj From maiwurd at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 19:31:38 2009 From: maiwurd at gmail.com (Bradley Haynes) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:31:38 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 37 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4A72578A.5090303@gmail.com> So here we are in a pseudo flame session yet again. I suppose I should refrain from reading this BBS 'til the cows come home; and the homework assignment is done... It is as if this mail list has been hijacked. Or is there nothing better to discuss here? Is there no one having issues with which they wish to share so we can learn as we post solution tracks? sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com wrote: > Send sf-lug mailing list submissions to > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > sf-lug-owner at linuxmafia.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of sf-lug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a > Linux user? (chaitanya mehandru) > 2. Re: (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a > Linux user? (Rick Moen) > 3. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth (Edward Janne) > 4. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth (Larry Cafiero) > 5. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth (Bill Kendrick) > 6. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth (Larry Cafiero) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:02:13 +0530 > From: chaitanya mehandru > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you > become a Linux user? > To: Rick Moen , sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: > <24b40b2b0907301532t7529f0d7i712758a14ba01f5a at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > What i know is tht the viruses for linux affectonly the local user.....and > not keep spreading all over. Well, the text is worth reading. and it also > mentions that the virus will change permissions,etc,etc. and affect the > files of a user who executed the binary. More i will read.....and also > willing to talk about it more with you and other folks. > > >> ----- Forwarded message from chaitanya mehandru >> ----- >> >> Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:49:58 +0530 >> From: chaitanya mehandru >> To: Rick Moen >> X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.4 required=4.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,HTML_MESSAGE, >> SPF_PASS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 >> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you become a Linux >> user? >> >> Hi Rick, >> So that means linux is at a risk from these viruses/worms? These viruses >> will work in some exceptional cases only!!! >> Can we say that Linux is still secure as compared to windows? >> >> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:28 AM, Rick Moen wrote: >> >>> Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): >>> >>>> Also, security is an important concern and there is nothing to worry >>> about >>>> viruses on linux. >>> >>> Even though there have been 66 viruses and 12 worms released to attack >>> Linux specifically? (Reference: >>> http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus#virus5 >> ) >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Cheers, The shortest distance between two puns is a >>> straightline. >>> Rick Moen >>> rick at linuxmafia.com >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> sf-lug mailing list >>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >>> >> ----- End forwarded message ----- >> > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:39:10 -0700 > From: Rick Moen > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] (forw) Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] How did you > become a Linux user? > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: <20090730223910.GI18928 at linuxmafia.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Quoting chaitanya mehandru (chinku.linux at gmail.com): > >> What i know is tht the viruses for linux affectonly the local user.....and >> not keep spreading all over. Well, the text is worth reading. and it also >> mentions that the virus will change permissions,etc,etc. and affect the >> files of a user who executed the binary. More i will read.....and also >> willing to talk about it more with you and other folks. > > Uh... if you read the page, you presumably came across text like this: > > Linux systems' architecture and culture, by design, resist such petty > nuisances, and create sufficient default protections that anyone > careless enough to be exposed to Linux "malware" (viruses and such) has > bigger and more fundamental worries: By and large, you can be hit at > all only by being really dumb.[link] By and large, you can suffer > system (root) compromise from malware only by being mind-bogglingly > dumb. > From nbs at sonic.net Thu Jul 30 19:44:59 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:44:59 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [fwd] ToonTalk going open source Message-ID: <20090731024459.GD2921@sonic.net> If anyone feels like porting a Windows app that has recently been re-licensed as open source. >:^) Seen on the SchoolForge mailing list: ----- Forwarded message from Yishay Mor ----- Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:27:40 +0100 From: Yishay Mor Subject: [school-discuss] ToonTalk going open source I have used ToonTalk as a programming language with 10-15 year olds, and I know of people who have used it in kindergartens. ToonTalk is great fun (once you get into the hang of it) and is also very satesfing from an educators perspective: literally within hours of initial encounter, kids with no privios programming experience can produce meanigfull code. ToonTalk's looks are deceptive. It gives the impression of a pre-school video game, but under the cover it is a concurent logical programming language, as powerful as any. Today Ken Kahn, toontalk's creator and owner, has released its code under a new BSD license. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the community. Unfortunatly, the current code base is configured for Microsoft Visual Studio, and compiles to a windows execuatble. But I'm sure someone will change that soon enough :) While I don't think Ken intends to lead any porting effort, he's very approachable and always happy to help. See: http://toontalk.com/ http://code.google.com/p/toontalk/ ___________________________ Yishay Mor, Researcher, London Knowledge Lab http://www.lkl.ac.uk/people/mor.html http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=yishaym%40gmail.com +44-20-78378888 x5737 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ken Kahn Date: 2009/7/30 Subject: [ToonTalk] ToonTalk source code is now available To: ToonTalk at yahoogroups.com Dear ToonTalkers, I uploaded the ToonTalk source files to Google Code: http://code.google.com/p/toontalk/source/browse/ While I spent some effort deleting extraneous and obsolete files there is probably lots left. The code itself is the result of 15 years of development so it varies in quality, readability, and documentation. If anyone wants to take the code further (e.g. maybe make a web-based version) I'll be glad to advise and put more work into cleaning up the code. If a project to make a web-based ToonTalk were to be funded I'd be more than happy to participate. Best, -ken . __,_._,___ ----- End forwarded message ----- -- -bill! Sent from my computer From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 19:56:09 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:56:09 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 37 In-Reply-To: <4A72578A.5090303@gmail.com> References: <4A72578A.5090303@gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090731025609.GY26829@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Bradley Haynes (maiwurd at gmail.com): > So here we are in a pseudo flame session yet again. A reference to an essay explaining how Linux viruses do and do not work is a pseudo flame session? > It is as if this mail list has been hijacked. Somebody should definitely complain to the guy who built and runs the machine the mailing list runs on. Won't he be annoyed! ;-> > Or is there nothing better to discuss here? Just curious: Did you even bother to look at the essay? From rick at linuxmafia.com Thu Jul 30 20:54:25 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:54:25 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth In-Reply-To: References: <7B2E7036-4B1C-4417-82E4-030897D744C9@mac.com> <1248882606.6860.104.camel@jim-laptop> <1975FE68-8B95-4132-A879-E0831B187A7B@mac.com> <22BE7F12-1A62-4175-8557-D13D77B34DEB@mac.com> <1248917850.6860.153.camel@jim-laptop> <6AAECA24-3B03-4FA8-9515-AEB21079B698@mac.com> <20090730174957.GM26829@linuxmafia.com> <0AFFC8EE-23DE-4F52-B680-FCC5526933F9@mac.com> <20090731011001.GX26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090731035425.GA22714@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): [...] > I now see that I was wrong and that you simply do not want me here. I > respect that. Passive-aggressive much? I of course nowhere suggested, nor do I wish, that you not be here. I _did_ at one point suggest that the normal and customary thing would be to conduct your survey using one of the standard (and free of charge) services for that purpose - or just put the questions on a Web page and ask people to directly e-mail you the answers. And I notice that I'm not alone in making that comment. I actually also put quite a lot of time and effort into illustrating what is meant process thinking. Because you asked. _Do_ you know how to get to Carnegie Hall, by the way? It'd be shame to have you not know the joke. From grantbow at gmail.com Fri Jul 31 12:30:59 2009 From: grantbow at gmail.com (Grant Bowman) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:30:59 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] quick report on saturday's Tech Fair In-Reply-To: <809574.17283.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <809574.17283.qm@web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <317e39f0907311230t1670fc26qf170fce1b21bd6b3@mail.gmail.com> Hello, I am the Ubuntu California Local Community (LoCo) person you mentioned. Though I came near the end of the Tech Faire event last week, I am glad I was able to meet you and see the facility at 150 Golden Gate Ave. Here's another way to get involved with St. Anthony's. http://www.stanthonysf.org/volunteer/volunteer-orientation.html I plan to attend a "Basic Volunteer Orientation" session scheduled for Saturday, August 8th from 10:30-12:45. Cheers, Grant Bowman https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CaliforniaTeam On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Lx Rudis wrote: > > jim s: >> what kind of help do you need > > thanks for the reply! > [...] From maiwurd at gmail.com Fri Jul 31 13:38:02 2009 From: maiwurd at gmail.com (mai wurd) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:38:02 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 39 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The pseudo flame comment was in reference to some of the nitpicking in the responses to some of the survey questions. Any information that server as a learning opportunity is always appreciated by me. ie "A reference to an essay explaining how Linux viruses do and do not work" The hijacking connotation has more to do with subject matter that as a literal as in browser hijacking. I need not defend myself nor my intense drive to learn more and more about Linux and its' application. On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:00 PM, wrote: > Send sf-lug mailing list submissions to > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > sf-lug-owner at linuxmafia.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of sf-lug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 37 (Rick Moen) > 2. Re: [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth (Rick Moen) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:56:09 -0700 > From: Rick Moen > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 37 > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: <20090731025609.GY26829 at linuxmafia.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Quoting Bradley Haynes (maiwurd at gmail.com): > > > So here we are in a pseudo flame session yet again. > > A reference to an essay explaining how Linux viruses do and do not work > is a pseudo flame session? > > > > It is as if this mail list has been hijacked. > > Somebody should definitely complain to the guy who built and runs the > machine the mailing list runs on. Won't he be annoyed! ;-> > > > Or is there nothing better to discuss here? > > Just curious: Did you even bother to look at the essay? > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:54:25 -0700 > From: Rick Moen > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE] Linux growth > To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > Message-ID: <20090731035425.GA22714 at linuxmafia.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Quoting Edward Janne (tigakub at mac.com): > > [...] > > I now see that I was wrong and that you simply do not want me here. I > > respect that. > > Passive-aggressive much? > > I of course nowhere suggested, nor do I wish, that you not be here. > I _did_ at one point suggest that the normal and customary thing would > be to conduct your survey using one of the standard (and free of charge) > services for that purpose - or just put the questions on a Web page and > ask people to directly e-mail you the answers. And I notice that I'm > not alone in making that comment. > > I actually also put quite a lot of time and effort into illustrating > what is meant process thinking. Because you asked. > > _Do_ you know how to get to Carnegie Hall, by the way? It'd be shame to > have you not know the joke. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > > End of sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 39 > ************************************** > -- Always think about positive affirmations before going to sleep. This spirit guides our subconscious as we sleep and creates our reality. Giving thanks, for that which has not happened yet, allows a spirit/life pattern to manifest in our lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Jul 31 14:07:28 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:07:28 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 42, Issue 39 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20090731210728.GH22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting mai wurd (maiwurd at gmail.com): > The pseudo flame comment was in reference to some of the nitpicking in the > responses to some of the survey questions. Glad you have opinions. Everyone should have a few. Me, I don't think pointing out badly wrong fundamental assumptions comes within a country mile of qualifying as nitpicking. Nor do I think that anything that _is_ properly classifiable as "nitpicking" is therefore also a "flame session", pseudo or otherwise. But hey, the sky might be some entirely different colour in your world. -- Cheers, "There once was a man from Nantucket, Rick Moen who lost his .sig in a bucket. rick at linuxmafia.com Five lines was too long, / columns 80 just strong, McQ! (4x80) so he didn't know where to tuck it." -- alt.fan.warlord From einfeldt at gmail.com Fri Jul 31 22:32:06 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:32:06 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Microsoft tax refunded by Amazon UK! Please pass it on! In-Reply-To: <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> References: <4b5781040907230938m55d0246p46e461630a162561@mail.gmail.com> <20090723165205.GA26829@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040907312232l5a8cf018m7393b76ad66ee7c5@mail.gmail.com> hi, Now another guy has gotten a story on Slashdot for getting a refund of his Microsoft license: http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/31/1215248/Amazon-US-Refunds-Windows-License-Fee-Too The compressed URL is here: http://is.gd/1X9Xf -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john_re at fastmail.us Sat Aug 1 01:44:19 2009 From: john_re at fastmail.us (john_re) Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:44:19 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Aug 1 & 16- Global VOIP Free SW HW Culture meeting, BerkeleyTIP, For Forwarding Message-ID: <1249116259.23618.1327807175@webmail.messagingengine.com> Interested in joining the friendly global Free SW HW & Culture communities in a global Voice meeting? You?re invited. :) You can join from your home, or better: get a local meeting together. Tip: a college WiFi cafe could be a great local meeting place. Make sure you have a VOIP headset! For all details, see the website (I?m leaving out many sublinks to make this email smaller). http://sites.google.com/site/berkeleytip Start by joining #berkeleytip on IRC freenode.net. We?ll help you get your VOIP connection working. :) ===== MARK YOUR CALENDARS: 1st Sat & 3rd Sunday each month. August 1 & 16. 10A - 6P Pacific US time (+7H GMT, IIRC) = 1P-9P Eastern US time = 5P - 1A GMT ? Or, come to the local meeting on the UC Berkeley campus. NOTE: SPECIAL LOCATION AUG 1: SEE BTIP WEBSITE FOR LOCATION, & RSVP TO ME OR THE BTIP LISTS. AUG 1 MEETING WILL BE 12N - 3P AT THE BTIP VOIP SERVER LOCATION ON THE UCB CAMPUS. SEE THE WEBSITE FOR ROOM LOCATION. We?ll hack on the new BTIP Asterisk VOIP server, in its presence. PLEASE RSVP TO ME (John) OR THE LIST IF YOU WANT TO MEET AT OUR USUAL LOCATION, THE FREE SPEECH CAFE, 10A-12n, 3-6PM, (otherwise i might not be there). ===== MEETING TOPICS FOR AUGUST: 1) Whatever _you_ want to work on - Email the BTIPGlobal list & let us know what your interests are. 2) Our VOIP conference server, using Asterisk. 3) Planning for year 2. ===== JOIN FOR THE START OF YEAR 2 GLOBAL MEETINGs: We had a great first year. We had local attendees from around the San Francisco Bay Area & Northern California. High School, College, Grad Students, & working & retired people attended. From tigakub at mac.com Sat Aug 1 11:04:19 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (tigakub at mac.com) Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:04:19 +0000 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology Message-ID: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> Dear SF-LUG list members, I'm an animation student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. As a part of my curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. The theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or dislikes. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. I have tried my best to draft the questions to this end, but should you feel they are inadequate in any way, please feel free to say so in the response, and I welcome any suggestions as to how I might improve them. There are no wrong answers. There are eight questions, none of them mandatory. Some of you may have already answered a few on the mailing-list. If so please skip to the ones you have not, or feel free to elaborate. My paper is due at midnight, Wedesday 8/5/2009 but I will be fielding responses up till then. If you would like to receive a copy of my paper, please indicate so at the end of the questionnaire, and enter your e-mail in the space provided. Any data collected here is for the sole purpose of writing my paper and will not be used for any other. However, my paper will be graded, and will be archived at the Academy of Art University for possible perusal by faculty and students. Thank you all for your kind assistance and I look forward to reading your responses. Yours sincerely, Edward Janne Course information follows. Course Number: GS_603_OL5 Course Title: Anthropology: Experiencing Culture Academy of Art University http://online.academyart.edu/ I've invited you to fill out the form Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology. To fill it out, visit: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE40dGNrTU80aEdJeGFTVnFha3VGSHc6MA.. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From einfeldt at gmail.com Sat Aug 1 13:28:56 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 13:28:56 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] request for ethernet cable, hubs, switches or routers Message-ID: <4b5781040908011328l3157b3ebha28ab6841c87e109@mail.gmail.com> hi, If anyone in SF or near SF has ethernet cable, hubs, switches or routers sitting in their closets unused and would like to share them, we culd use them for our schools projects. We are now supporting two public middle schools in San Francisco with FOSS. Thx either way. c u -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Sat Aug 1 14:09:02 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:09:02 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] request for ethernet cable, hubs, switches or routers In-Reply-To: <4b5781040908011328l3157b3ebha28ab6841c87e109@mail.gmail.com> References: <4b5781040908011328l3157b3ebha28ab6841c87e109@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A74AEEE.9000009@sfo.com> Christian Einfeldt wrote: > hi, > > If anyone in SF or near SF has ethernet cable, hubs, switches or routers > sitting in their closets unused and would like to share them, we culd use > them for our schools projects. We are now supporting two public middle > schools in San Francisco with FOSS. > > Thx either way. > > c u > > And where/ to whom do we deliver these remmants of a cabled age? later Bobbie Sellers From einfeldt at gmail.com Sat Aug 1 15:12:50 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 15:12:50 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] request for ethernet cable, hubs, switches or routers In-Reply-To: <4A74A804.8000601@gmail.com> References: <4b5781040908011328l3157b3ebha28ab6841c87e109@mail.gmail.com> <4A74A804.8000601@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040908011512n250f5d02t5e574babb1e1ad13@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 1:39 PM, Michael Shiloh wrote: > I can probably dig out a few. We might also repost this on Dorkbot - I'm > happy to do this for you or feel free do to it yourself. I have never been on Dorkbot. If you are a long-time member there and would like to do that, it would be great! I will check out Dorbot now. > Last time I was at CACS they had a bunch of random Ethernet cables in the > closets - some of it looked pre-cat 5, but of the half a dozen pieces I used > all worked fine. I will check next time I am over to CACS. They won't be open until Monday, though, and we were hoping to get some work done today and tomorrow. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Sun Aug 2 14:46:01 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:46:01 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Meeting this morning Sunday 2 August 2009 Message-ID: <4A760919.5020707@sfo.com> Well if you weren't there you missed it all. 7 participants showed up and talked computing and what we do with our computers, etc. Edward J. was there and has installed Linux on an Apple I believe so he is now a Linux user as well and must answer, as I pointed out, his own questionnaire. Surprised that Jim S, didn't make it but he was undoubtedly busy with other matters. 3 or 4 people were left in discussion as I and 2 others left. later bliss From nbs at sonic.net Mon Aug 3 12:31:26 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 12:31:26 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Meeting this morning Sunday 2 August 2009 In-Reply-To: <4A760919.5020707@sfo.com> References: <4A760919.5020707@sfo.com> Message-ID: <20090803193126.GC17725@sonic.net> On Sun, Aug 02, 2009 at 02:46:01PM -0700, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > Edward J. was there and has installed Linux on an Apple I *laughing* Sorry. When I read that, I totally read it as this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I -bill! From sfkeys at gmail.com Mon Aug 3 12:45:17 2009 From: sfkeys at gmail.com (user) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:45:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] I am a Linux user in San Francisco interested in helping with SFLUG or independent Linux or hardware projects Message-ID: <4A773E4D.2010108@gmail.com> I am visiting San Francisco for another week or two and have some time on my hands. It would be fun to help out on some kind of project and get my hands dirty, whether it's just setting up an OS, or upgrading hardware or networks, or a creative hack, making wifi antennas, or what-have-you. I am windoze free and I am currently running Debian, Ubuntu, and Puppy for stable usage, and DSL, and Slitaz for live booting. I loved that hardware chart that one of your members made. That's my desktop right now. I've been using linux for about 5 years. I have some intermediate command line usage, if that's needed on anything. I keep missing SFLUG meetings, but it would be cool to meet up if someone if working on a project and needs a hand. From bliss at sfo.com Mon Aug 3 12:58:21 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:58:21 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Meeting this morning Sunday 2 August 2009 In-Reply-To: <20090803193126.GC17725@sonic.net> References: <4A760919.5020707@sfo.com> <20090803193126.GC17725@sonic.net> Message-ID: <4A77415D.3000201@sfo.com> Bill Kendrick wrote: > On Sun, Aug 02, 2009 at 02:46:01PM -0700, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > >> Edward J. was there and has installed Linux on an Apple I >> > > *laughing* > > Sorry. When I read that, I totally read it as this: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I > > -bill! > > I guess I should have written Mac rather than Apple but I am glad you got a laugh. later bliss From tigakub at mac.com Mon Aug 3 13:47:54 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:47:54 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Meeting this morning Sunday 2 August 2009 In-Reply-To: <20090803193126.GC17725@sonic.net> References: <4A760919.5020707@sfo.com> <20090803193126.GC17725@sonic.net> Message-ID: Yes, it proved very difficult to find a mini distro on tape. :) On Aug 3, 2009, at 12:31 PM, Bill Kendrick wrote: > On Sun, Aug 02, 2009 at 02:46:01PM -0700, Bobbie Sellers wrote: >> Edward J. was there and has installed Linux on an Apple I > > *laughing* > > Sorry. When I read that, I totally read it as this: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I > > -bill! > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug From einfeldt at gmail.com Mon Aug 3 14:11:21 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 17:11:21 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] I am a Linux user in San Francisco interested in helping with SFLUG or independent Linux or hardware projects In-Reply-To: <4A773E4D.2010108@gmail.com> References: <4A773E4D.2010108@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4b5781040908031411h23f30b0dn6995c8ad2bf1ca00@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 3:45 PM, user wrote: > I am visiting San Francisco for another week or two and have some time on > my hands. It would be fun to help out on some kind of project and get my > hands dirty, We could use help with a project that involves moving two schools to Linux. It involves running cables, admin work on standalone Linux machines, moving Linux computers, and stuff like that. We would be very glad for the help. Thx! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Mon Aug 3 19:50:10 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:50:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] I am a Linux user in San Francisco interested in helping with SFLUG or independent Linux or hardware projects In-Reply-To: <4A773E4D.2010108@gmail.com> References: <4A773E4D.2010108@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1249354210.6860.342.camel@jim-laptop> lx_rudis at sbcglobal.net is honchoing the St. Anthony's volunteer effort. jim at well.com and robert briley are just starting a red hat certification study effort. christian einfeldt ( einfeldt at gmail.com ) is supporting the kipp school on geary at scott. the hayes valley learning center on haight at buchanon is probably very low on desktop machines. i bet they would welcome someone who'd cannibalize their broken ones to make one or two more working ones. reply to the list if you're interested (that's YOU're, plural). sf-lug meets at cafe enchante on the first sunday (from 11 am to 1 pm) and the third monday (from 6 pm to 8 pm) each month ( http://www.sf-lug.com or http://www.sf-lug.org ) the OLPC-SF project meets once a month on a middle saturday in SF ( http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea ). if you don't know of it, investigate the noisebridge hacker collective ( http://www.noisebridge.net ), based near mission and 16th street in sf. eat chinese food, attend a presentation, and hang out with other linux afficianados in chinatown on the third tuesday of each month ( http://www.balug.org ). On Mon, 2009-08-03 at 12:45 -0700, user wrote: > I am visiting San Francisco for another week or two and have some time > on my hands. It would be fun to help out on some kind of project and > get my hands dirty, whether it's just setting up an OS, or upgrading > hardware or networks, or a creative hack, making wifi antennas, or > what-have-you. I am windoze free and I am currently running Debian, > Ubuntu, and Puppy for stable usage, and DSL, and Slitaz for live > booting. I loved that hardware chart that one of your members made. > That's my desktop right now. I've been using linux for about 5 years. > I have some intermediate command line usage, if that's needed on anything. > I keep missing SFLUG meetings, but it would be cool to meet up if > someone if working on a project and needs a hand. > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com Mon Aug 3 21:51:30 2009 From: embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com (Jesse Zbikowski) Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 21:51:30 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology In-Reply-To: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> References: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> Message-ID: <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> Hi guys, I enjoyed the lively discussion engendered by this survey. It truly illustrates what a wonderous thing it is when entire nuanced worldviews can be serialized, shared and understood through the linear medium of the alphabet. *cough* I just wanted to make a couple of points in defense of two of the main voices. First I think it would be a misunderstanding to think that Mr Moen intended to belittle anyone or had any mean intent in his remarks. Programmers must be like philosophers in our passion to clarify the formulation of questions and answers. When we get interested in a problem, it's best not to take any opinions expressed about your ideas too personally. That said, personal styles differ. Second I think any criticism about the validity of Mr Janne's program of research on this list, to the effect that he was asking questions here out of laziness instead of finding the answers himself, is wide of the mark. Indeed Mr Janne made it clear that he was not interested in the "real" answers to his questions in any absolute sense, but merely in how some of us might respond. Of course these responses could be given privately rather than shared with the list, but it appears many people were interested, and it's easy enough to killfile boring threads (technical problems being generally more fun and easy to solve than social ones). PS: From Port Authority take the A or C train uptown to Columbus Circle. http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/the_basics/art_directions.html PPS: Another favorite joke: How far can a dog run into the woods? ^L Only halfway - then he's running out! On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 11:04 AM, wrote: > Dear SF-LUG list members, > > I'm an animation student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. > As a part of my curriculum I'm taking a cultural anthropology class and I > elected to study the San Francisco Linux Users Group for my final paper. > > The theme of the paper is how being a Linux User informs identity through > ways of speaking, categories of people and things, and common likes or > dislikes. My aim is to understand group identity from your point of view. I > have tried my best to draft the questions to this end, but should you feel > they are inadequate in any way, please feel free to say so in the response, > and I welcome any suggestions as to how I might improve them. There are no > wrong answers. > > There are eight questions, none of them mandatory. Some of you may have > already answered a few on the mailing-list. If so please skip to the ones > you have not, or feel free to elaborate. > > My paper is due at midnight, Wedesday 8/5/2009 but I will be fielding > responses up till then. > > If you would like to receive a copy of my paper, please indicate so at the > end of the questionnaire, and enter your e-mail in the space provided. > > Any data collected here is for the sole purpose of writing my paper and will > not be used for any other. However, my paper will be graded, and will be > archived at the Academy of Art University for possible perusal by faculty > and students. > > Thank you all for your kind assistance and I look forward to reading your > responses. > > Yours sincerely, > Edward Janne > > > > Course information follows. > > Course Number: GS_603_OL5 > Course Title: Anthropology: Experiencing Culture > Academy of Art University > http://online.academyart.edu/ > > > > I've invited you to fill out the form Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for > Cultural Anthropology. To fill it out, visit: > http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE40dGNrTU80aEdJeGFTVnFha3VGSHc6MA.. > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > From rick at linuxmafia.com Mon Aug 3 23:02:36 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 23:02:36 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology In-Reply-To: <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> References: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090804060236.GB22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Jesse Zbikowski (embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com): > I just wanted to make a couple of points in defense of two of the main > voices. First I think it would be a misunderstanding to think that Mr > Moen intended to belittle anyone or had any mean intent in his > remarks. Indeed so. Thank you. The way one logically _might_ have expressed any mean, or at least callous, intent would, in fact, have been to _ignore_ the survey. I assume everyone who attempted to engage with Edward's questions could have, instead, spent the same amount of time elsewhere on matters more immediately beneficial personally. Respondents gave freely of their time and effort because they gave a damn. In the future, if anyone else is inclined to close such an initiative out with the words "I now see that I was wrong and that you simply do not want me here", rather than "thank you for your time and trouble", then please let me know in advance: I'll be glad to ignore your project, saving your time and mine. > Second I think any criticism about the validity of Mr Janne's program > of research on this list, to the effect that he was asking questions > here out of laziness instead of finding the answers himself, is wide > of the mark. Indeed Mr Janne made it clear that he was not interested > in the "real" answers to his questions in any absolute sense, but > merely in how some of us might respond. I was well aware of that intention. My point was that asking incredibly vague, so-open-ended-as-to-resemble-a-Rorschach-test questions in a technical context is quite annoying, especially when those rather half-assed questions were riddled with inadvertant bogus fundamental assumptions. So, evidently, we were supposed to compose long explanations, gently correcting his assumptions and explaining everything to him. And for what? To help him with his school homework, when all is said and done. For someone studying cultural anthropology and visiting LUGs for that purpose, Edward basically did nothing before dropping a bunch of half-baked questions on SF-LUG. I'd have hoped that such a person would have at least skim-read "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", which is _the_ cultural-anthropological piece on the subject, but it's obvious Edward didn't. I'll also bet that he didn't crack open the Linux User Group HOWTO, but I wouldn't have expected him to find that on his own. (I mention the latter work in part because that's one of the places that I've painstakingly attempted to address, among other things, some of the _sorts_ of questions Edward was grinding out.) Anyway, if Edward doesn't want fundamental assumptions of his homework questions to be fair game for critical commentary, he shouldn't post them to public mailing lists: Continuing the point _you_ made, if he doesn't want to see the resulting feedback, he's free to killfile it. From rick at linuxmafia.com Tue Aug 4 00:13:13 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 00:13:13 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology In-Reply-To: <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> References: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090804071313.GE22722@linuxmafia.com> Actually, Jesse, I thought I'd share with you one of the lesser but illuminating sidelights to this discussion: Edward had blithely jumped from the ongoing public mailing list thread quite a number of times -- never with any "Oh, by the way, in case you hadn't noticed, just so you're not taken by surprise: I've just dropped the mailing list address from my distribution headers. The reason I suddenly need to hold a private side-conversation with you is [foo]." Dropping without explanation into private mail from an ongoing thread is mildly annoying and clueless, because it ignores why one was _in_ that public thread: to participate in a community, for the public's benefit -- not to donate free-of-charge private consulting to strangers at their whims. However, that sadly common misbehaviour is not my point. My point is what Edward (eventually) chose to say while chewing up my time in one particular uninvited private side-conversation. He started by saying he'd been reading "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way" (the essay I co-wrote with Eric Raymond), and so asked my permission to "quote the book" for his paper, because he said he was "really just looking for an explanation for your ...uhm ... style." That cute very-slightly-concealed gratuitous attempt at an insult isn't my point, either. I ignored the bait, and said he _probably_ meant the _essay_ "How to Ask Questions the Smart Way", which despite grievous verbosity is at least not a book. I gently pointed out that, if he seriously intended to "quote _the essay_", i.e., the whole thing, then Eric's licence terms _right in the essay_ should cover it, and that he maybe should read them and see if they did. (I didn't even dwell on the fact that they're right near the top.) I added that his quoting brief excerpts for scholarship or review would need no permission: That's fair use. Edward's inability to tell an essay from a book, or bother to read a licence right near the top, or distinguish quoting an essay from quoting _from_ an essay, aren't my point, either. I pointed out to Edward that he couldn't study my "...uhm ... style" using that particular essay, because it's _co-authored_. (By way of example, I cited one aspect of the piece that's pure Eric and nothing I'd ever say.) My point is what he replied to that -- while he was busy chewing up my time in an uninvited side-conversation: "Plausible deniability is wonderful to have." Overall, I regret having tried to help the punk. From tigakub at mac.com Tue Aug 4 10:11:14 2009 From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:11:14 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology In-Reply-To: <20090804071313.GE22722@linuxmafia.com> References: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> <683785120908032151v32be957bhaa1a85c6b10c222@mail.gmail.com> <20090804071313.GE22722@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <9742D633-84D1-4141-A0A5-C4076BDEACED@mac.com> On Aug 4, 2009, at 12:13 AM, Rick Moen wrote: > "really just > looking for an explanation for your ...uhm ... style." > > That cute very-slightly-concealed gratuitous attempt at an insult > isn't > my point, either. You've misunderstood me, Rick. I really didn't mean it as an insult. If it came across that way, I apologize. I really have to learn to phrase myself more carefully in writing. > I pointed out to Edward that he couldn't study my "...uhm ... style" > using that particular essay, because it's _co-authored_. (By way of > example, I cited one aspect of the piece that's pure Eric and nothing > I'd ever say.) In my defense, I did say that I hadn't read all of it because it was late and I was tired, and that I had passed out on the floor. I thought you appreciated that humor. At least your reply seemed to indicate so. You did the little ";->" thing at the end. > My point is what he replied to that -- while he was busy chewing up my > time in an uninvited side-conversation: > > "Plausible deniability is wonderful to have." It was in jest. It's very difficult to know when you're serious or not. I meant it in good nature. > Overall, I regret having tried to help the punk. I have said quite a lot of times that you've helped me tremendously. In fact, many people on the list have. I appreciate it. I have been looking through previous mailings at your suggestion, and I have been STFW for all kinds of things about Linux, and know quite a bit more about it than I did before because of that. Also, thank you for pointing out to me that it's rude to go private without warning. I now realize that several of the other list members had gone private with me, but had very graciously prefaced their mails. This is mailing-list etiquette with which I am unfamiliar, having spent very little time using the medium. Thank you all for your indulgence for my faux pas. -edj From toya at linefeed.org Tue Aug 4 14:10:36 2009 From: toya at linefeed.org (toya) Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:10:36 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] petition for the freedom to read Message-ID: <4A78A3CC.7050503@linefeed.org> http://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984 We believe in the freedom to read We believe in a way of life based on the free exchange of ideas, in which books have and will continue to play a central role. Devices like Amazon's are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon's use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas. *That is why we readers, authors, publishers, and librarians demand that Amazon remove all DRM, including any ability to control or access the user's library, from the Kindle.* Amazon's assurances that it will refrain from the worst abuses of this power do not address the problem. Amazon should not have this power in the first place. Until they give it up they will be tempted to use it, or they could be forced to by governments or narrow private interests. Whatever Amazon's reasons for imposing this control may be, they are not as important as the public's freedom to use books without interference or supervision. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com Tue Aug 4 14:33:35 2009 From: embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com (Jesse Zbikowski) Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 14:33:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology In-Reply-To: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> References: <000e0cd47c6ea87ff60470185da3@google.com> Message-ID: <683785120908041433q25cf5fcfn1a9ebbe6ab401de7@mail.gmail.com> Seemed like a slow news day so I thought I would share my answers to the first half of the survey. As a general thought about community identities, I feel it's good to have several so as not to take any of them too seriously. For example I'm also proud member of the FGBG (Fat Guy with Beard and Glasses) community with which the Linux community has significant overlap. We hang around and talk about our favorite frozen dinners in the aisles at Ralph's. 1: What are the characteristics of a Linux user? Linux users are generally technically adept and independent minded people. 2. Why did you first use Linux? I ran Linux on my first PC because it was like the Unix systems we used at school. I've never regularly used a non Unix-like OS except for my Commodore 64. 3. Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How would you describe them? Raw novices won't know how to use the command line and often have their Linux partition as an experiment. If they don't learn the command line they generally quit, unless they need to use Linux for a specific application on a specific machine (e.g. at work or school). Of those who learn command line, the next level is customizing configuration text files, followed by people who can script (e.g. in Bash or Perl). Above these levels are experts in particular aspects of Linux such as administration or systems programming. It would be interesting if people used more GUI system tools to advance as a Linux user without the command line, but this does not seem to be how it normally works. 4. What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, is there functionality that is unique to Linux? I use Firefox, Bash, Emacs, mplayer, ffmpeg, GNU tools, Perl, wget, and filesharing applications. Ports of popular Linux software are fairly common. In the case of open source software, this may be because some of the developers sometimes use a different operating system, or because there is a commercial market for supporting the software on another OS (e.g. GNU tools). Useful Linux developments can be ported to other operating systems fairly quickly, so there is something of a feature parity. Linux is perhaps unique in the extremely broad range of devices and architectures it supports. It may also be unique in the quality of free support offered by its community, at least at the expert levels. As a piece of engineering, Linux offers a balance of stability, performance, configurability, security, extensibility, scalability, and bleeding edge features that make it an optimal choice for a variety applications. If all the operating systems in the world were to be destroyed by a giant fireball, and only one could be saved to run on every processor from cell phones to supercomputers, I believe that Linux would be the logical choice. From jim at well.com Sat Aug 8 11:51:59 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:51:59 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: [pygame-sf] PyGameSF meetup Wednesday August 12th 6pm @ Main San Francisco Public Library] Message-ID: <1249757519.6693.59.camel@jim-laptop> as seen on the pygame-sf mailing list: (PyGameSF meetup Wednesday August 12th 6pm @ Main San Francisco Public Library) Hi All, The August PyGameSF meet up will be at the STONG conference room on the first floor of the main San Francisco public library beside civic center BART. The library closes at 8pm so we will reconvene to frjtz on hayes street for dinner/drinks afterwords. This month's presentations are: * Eric Bieschke and Casey Duncan: Xenotrader, a space trader MMO for the iPhone. The presentation will include such weighty topics as: Developing on Google App Engine, using jQuery and WebKit to create an interactive game, composing game sprites using nothing but CSS, HTML, masking tape and dental floss. * Andrew Turley, Harry Tormey: Who is it?, anatomy of a facebook guessing game. This presentation will cover what it takes to build a facebook game while maintaining a modicum of sanity using pylons and sqlalchemy. From sfkeys at gmail.com Wed Aug 12 09:37:38 2009 From: sfkeys at gmail.com (sfkeys at gmail.com) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:37:38 +0000 Subject: [sf-lug] Old computer for parts In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <621667398-1250094998-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1944981184-@bxe1106.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> -----Original Message----- From: sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:00:02 To: Subject: sf-lug Digest, Vol 43, Issue 6 Send sf-lug mailing list submissions to sf-lug at linuxmafia.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com You can reach the person managing the list at sf-lug-owner at linuxmafia.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of sf-lug digest..." Today's Topics: 1. petition for the freedom to read (toya) 2. Re: Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology (Jesse Zbikowski) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:10:36 -0700 From: toya Subject: [sf-lug] petition for the freedom to read To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com Message-ID: <4A78A3CC.7050503 at linefeed.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" http://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984 We believe in the freedom to read We believe in a way of life based on the free exchange of ideas, in which books have and will continue to play a central role. Devices like Amazon's are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon's use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas. *That is why we readers, authors, publishers, and librarians demand that Amazon remove all DRM, including any ability to control or access the user's library, from the Kindle.* Amazon's assurances that it will refrain from the worst abuses of this power do not address the problem. Amazon should not have this power in the first place. Until they give it up they will be tempted to use it, or they could be forced to by governments or narrow private interests. Whatever Amazon's reasons for imposing this control may be, they are not as important as the public's freedom to use books without interference or supervision. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 14:33:35 -0700 From: Jesse Zbikowski Subject: Re: [sf-lug] Edward Janne's Final Questionnaire for Cultural Anthropology To: tigakub at mac.com Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com Message-ID: <683785120908041433q25cf5fcfn1a9ebbe6ab401de7 at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Seemed like a slow news day so I thought I would share my answers to the first half of the survey. As a general thought about community identities, I feel it's good to have several so as not to take any of them too seriously. For example I'm also proud member of the FGBG (Fat Guy with Beard and Glasses) community with which the Linux community has significant overlap. We hang around and talk about our favorite frozen dinners in the aisles at Ralph's. 1: What are the characteristics of a Linux user? Linux users are generally technically adept and independent minded people. 2. Why did you first use Linux? I ran Linux on my first PC because it was like the Unix systems we used at school. I've never regularly used a non Unix-like OS except for my Commodore 64. 3. Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How would you describe them? Raw novices won't know how to use the command line and often have their Linux partition as an experiment. If they don't learn the command line they generally quit, unless they need to use Linux for a specific application on a specific machine (e.g. at work or school). Of those who learn command line, the next level is customizing configuration text files, followed by people who can script (e.g. in Bash or Perl). Above these levels are experts in particular aspects of Linux such as administration or systems programming. It would be interesting if people used more GUI system tools to advance as a Linux user without the command line, but this does not seem to be how it normally works. 4. What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, is there functionality that is unique to Linux? I use Firefox, Bash, Emacs, mplayer, ffmpeg, GNU tools, Perl, wget, and filesharing applications. Ports of popular Linux software are fairly common. In the case of open source software, this may be because some of the developers sometimes use a different operating system, or because there is a commercial market for supporting the software on another OS (e.g. GNU tools). Useful Linux developments can be ported to other operating systems fairly quickly, so there is something of a feature parity. Linux is perhaps unique in the extremely broad range of devices and architectures it supports. It may also be unique in the quality of free support offered by its community, at least at the expert levels. As a piece of engineering, Linux offers a balance of stability, performance, configurability, security, extensibility, scalability, and bleeding edge features that make it an optimal choice for a variety applications. If all the operating systems in the world were to be destroyed by a giant fireball, and only one could be saved to run on every processor from cell phones to supercomputers, I believe that Linux would be the logical choice. ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug End of sf-lug Digest, Vol 43, Issue 6 ************************************* From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Wed Aug 12 17:11:32 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:11:32 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Softphones, voip help Message-ID: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi, I've become phone-less at this point in time. I've been thinking it would be nice to have something like MagicJack. And thought this would be the time to do it. I would like to put the software/softphone on my laptop. Be able to use a headphone/headset, at home, or wherever I am. Have voicemail. And do it over the Internet. I guess this is possible, if kluge I together different services, and software? I'm not exactly sure how Google Voice works. You have to verify your number on a different phone, and a cell phone doesn't work. Oy Vey, what's a mother to do? Calgon, take me away!!! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dssstrkl at gmail.com Wed Aug 12 17:36:51 2009 From: dssstrkl at gmail.com (Paul Ward) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:36:51 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Softphones, voip help In-Reply-To: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20158734-F7B1-4507-8BF5-1B59369FB8CE@gmail.com> Actually, you can set up Google Voice with a cell phone. Problem is (at least for your case) is that GV routes through existing phones, so I don't think it will work as a pure voip solution. Sent from my iPhone. On Aug 12, 2009, at 5:11 PM, vincent polite wrote: > Hi, > I've become phone-less at this point in time. I've been thinking it > would be nice to have something like MagicJack. And thought this > would be the time to do it. I would like to put the software/ > softphone on my laptop. Be able to use a headphone/headset, at home, > or wherever I am. Have voicemail. And do it over the Internet. I > guess this is possible, if kluge I together different services, and > software? I'm not exactly sure how Google Voice works. You have to > verify your number on a different phone, and a cell phone doesn't > work. Oy Vey, what's a mother to do? Calgon, take me away!!! > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dennisharrison at gmail.com Wed Aug 12 17:44:02 2009 From: dennisharrison at gmail.com (Dennis J Harrison Jr) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:44:02 -0500 Subject: [sf-lug] Softphones, voip help In-Reply-To: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6e8b29e0908121744p50c1fba1obc97db63d9b4f8c4@mail.gmail.com> On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 7:11 PM, vincent polite wrote: > Hi, > I've become phone-less at this point in time. I've been thinking it would be > nice to have something like MagicJack.? And thought this would be the time > to do it. I would like to put the software/softphone on my laptop. Be able > to use a headphone/headset, at home, or wherever I am. Have voicemail. And > do it over the Internet. I guess this is possible, if kluge I together > different services, and software? I'm not exactly sure how Google Voice > works. You have to verify your number on a different phone, and a cell phone > doesn't work. Oy Vey, what's a mother to do? Calgon, take me away!!! > Cell phones have worked for google voice verification several times for me. Why do you think they don't? I am working on a work-a-like to google voice that will use freeswitch as the middle man between the ui and your sip provider (even if it is another freeswitch/asterisk/etc box). But, until I/someone else makes something usable like that (and certainly after, as well), you have multitudes of options. What are your capabilities? Are you up for running your own sip server? Do you have a specific budget in mind? Are you worried about having control over configuring a follow-me type situation? I, personally, if starting from ground 0, get an account with whatever sip provider gave me the right price and had good reviews (I use voicepulse primarily because of a long history with them and they go out of their way for their larger customers, but they do have their own issues as well... like anyone will.) You will need to understand the differences between a DID, a channel, and a traditional 'line' package sold by a traditional voice provider. Would run freeswitch on a server with available resources (freeswitch > asterisk if you're going to run it on a vm for sure... especially if you're new to voip config, as it is easier to learn the nuts and bolts) Once you have your 'home base' (so to speak) setup, then you have every capability under the sun available to you. Otherwise, you are pretty much going to have to configure a sip client based on provider instructions. Also, softphones are rather lacking IMO. The best I've used wrt to softphone was twinkle with a bluetooth headset. But I would much rather a hacked iphone with a sip client over wireless. Those things have to be getting cheaper these days huh? Point being in all of this, you have about a bajillion options. What will really narrow this down is budget and time available for investment. Then you further narrow things down by what features you need/want. And then you'll know what to install first :) Hope this helps, Dennis > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > From aldenm at gmail.com Wed Aug 12 17:45:08 2009 From: aldenm at gmail.com (Alden Meneses) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:45:08 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Softphones, voip help In-Reply-To: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <221610dc0908121745i46193665id6cd4f6be7c07096@mail.gmail.com> Google Voice (GV)allows you to redirect calls to different phones including cell phones. GV has voicemail and can send and receive and can redirect SMS to any cell phone you like. With Skype you have to pay to send SMS and won't allow you to receive unless you have a cell phone and as far as I know doesn't redirect it. Skype you will need to install a client but with GV all you need is a browser. On 8/12/09, vincent polite wrote: > Hi, > I've become phone-less at this point in time. I've been thinking it would be > nice to have something like MagicJack. And thought this would be the time > to do it. I would like to put the software/softphone on my laptop. Be able > to use a headphone/headset, at home, or wherever I am. Have voicemail. And > do it over the Internet. I guess this is possible, if kluge I together > different services, and software? I'm not exactly sure how Google Voice > works. You have to verify your number on a different phone, and a cell phone > doesn't work. Oy Vey, what's a mother to do? Calgon, take me away!!! -- Sent from my mobile device Need a place to stay in So. Lake Tahoe, CA? Visit www.heavenly5.com (415) 702-0641 office (415) 386-8230 fax From jim at well.com Wed Aug 12 22:20:00 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:20:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [JOB] Sr. PHP Developer, San Francisco | 100-125k Message-ID: <1250140800.6755.4.camel@jim-laptop> [JOB] Sr. PHP Developer, San Francisco | 100-125k Our downtown San Francisco client is one of the biggest social networking technology companies around. More than 85,000 sites rely on our clients technology to power their social networks, including the world's most recognizable brands such as the BBC, HBO, U2, Madonna, NBA, and NHL, and they are growing bigger by the day. They want a full-time Senior PHP Developer with a deep understanding of web technologies and experienced in building white-label web platforms. If they can dream it, you should be able to build it. It's a fast-paced, but rewarding opportunity that offers exposure to the some of the most innovative social networking platforms in the world today, perfect for a senior developer seeking new challenges, and looking to take your coding and problem solving to the next level (while having fun in the process). REQUIRED EXPERIENCE => Current and rock-solid knowledge of PHP 5.x, deep understanding of implementing secure, fast PHP applications for both page generation and APIs => Experience working with MySQL 5.x with special focus on SQL query performance tuning, replications and data partitioning etc => Solid working knowledge of the Linux operating system => Ability to deliver quality code quickly from full specs, and work in a dynamic, fast-moving environment => Excellent analytical problem solving skills => A portfolio or a list of URLs and a description on how you contributed => A wicked sense of humor DESIRED EXPERIENCE => Familiarity with Facebook/OpenSocial/iPhone apps => Past experience at a social networking product => Clustering solutions that use commodity hardware and smart software to keep sites up and running is a huge plus => Being able to say the alphabet backwards while standing on one foot To be considered, please submit your resume along with your salary requirements to beau-AT-open-source-staffing.com Thank you, Beau J. Gould Open Source Staffing www.open-source-staffing.com beau-AT-open-source-staffing.com From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Thu Aug 13 06:09:34 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 06:09:34 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BALUG: Tu 2009-08-18 OpenHatch: Community tools for open source: Asheesh Laroia, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad; + other news Message-ID: <20090813060934.14573npojnhkh604@webmail.rawbw.com> BALUG: Tu 2009-08-18 OpenHatch: Community tools for open source: Asheesh Laroia, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad; + other news Bay Area Linux User Group (BALUG) Tuesday 6:30 P.M. 2009-08-18 Please RSVP if you're planning to come (see further below). For our 2009-08-18 BALUG meeting, we're excited to present: OpenHatch is an online network for open source geeks. The fragmentation of Free Software means it's hard to know where you can make a difference. OpenHatch provides a profile engine so you can showcase the contributions you've made and a cross-project bug search engine to help you find issues targeted at your skills and passions. OpenHatch is looking for feedback on their early alpha, enthusiastic testers, and ideas about other community tools that can enrich the open source experience. The time will be split between a presentation and Q&A from the audience. Asheesh is the data seducer at OpenHatch. He is a Debian Developer, was a software engineer for Creative Commons, and put 288 inflatable pink flamingos on his campus quad. He has written testimony in an EFF copyright case and volunteered for the World Food Programme in Uganda. Asheesh will be joined by his two colleagues at OpenHatch, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad. Karen served on the board of Students for Free Culture for two years and has built viral media outreach campaigns for Open Access advocacy group, SPARC. Raphael is a Linux enthusiast and web applications designer. So, if you'd like to join us please RSVP: rsvp at balug.org **Why RSVP??** Well, don't worry we won't turn you away, but the RSVPs really help the Four Seas Restaurant plan the meal and they help ensure that we'll be able to eat upstairs in the private banquet room. Meeting Details... 6:30pm Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 2009-08-18 Four Seas Restaurant http://www.fourseasr.com/ 731 Grant Ave. San Francisco, CA 94108 Easy PARKING: Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny http://www.sfpsg.com/ Cost: The meetings are always free, but dinner is $13 After meeting meeting (?) Presuming enough folks want to after the main meeting, those interested may gather at a nearby venue (e.g. pub) for further discussion on, e.g.: o BALUG steering committee (talk about what BALUG wants/needs to do and possible changes, etc.) o stuff one can do to help BALUG o ideas for possible future talks/presentations (got contacts/leads?) o random Linux, etc. topics o random networking o discussion of topic(s) from/for meetings current, past, and future o insert your topic here :-) ------------------------------ Additional upcoming BALUG meetings: 2009-09-15 Christian Einfeld on: Help yourself by helping the underdog... public schools. (Linux, Open Source, ...) ------------------------------ Missed the 2009-07-21 meeting on Regular Expressions? Slides, etc. See: http://lists.balug.org/pipermail/balug-talk-balug.org/2009-July/004456.html ------------------------------ Picn*x 18 - The Linux 18th Anniversary Picnic This coming Saturday 2009-08-15 http://www.linuxpicnic.org/ ------------------------------ Feedback on our publicity/announcements (e.g. contacts or lists where we should get our information out that we're not presently reaching, or things we should do differently): publicity-feedback at balug.org http://www.balug.org/ From jim at well.com Fri Aug 14 18:00:41 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:00:41 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable Message-ID: <1250298041.8052.12.camel@jim-laptop> we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want the usb stick to be bootable. we used fdisk to put on these partitions: /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB we've put no directory names on the partitions. # man grub-install says we can put grub on a device name and also use the --root-directory option to specify a directory in which we list grub images. we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted on the /boot mount point (specified in the root directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our working box. we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've not used any installer to put any linux or other os on the usb stick. From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Fri Aug 14 18:14:21 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:14:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable In-Reply-To: <1250298041.8052.12.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1250298041.8052.12.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <739304.54146.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Here's a link to one site on how to do it. http://www.shivaranjan.com/2008/09/03/how-to-create-bootable-linux-usb-flashpen-drive-from-windows/ . If you google it, you'll find a ton of sites on how to do it. ________________________________ From: jim To: sf-lug Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:00:41 PM Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want the usb stick to be bootable. we used fdisk to put on these partitions: /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB we've put no directory names on the partitions. # man grub-install says we can put grub on a device name and also use the --root-directory option to specify a directory in which we list grub images. we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted on the /boot mount point (specified in the root directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our working box. we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've not used any installer to put any linux or other os on the usb stick. _______________________________________________ sf-lug mailing list sf-lug at linuxmafia.com http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Fri Aug 14 18:26:26 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:26:26 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable In-Reply-To: <739304.54146.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <1250298041.8052.12.camel@jim-laptop> <739304.54146.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1250299586.8052.33.camel@jim-laptop> thanks vince. i don't have any windows machines. i've googled this and can't find anything that satisfies me: directions are often insufficient (some step omitted or something, maybe just not okay for my system); also the purpose is not to have a bootable stick, it's to learn how to make a bootable stick at a low level (not just use some program that does it, but use standard, available linux tools to * partition the usb stick * put an MBR on it * put grub on it * put the kernel and /etc/ /lib/ /usr/ and other directories on it. * have it boot up and work as we expect a linux distro to work. * whatever else i don't know to do the basics. On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 18:14 -0700, vincent polite wrote: > Here's a link to one site on how to do it. > http://www.shivaranjan.com/2008/09/03/how-to-create-bootable-linux-usb-flashpen-drive-from-windows/ . If you google it, you'll find a ton of sites on how to do it. > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > From: jim > To: sf-lug > Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:00:41 PM > Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable > > > we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want > the usb stick to be bootable. > > we used fdisk to put on these partitions: > /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB > /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB > /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB > > we've put no directory names on the partitions. > > # man grub-install > says we can put grub on a device name and also > use the --root-directory option to specify a > directory in which we list grub images. > > we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 > and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted > on the /boot mount point (specified in the root > directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. > > we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 > and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our > working box. > > we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've > not used any installer to put any linux or other > os on the usb stick. > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com Fri Aug 14 18:36:42 2009 From: vpolitewebsiteguy at yahoo.com (vincent polite) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:36:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable In-Reply-To: <1250299586.8052.33.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1250298041.8052.12.camel@jim-laptop> <739304.54146.qm@web82808.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <1250299586.8052.33.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <271994.28964.qm@web82804.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Oh, sorry. I thought that one was for Linux. Yeah, they always seem to miss a step along the way. ________________________________ From: jim To: vincent polite Cc: sf-lug Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:26:26 PM Subject: Re: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable thanks vince. i don't have any windows machines. i've googled this and can't find anything that satisfies me: directions are often insufficient (some step omitted or something, maybe just not okay for my system); also the purpose is not to have a bootable stick, it's to learn how to make a bootable stick at a low level (not just use some program that does it, but use standard, available linux tools to * partition the usb stick * put an MBR on it * put grub on it * put the kernel and /etc/ /lib/ /usr/ and other directories on it. * have it boot up and work as we expect a linux distro to work. * whatever else i don't know to do the basics. On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 18:14 -0700, vincent polite wrote: > Here's a link to one site on how to do it. > http://www.shivaranjan.com/2008/09/03/how-to-create-bootable-linux-usb-flashpen-drive-from-windows/ . If you google it, you'll find a ton of sites on how to do it. > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > From: jim > To: sf-lug > Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:00:41 PM > Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable > > > we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want > the usb stick to be bootable. > > we used fdisk to put on these partitions: > /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB > /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB > /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB > > we've put no directory names on the partitions. > > # man grub-install > says we can put grub on a device name and also > use the --root-directory option to specify a > directory in which we list grub images. > > we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 > and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted > on the /boot mount point (specified in the root > directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. > > we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 > and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our > working box. > > we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've > not used any installer to put any linux or other > os on the usb stick. > > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bliss at sfo.com Fri Aug 14 20:07:39 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:07:39 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] DSL line dropping out... Message-ID: <4A86267B.8000207@sfo.com> This started last night. I am able to connect only after resetting the DSL modem and restarting the computer. After about 5 minutes the connection shuts down and I have to repeat the Modem shutdown and the computer restart. The following message is generator by the Network and Internet configuration tool/ Problems occured during the network connectivity test. This can be caused by invalid network configuration, or problems with your modem or router. You might want to relaunch the configuration to verify the connection settings. Does anyone have an idea besides buying a new DSL modem? From a_kleider at yahoo.com Fri Aug 14 20:19:14 2009 From: a_kleider at yahoo.com (Alex Kleider) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:19:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sf-lug] DSL line dropping out... In-Reply-To: <4A86267B.8000207@sfo.com> Message-ID: <143094.92117.qm@web110610.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> I suggest a call to your ISP support people. ..especially if they supplied the modem which seems to be the usual practice. They'll probably try to blame it on the phone company but may put in a service call request to try to solve the problem. --- On Fri, 8/14/09, Bobbie Sellers wrote: > From: Bobbie Sellers > Subject: [sf-lug] DSL line dropping out... > To: taml at lists.worldnewstrust.com, "SF-LUG" > Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:07 PM > > ???This started last night. > ???I am able to connect only after resetting > the DSL modem > and restarting the computer. > ???After about? 5 minutes the > connection shuts down and I > have to repeat the Modem shutdown and the computer > restart. > > ???The following message is generator by the > Network and > Internet configuration tool/ > ???Problems occured during the network > connectivity test. > > ???This can be caused by invalid network > configuration, or > ???problems with your modem or router. > > ???You might want to relaunch the > configuration to verify the > ???connection settings. > > ???Does anyone have an idea besides buying a > new DSL modem? > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From andrewevansc at gmail.com Fri Aug 14 21:00:17 2009 From: andrewevansc at gmail.com (Andrew E) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:00:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Thoughts on Google Maps vs OpenStreetMap and others... Message-ID: Hi all, I'm working on a mobile app on a LAMP stack. I was wondering what people's opinions are on the various map choices out there. I've looked at (and am using) Google Maps API to interface with, but I really like what Oakland Crimespotting has done with OpenStreetMap (at http://oakland.crimespotting.org/ ). And I've heard OpenStreetMap guys on SF-LUG having parties, so that's cool. Haven't heard of any Google Maps parties. Anyways, thoughts and pros and cons would be very much appreciated. Thanks! Andrew -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nbs at sonic.net Sat Aug 15 08:50:23 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:50:23 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Thoughts on Google Maps vs OpenStreetMap and others... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20090815155023.GE17583@sonic.net> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 09:00:17PM -0700, Andrew E wrote: > And I've heard OpenStreetMap guys on SF-LUG having parties, so that's > cool. Haven't heard of any Google Maps parties. Anyways, thoughts and pros > and cons would be very much appreciated. Well, the 'parties' that OSM has are mapping parties. Folks get together with GPSes and head out and map the streets, parks, greenbelts, whatever. Then upload the GPS data to OSM and tag it up. I did that when Steve Coast came to Davis to run a mapping party, soon after he moved to Calif., which was shortly after he came to LUGOD to talk about OSM. (See: presentation PDF here: http://lugod.org/presentations/openstreetmap-opendata-10min.pdf ) I biked around with a GPS he loaned me and wandered, up and down, up and down, up and down, various bits of greenbelt in the part of Davis I would soon be moving to. Then I went in and added it to the map. (Much of Davis streets was already covered by TIGER data they were able to import.) Google doesn't have mapping parties because they (to the best of my knowledge, _entirely_) get their map data by licensing it from big companies that make maps. (You usually see their copyright info at the bottom of the Google Map widget on a webpage... and it differs depending on where you are.) Wow... rambling, sorry :) -- -bill! Sent from my computer From tom at greenleaftech.net Sat Aug 15 14:46:46 2009 From: tom at greenleaftech.net (Tom Haddon) Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:46:46 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: Re: how to make a usb stick bootable] Message-ID: <1250372806.4166.57.camel@hurlyburly> Sorry, forgot to hit reply all, so forwarding to the list in case anyone else is interested. -------- Forwarded Message -------- > From: Tom Haddon > To: jim > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable > Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:45:43 -0400 > > On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 18:00 -0700, jim wrote: > > we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want > > the usb stick to be bootable. > > Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) has a "USB Startup Disk Creator" application in the > "System -> Administration" menu. You tell it what ISO file you want to > turn into a bootable USB disk, what USB disk to use, and it does the > rest. Has worked for me quite well in creating bootable USB disks to > test installs on my HP Mini 1000 (which doesn't have a CD/DVD drive). > > Cheers, Tom > > > > > we used fdisk to put on these partitions: > > /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB > > /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB > > /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB > > > > we've put no directory names on the partitions. > > > > # man grub-install > > says we can put grub on a device name and also > > use the --root-directory option to specify a > > directory in which we list grub images. > > > > we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 > > and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted > > on the /boot mount point (specified in the root > > directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. > > > > we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 > > and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our > > working box. > > > > we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've > > not used any installer to put any linux or other > > os on the usb stick. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > sf-lug mailing list > > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug From david at sterryit.com Sat Aug 15 15:52:13 2009 From: david at sterryit.com (David Sterry) Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:52:13 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] [Fwd: Re: how to make a usb stick bootable] In-Reply-To: <1250372806.4166.57.camel@hurlyburly> References: <1250372806.4166.57.camel@hurlyburly> Message-ID: <4A873C1D.9000901@sterryit.com> There is a tool called fUSBi that will optionally download an ISO of a 100% free gnu/linux distribution and put it on a usb stick at the same time making the usb stick bootable. It's very simple to use and if you already have the iso you can just point it to the file and the drive and you're done. It's based on a tool called Unetbootin that does the same for a wider array of gnu/linux distros. http://aligunduz.org/FUSBi/ Tom Haddon wrote: > Sorry, forgot to hit reply all, so forwarding to the list in case anyone > else is interested. > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > >> From: Tom Haddon >> To: jim >> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable >> Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:45:43 -0400 >> >> On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 18:00 -0700, jim wrote: >> >>> we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want >>> the usb stick to be bootable. >>> >> Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) has a "USB Startup Disk Creator" application in the >> "System -> Administration" menu. You tell it what ISO file you want to >> turn into a bootable USB disk, what USB disk to use, and it does the >> rest. Has worked for me quite well in creating bootable USB disks to >> test installs on my HP Mini 1000 (which doesn't have a CD/DVD drive). >> >> Cheers, Tom >> >> >>> we used fdisk to put on these partitions: >>> /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB >>> /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB >>> /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB >>> >>> we've put no directory names on the partitions. >>> >>> # man grub-install >>> says we can put grub on a device name and also >>> use the --root-directory option to specify a >>> directory in which we list grub images. >>> >>> we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 >>> and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted >>> on the /boot mount point (specified in the root >>> directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. >>> >>> we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 >>> and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our >>> working box. >>> >>> we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've >>> not used any installer to put any linux or other >>> os on the usb stick. >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> sf-lug mailing list >>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >>> > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > > From jim at well.com Sun Aug 16 10:36:15 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:36:15 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug meeting monday (20090817) at cafe enchante, geary at 26th, 6 pm to 8 pm Message-ID: <1250444175.8052.197.camel@jim-laptop> SF-LUG meets this monday evening (20090817) from 6 pm to 8 pm (or so) in san francisco on geary blvd at 26th avenue. There'll be give-away books from No Starch Press along with copies of the July Linux Pro Magazine, featured article on device drivers. From bliss at sfo.com Sun Aug 16 10:51:11 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:51:11 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] sf-lug meeting monday (20090817) at cafe enchante, geary at 26th, 6 pm to 8 pm In-Reply-To: <1250444175.8052.197.camel@jim-laptop> References: <1250444175.8052.197.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <4A88470F.1080804@sfo.com> jim wrote: > SF-LUG meets this monday evening (20090817) from > 6 pm to 8 pm (or so) in san francisco on geary blvd > at 26th avenue. > That is in Caf? Enchant? formerly Caf? Euro. > There'll be give-away books from No Starch Press > along with copies of the July Linux Pro Magazine, > featured article on device drivers. > Give-Aways! No way? Free WiFi too and fancy coffee and tea drinks so bring the $. later Bobbie Sellers From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Mon Aug 17 07:29:09 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:29:09 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BALUG: REMINDER - TOMORROW!: Tu 2009-08-18 OpenHatch: Community tools for open source: Asheesh Laroia, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad; next month ... Message-ID: <20090817072909.85152nmiauodt7ok@webmail.rawbw.com> BALUG: REMINDER - TOMORROW!: Tu 2009-08-18 OpenHatch: Community tools for open source: Asheesh Laroia, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad; next month ... Bay Area Linux User Group (BALUG) Tuesday 6:30 P.M. 2009-08-18 Please RSVP if you're planning to come (see further below). For our 2009-08-18 BALUG meeting, we're excited to present: OpenHatch is an online network for open source geeks. The fragmentation of Free Software means it's hard to know where you can make a difference. OpenHatch provides a profile engine so you can showcase the contributions you've made and a cross-project bug search engine to help you find issues targeted at your skills and passions. OpenHatch is looking for feedback on their early alpha, enthusiastic testers, and ideas about other community tools that can enrich the open source experience. The time will be split between a presentation and Q&A from the audience. Asheesh is the data seducer at OpenHatch. He is a Debian Developer, was a software engineer for Creative Commons, and put 288 inflatable pink flamingos on his campus quad. He has written testimony in an EFF copyright case and volunteered for the World Food Programme in Uganda. Asheesh will be joined by his two colleagues at OpenHatch, Raphael Krut-Landau and Karen Rustad. Karen served on the board of Students for Free Culture for two years and has built viral media outreach campaigns for Open Access advocacy group, SPARC. Raphael is a Linux enthusiast and web applications designer. So, if you'd like to join us please RSVP: rsvp at balug.org **Why RSVP??** Well, don't worry we won't turn you away, but the RSVPs really help the Four Seas Restaurant plan the meal and they help ensure that we'll be able to eat upstairs in the private banquet room. Meeting Details... 6:30pm Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 2009-08-18 Four Seas Restaurant http://www.fourseasr.com/ 731 Grant Ave. San Francisco, CA 94108 Easy PARKING: Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny http://www.sfpsg.com/ Cost: The meetings are always free, but dinner is $13 After meeting meeting (?) Presuming enough folks want to after the main meeting, those interested may gather at a nearby venue (e.g. pub) for further discussion on, e.g.: o BALUG steering committee (talk about what BALUG wants/needs to do and possible changes, etc.) o stuff one can do to help BALUG o ideas for possible future talks/presentations (got contacts/leads?) o random Linux, etc. topics o random networking o discussion of topic(s) from/for meetings current, past, and future o insert your topic here :-) ------------------------------ Next month's BALUG meeting: 2009-09-15 Christian Einfeld on: Help yourself by helping the underdog... public schools. (Linux, Open Source, ...) ------------------------------ Feedback on our publicity/announcements (e.g. contacts or lists where we should get our information out that we're not presently reaching, or things we should do differently): publicity-feedback at balug.org http://www.balug.org/ From asheesh at asheesh.org Mon Aug 17 14:46:34 2009 From: asheesh at asheesh.org (Asheesh Laroia) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:46:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sf-lug] Asheesh @ SF-LUG tonight Message-ID: Dear San Francisco Linuxians, I'm going to head to SF-LUG tonight at 6 PM. I'm visiting SF, and I'm looking forward to it! If there's anyone I would normally see there who can't make it tonight, ping me off-list and we'll make some time. Also, news! I'm finally a Debian Developer! And I'm moving to Philadelphia by the end of this month. -- Asheesh. -- O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive. -- Sir Walter Scott, "Marmion" From einfeldt at gmail.com Mon Aug 17 17:33:10 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:33:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Quiet server needed Message-ID: <4b5781040908171733q44b7dd56y192efd98141852c@mail.gmail.com> hi, We seem to be having problems with one of the servers that we are using for one of our school projects here in San Francisco. We do have some noisy servers, but we don't currently have access to a server closet in which to house a noisy server. Does anyone have a decent server that they could give to our project? A tower form factor would probably be best. Thanks either way! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From grantbow at gmail.com Mon Aug 17 20:04:19 2009 From: grantbow at gmail.com (Grant Bowman) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:04:19 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Windows XP Home refund - New Netbook purchase from Amazon . . . Message-ID: <317e39f0908172004l622c39ecme758a838ab70d716@mail.gmail.com> Forwarding to sf-lug with Brad's permission. Grant Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:51:54 -0700 From: mai wurd Subject: [BALUG-Talk] Windows XP Home refund - New Netbook purchase ? ? ? ?from ? ?Amazon . . . To: balug-talk at lists.balug.org Message-ID: ? ? ? ? Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Hello, I bought a Netbook from Amazon.com. When I received it the OEM OS was Windows XP Home. ?I did not accept the EULA and emailed Amazon informing them of this and requesting a refund for the software; per the instruction in the EULA. The first response was a request to return the Netbook . . . (A DUH!) I emailed them with a direct reference to the EULA text that states the refund is to be issued by the vendor that sold the computer to you. Within an hour I received an email notifying ?me of the credit to my Visa account for $75. ?YEA!!!! ? ?*Amazon.com Customer Service* ?to me show details 10:52 AM (16 minutes ago) [image: http://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif] Reply [image: Follow up message] Hello, I'm sorry for the problem you had with this software and I regret the manufacturer wasn't to be of much help. I've requested a refund of $75.00 for the software Windows XP Home to your Visa card. You'll see the credit in the next 2 to 3 business days. Once the refund is complete, you'll see the refund at the bottom of the order page: ? I am running eeebuntu on the ASUS 1000HE and it is great. I added RAM (2GB) turned off unused services and uninstalled all the software packages I don?t use. My Netbook is running lean and mean . . . battery life is excellent . . . speed for all the task is much faster that Window 7 on my Acer Aspire laptop (3GB ram) etc? *WoooooHoooooo !!!!!!!!!!!* *Brad* -- Always think about positive affirmations before going to sleep. This spirit guides our subconscious as we sleep and creates our reality. Giving thanks, for that which has not happened yet, allows a spirit/life pattern to manifest in our lives. From rjdampho at gmail.com Tue Aug 18 06:04:44 2009 From: rjdampho at gmail.com (Robert Damphousse) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:04:44 -0400 Subject: [sf-lug] Softphones, voip help In-Reply-To: <221610dc0908121745i46193665id6cd4f6be7c07096@mail.gmail.com> References: <7619.67951.qm@web82806.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <221610dc0908121745i46193665id6cd4f6be7c07096@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5b79b500908180604k579db263icad8d569c8d20f77@mail.gmail.com> Take a look at Gizmo: www.gizmo5.com They are a SIP provider and I use their services for my office phone number(s). Their software client for the computer is not very good, however. I am setup to have my Gizmo SIP calls sent to a VOIP terminal adapter on my office network. -Robert -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ewalstad at gmail.com Tue Aug 18 13:29:34 2009 From: ewalstad at gmail.com (Eric Walstad) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:29:34 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Free-as-in-beer computers and parts Message-ID: As posted on craigslist[0] I've got 7 10/100 nics, a pci USB2 card, misc 10/100 ethernet cables, transformers, a DSL modem, DSL line filter, power cables, 4GB of ram: 4x512MB (laptop PC2700) and 2x1GB (desktop pc2-5300) modules... Cruft from years of system upgrades. I also have a couple of fully-functioning-if-a-little-aged PC desktop computers I'm happy to donate, too. Eric [0] http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/zip/1329965201.html From pmpope at gmail.com Wed Aug 19 12:45:31 2009 From: pmpope at gmail.com (pmpope) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:45:31 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Free-as-in-beer computers and parts (Eric Walstad) Message-ID: <1250711131.18205.2.camel@EdgeLabs.gateway.2wire.net> I would like to help you find a home for these parts. (Nudge, Nudge, wink, wink like I need some parts) I am in SF [Union Square] Let me know. PMPope From ewalstad at gmail.com Wed Aug 19 13:00:17 2009 From: ewalstad at gmail.com (Eric Walstad) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:00:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Free-as-in-beer computers and parts (Eric Walstad) In-Reply-To: <1250711131.18205.2.camel@EdgeLabs.gateway.2wire.net> References: <1250711131.18205.2.camel@EdgeLabs.gateway.2wire.net> Message-ID: Thanks for the responses, everyone. I think I have someone lined up to take the gear. Best regards, Eric. On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 12:45 PM, pmpope wrote: > I would like to help you find a home for these parts. (Nudge, Nudge, > wink, wink like I need some parts) I am in SF [Union Square] Let me > know. > > PMPope From bliss at sfo.com Wed Aug 19 13:34:20 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:34:20 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] woops I am back on a reliable connection. Message-ID: <4A8C61CC.9060208@sfo.com> Got the new adsl modem this morning and 4 Gigabytes of sodimms. All in place and faster than ever. later bliss aka Bobbie Sellers From bliss at sfo.com Wed Aug 19 15:15:56 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:15:56 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] woops I am back on a reliable connection. In-Reply-To: <4A8C75FE.3050809@earthlink.net> References: <4A8C61CC.9060208@sfo.com> <4A8C75FE.3050809@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <4A8C799C.6080305@sfo.com> Mikki McGee wrote: > Bobbie Sellers wrote: >> Got the new adsl modem this morning >> and 4 Gigabytes of sodimms. >> All in place and faster than ever. >> >> later >> bliss aka Bobbie Sellers >> > Hi; > > You sound happy, so I am happy for you. What are sodimms? Are > they as salacious as they sound? Sodimms are memory modules for the laptop, Small Outline Dual Integrated Memory Modules. While they do plug in to the female slots only the system operator moans and sighs. > > So I just got the shipping confirmation from Amazon on the Asus eee > 1000he, they will follow with the memory. Actually this old slow > desktop is fast enough for me, but what do I know. All I want is a > little thing that will do ordinary things, in the library copying > books the information of which I need, some e-mail and on line searches. Whatever it takes if you can pull the cash or credit together. > > Brad said his eeeUbuntu on the eee was faster than Unmentionable > 7. It is a safe bet that it is so. > That was the first I heard that there was a Unmentionable 7. I preferred the > concept of unmentionable going down with the Vista, and getting 86'ed from > existence. But I am viciously vindictive. When that is done, and fully > paid for, I will try to get the HP wide screen re-screened, for about > $140. That will be $120 or so for the screen, and $20 or more for > dinner for the fellow Bill says is good at this. Then use the HP for > a desk machine and maybe giving presentations, the Asus for travel and > library, and the Desktop will be upgraded, Unmentionable finally off it, and > the latest lst Ubuntu given the whole thing (40g seem large at the > time?) I can use it for for trying out BASH nonsense, and see if I > can like BASH. > They say to whisper to the gods what your plans are, and hear the > gods laugh. But best not? Whether the gods are aware or not they will put their fingers in your pot and spoil all your plans and flavors. I have corrected the mention of the Unmentionable OS from Microsoft. You know the one that millions of people MiSuse. > > > Bless All > > Mikki > Unmentionable Vista was supposed to be Unmentionable 7 but you know Microsoft never makes one release when more will do just as poorly. So they finished off some of the more obvious bugs and Vista was reborn as Unmentionable 7. Doesn't mean much. later bliss From bliss at sfo.com Wed Aug 19 15:36:17 2009 From: bliss at sfo.com (Bobbie Sellers) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:36:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Available sodimms Message-ID: <4A8C7E61.1020307@sfo.com> Hi again, Anyone need one or two, PC2 5300, 1 gigabyte SODIMMs? If so get in touch. later Bobbie aka bliss at sfo dot com. From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Wed Aug 19 17:18:52 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:18:52 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20090819171852.13263nrhrnx62iyo@webmail.rawbw.com> May or may not be precisely what you want, but Debian's got some excellent information on how to do this. Just follow the documentation trail. Start by tracking down (pretty easy to find) the information on how to install Debian - from various media ... from there quite easy to find the information about how to install from USB ... and there they don't give you an already prepared USB image, but tell you how to easily make one (at least for x86 hardware - they may not cover that for all supported architectures). Once you dig into that, one quickly finds the information on the "easy" way to do it, and also, alternatively the more detailed "roll your own" (or however they term it) - where one does it more manually, and more specifically customizes how one constructs that USB image. That should be more than enough to get one started, and if the pieces of the process are reasonably studied, one should get at least a pretty good understanding of most everything involved ... and if one wants more details or any more precise control with any of those steps, just dig into them deeper - that's likely feasible in all cases (the tools themselves are pretty straight-forward - it's mostly that and some configuration bits - either copying such over, or manually configuring such). references/excerpts: > Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:00:41 -0700 > From: jim > Subject: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable > To: sf-lug > Message-ID: <1250298041.8052.12.camel at jim-laptop> > Content-Type: text/plain > > > we want to put linux on a usb stick. we want > the usb stick to be bootable. > > we used fdisk to put on these partitions: > /dev/sdb1 bootable ext3 128MB > /dev/sdb2 ext3 4GB > /dev/sdb5 ext2 512MB > > we've put no directory names on the partitions. > > # man grub-install > says we can put grub on a device name and also > use the --root-directory option to specify a > directory in which we list grub images. > > we want to have the / namespace on /dev/sdb2 > and we want the /dev/sdb1 partition to be mounted > on the /boot mount point (specified in the root > directory on the /dev/sdb2 partitioned. > > we've successfully mounted the thing on /zzb1 > and /zzb2 and /zzb5 mount point directories on our > working box. > > we've not put any files on the usb stick, we've > not used any installer to put any linux or other > os on the usb stick. > Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:26:26 -0700 > From: jim > Subject: Re: [sf-lug] how to make a usb stick bootable > To: vincent polite > Cc: sf-lug > Message-ID: <1250299586.8052.33.camel at jim-laptop> > Content-Type: text/plain > > > thanks vince. i don't have any windows machines. > i've googled this and can't find anything that > satisfies me: directions are often insufficient > (some step omitted or something, maybe just not > okay for my system); also the purpose is not to > have a bootable stick, it's to learn how to make > a bootable stick at a low level (not just use > some program that does it, but use standard, > available linux tools to > * partition the usb stick > * put an MBR on it > * put grub on it > * put the kernel and /etc/ /lib/ /usr/ and other > directories on it. > * have it boot up and work as we expect a linux > distro to work. > * whatever else i don't know to do the basics. From einfeldt at gmail.com Wed Aug 19 19:52:24 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:52:24 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Spare P4 machines? Message-ID: <4b5781040908191952k57ae7f96w5a3349d9f4e6ad6b@mail.gmail.com> hi, Linux computers are proving popular at the two schools that we are supporting. If anyone has a couple of spare P4 or its AMD equivalent with 512 MB of RAM, we could sure use them. Teachers are actually requesting Linux machines because they have heard that they are free and that the software updates are free. They are having to discard Apple machines because the software doesn't update for free (as in beer). It's nice that Linux is getting popular at these schools! Thanks either way for considering my request. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu Wed Aug 19 20:36:52 2009 From: Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu (Michael Paoli) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:36:52 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] Linux user questionnaire [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] Message-ID: <20090819203652.18642wm519ffbwkk@webmail.rawbw.com> > From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) > Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:47:42 -0700 > Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] What makes a true > Linux user ? > Question 1: What makes a true Linux user? Hmmmm, as opposed to what, an untrue user of Linux or a user of untrue Linux? Perhaps one was wondering about devotee, advocate, proponent, evangelist, etc., and/or with some particular point of view espoused and/or practiced, and whether or not or when that might be a "true Linux user"? > From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) > Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:17:37 -0700 > Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] How did you become > a Linux user? > Question 2: How did you become a Linux user? The short answer: by using Linux. The longer answer: Once upon a time I was exposed to UNIX. Subsequent to that, when I no longer had access to UNIX, and was exposed to or had to work with other operating systems, my perspective was generally along the lines of "this rather sucks, UNIX is so much better, and can do so much more". Time passes, and I get to work on UNIX (and various ports thereof, e.g. XENIX). Eventually time to purchase my own x86 hardware - I do, ... and for it, I choose a UNIX (XENIX at the time) operating system - quite a bit more cost for the operating system at the time (e.g. compared to Microsoft DOS 3.3), but well worth it in terms of functionality and what I wanted to be able to do. Time passes, I keep getting nickel and dimed (more like $100.00 USD or more at a pop) with UNIX (I'd since upgraded from XENIX to UNIX) for upgrades, support, etc. - and though it was still pretty good (okay, much better than), compared to, e.g. other "popular" x86 operating systems of the day (e.g. Microsoft DOS/Windows), I was starting to get rather annoyed at the "nickel and dimed" part (>=$100.00 USD a pop for anything), and lack of source code, and sucky support. E.g. I paid for support, I'd find and report bug, but the responses I always got were of the nature, "Thanks, we confirmed the bug, but we don't consider it important enough to fix in the current release". If I had the source I could've fixed the bug myself - even contributed the patch back to the vendor - but no source access was provided (source licenses were about $10,000.00 USD in that timeframe - well outside what I could or would spend) - and of course upgrading to the next release almost always involved additional costs - and generally had no guarantees that they'd have fixed the bugs I'd earlier reported. Also, lots of "features" were extra costs. E.g. I had the development (and text processing) systems which I'd purchased with XENIX ... when I upgraded to UNIX that didn't include the development and text processing systems - if I wanted to upgrade those too, that would be a few hundred more dollars ... each - so I painstakingly grafted the (binary compatible) development and text processing systems onto/into my UNIX system (quite a hack - basically worked, but had some limitations - e.g. no means to use system calls present in UNIX that weren't present in XENIX - such as anything related to symbolic links). Along the way, I also got an SMP motherboard (supported two CPUs) - want an SMP UNIX kernel - no problem - just another $100.00 USD or more. Want TCP/IP networking? Sure, ... just add another $100.00 USD or more. Want X11? Sure, ... just another $100.00 USD or more - oh, and we don't support your hardware for X11 - you'll have to upgrade your graphics card and monitor too. In the meantime, Linux is continuing to advance impressively, and I knew it was just a matter of time before I made the jump. So I researched - picked my distribution - Debian (and never regretted that choice and it's still my distribution of choice), and started working to get myself converted from UNIX to Debian (I had code I wanted to port over, and other considerations, so it wasn't an instant conversion). On 1998-07-16 my conversion from UNIX to Debian GNU/Linux was completed. Of course among the many benefits of the conversion: freedom available in source: typically GPL or other OpenSource license cost of source: $0.00 cost of core operating system: $0.00 cost of development system: $0.00 cost of text processing system: $0.00 cost of adding SMP support to kernel: $0.00 cost of TCP/IP networking: $0.00 cost of support: $0.00 quality of support: much better than what I'd been paying for cost of operating system and related software upgrades: $0.00 cost of adding X11: $0.00 additional costs of adding all that to a 2nd or subsequent system: $0.00 X11 support: much better - (then) XFree86 supported (and now X.org continues to support) my existing hardware - which couldn't have been used for X11 with XENIX/UNIX. > From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) > Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:38:35 -0700 > Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] Kinds of Linux user > Question 3: Are there different kinds or levels of Linux user? How > would you describe them? Yes. I suppose it depends how you want to slice and dice them. E.g. one could slice and dice by, oh, skill level(s), particular areas of expertise, common/overlapping areas of interests/skills; views, perspectives, and practices regarding Linux and Open Source; years of experience, height, shoe size, ... > From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) > Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:42:20 -0700 > Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] Linux applications > Question 4: What programs do you run on Linux? Does software that > starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms? What > is the motivation for this? Beyond being open source, what > functionality is unique to Linux? Lots of programs, ... let's see - taking a look at what's presently running, and stuff in my history, we have (many of these are local utilities or aliases or shell built-ins; on my host vi executes nvi and vip is another alias that also executes nvi): -bash, -su, >, >>, apmd, atd, bash, boinc, cal, cardmgr, cat, cd, chmod, clear, cp, cron, dbus-daemon-1, df, dhcpd3, dig, dingding, dirmngr, do, done, echo, env, ex, exim4, expr, fc, fg, fgrep, file, for, ftp, fvwm, gconfd-2, gdm, getty, gpg, gpg-agent, gpm, grep, gzip, head, hostname, init, jobs, kaffe-bin, kdm, kdm_greet, klogd, less, login, ls, man, md5sum, mdadm, mkdir, mv, named, netstat, noflushd, ntpd, nvi, pcscd, perl, pgp-clean, ping, powertweakd, ps, pwd, python2.3, rm, SCREEN, sendpage, sh, sleep, sleepd, sort, spell, ssh, ssh-agent, sshd, su, syslogd, tcptraceroute, tf, touch, type, ud, umask, unset, update-alternatives, vi, view, viewman, vim, vip, wc, wget, whois, X, xclock, xconsole, xdm, xfs, xinetd, Xprt, xterm, [bdflush], [kapmd], [keventd], [khubd], [kjournald], [kreiserfsd], [ksoftirqd_CPU0], [kswapd], [kupdated], [mdrecoveryd], [scsi_eh_1], [scsi_eh_2], [scsi_eh_3], [scsi_eh_4], [usb-storage-0], [usb-storage-1], [usb-storage-2], [usb-storage-3] I'm not going to attempt to enumerate "What programs do you run on Linux", but the above should give an approximate sampling of what I'm running currently or have run fairly recently (or aliases or scripts, etc., which invoke other stuff). "Does software that starts out exclusively Linux often get ported to other platforms?" The short answer: Yes. The longer answer: "often" - definition typically "many times; frequently", etc.; "software" - not qualified by "all" or most, etc., so "any" would met the question criteria, so yes, if there exists any such software that's often thus ported, the answer is logically yes. And if one hasn't yet noticed, us more technical folks (e.g. programmers, systems administrators, etc.) will often take statements/questions quite literally and logically. As for "most" or "all"? ... probably "lots", but not likely "most" (well, perhaps "most" to BSD and the like, but not so much for Microsoft Windows and the like), and certainly not "all". "What is the motivation for this?" That varies a lot. It's OpenSource - so if someone wanted, to, could, and was motivated ... well, it tends to happen - most notably where it reasonably makes sense - i.e. it "fits" (e.g. where other non-Linux platforms make good targets - such as it's useful there, and reasonable to port). "Beyond being open source, what functionality is unique to Linux?" Many things are (or were) unique to Linux. Too many to enumerate. Inspect the source code for specifics (and compare against other source - or functionality where source isn't available), or research some other higher-level summaries. This also tends, to a large extent, continue to be subject to change - e.g. since Linux is OpenSource - much of it's functionality - if not code - may be adopted and used elsewhere (e.g. BSD). "Question 4" - that probably should have been "Questions 4" - as you did manage to "sneak" 4 questions in there. > From: tigakub at mac.com (Edward Janne) > Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:38:46 -0700 > Subject: [sf-lug] [LINUX USER QUESTIONAIRE (sic)] Linux growth > Question 5: Is the Linux user base growing fast enough? What do the > members of the group do to encourage adoption of the platform? Fast enough ... for what or to what end? Faster would probably be generally better ... to a point, ... but really depends a lot on how, and what's driving it. Various folks do various stuff to encourage adoption - e.g. random support like answering questions(/questionnaires), assisting with installations, troubleshooting, needs/requirements assessments, working to generally increase awareness and understanding of Linux and OpenSource, volunteering to be active in various Linux/OpenSource projects (code contribution, documenting, community outreach, etc.), participating in user groups, lists, conferences, etc., donating funds, equipment, resources, employee's time, etc. to OpenSource projects, etc. Also, might want to check your spelling before you and others significantly replicate spelling error(s). See also: spell(1). From bill at wards.net Thu Aug 20 12:00:05 2009 From: bill at wards.net (bill at wards.net) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:00:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] NEXT WEEK: PenLUG meeting 08/27/2009 Message-ID: PENINSULA LINUX USERS' GROUP (PenLUG) PRESENTS: +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Date: |Thursday, August 27, 2009 | |---------+--------------------------------------------------------------| |Time: |6:00 - 8:00 PM | |---------+--------------------------------------------------------------| | |Bayshore Technology Park | |Location:|1300 Island Drive | | |Redwood City, CA 94065 | | |Suite 106 - Training Room | |---------+--------------------------------------------------------------| |RSVP: |Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130614156296 | | |or mail rsvp at penlug.org | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Agenda: * 6:00 PM Free pizza arrives * 6:15 PM Free book giveaways or other prizes * 6:30 PM Presentation begins * 8:00 PM Meeting ends Introduction to Fedora, a look at Fedora 11 and what to expect in Fedora 12 What is Fedora? What's new, improved and not-so-improved in Fedora 11? What can you expect in Fedora 12? Larry will answer these and other questions that have always nagged you (and even if they haven't nagged you) about Fedora. Larry Cafiero Larry Cafiero is the regional ambassador for the U.S. West Coast states for the Fedora Project. A newspaper editor by profession, he also is a partner in Redwood Digital Research in Felton, California, and is one of the founding organizers of the Lindependence Project. RSVP Although it is not required, we like to have an idea of how many people to expect, so if possible please email rsvp at penlug.org if you are planning to attend. GETTING THERE For information on getting to the meeting, please see: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1300+Island+Drive,+Redwood+City,+CA http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/DrivingDirectionsQualys http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/TransitDirectionsQualys Traffic on 101 can be pretty bad in the evening, so we encourage you to check traffic conditions before driving by dialing 5-1-1 on your phone or visiting www.511.org, and if possible to take public transit (best bet: bicycle via Caltrain) or carpool to this meeting. MORE INFORMATION See www.penlug.org for more information. This notice is being sent to the following mailing lists: members at penlug.org announce at penlug.org sf-lug at linuxmafia.com balug-talk at lists.balug.org svlug at lists.svlug.org svevents at yahoogroups.com vox at lists.lugod.org Please reply to suggest any additions or other changes. From rafa-el at att.net Thu Aug 20 17:18:37 2009 From: rafa-el at att.net (Rafael Vanoni) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:18:37 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] SF OpenSolaris UG, August 24th meeting Message-ID: <4A8DE7DD.60303@att.net> Hi folks I'd like to invite you to this month's meeting of the San Francisco OpenSolaris User Group (http://opensolaris.org/os/project/sfosug/), next Monday, 24th at 6pm. We'll have the following talks: OpenSolaris and Power Management (Rafael Vanoni) How SongBird is put together--for Dummies (Steve Lau) ~15 minutes each, lightning talk-style. We'll head to 21st Amendment around 7pm, after the presentations, for drinks and food. Location: Outspark, at 660 3rd St, 3rd floor. Buses: 10 outbound to De Haro, 30, 45 and 47 inbound to CalTrain. If you're interested, please rsvp at http://www.meetup.com/San-Francisco-OpenSolaris-User-Group/ Thanks, Rafael From sverma at sfsu.edu Thu Aug 20 18:40:58 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:40:58 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] OLPC-SF meets on Aug 22, 2009 Message-ID: <5fb387c70908201840j44266e7l9fec213c02eeaedd@mail.gmail.com> OLPC-SF will meet this Saturday at 5th and Market, SF. Highlights? Deployments in San Francisco and South Africa, USB-based healthcare sensors for the XO, and ARM based Sheeva Plug and OpenRD to run servers on... Details posted at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea cheers, Sameer -- Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Information Systems San Francisco State University San Francisco CA 94132 USA http://verma.sfsu.edu/ http://opensource.sfsu.edu/ From sverma at sfsu.edu Thu Aug 20 21:02:50 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:02:50 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... Message-ID: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> Here's an idea I've been mulling over. Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing my aggregate bandwidth? Has anyone tried this? cheers, Sameer From dennisharrison at gmail.com Fri Aug 21 08:46:33 2009 From: dennisharrison at gmail.com (Dennis J Harrison Jr) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:46:33 -0500 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> This sounds "Oh, so; FUN!". WRT to all you can eat data - most plans are limited to ~5GB/mo (iirc) I've done this with dsl connections before (back in the mid to late 90s I think). Anywho; I have all the junk here to give it a go if you want to maybe do a quick sprint on this to see how far we can get in an afternoon? On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Sameer Verma wrote: > Here's an idea I've been mulling over. > > Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all > you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) > that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage > traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a > bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 > + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both > 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing > my aggregate bandwidth? > > Has anyone tried this? > > cheers, > Sameer > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From sverma at sfsu.edu Fri Aug 21 09:37:07 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:37:07 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:46 AM, Dennis J Harrison Jr wrote: > This sounds "Oh, so; FUN!". > > WRT to all you can eat data - most plans are limited to ~5GB/mo (iirc) > If we are looking at two phones, 10GB a month is not that bad, really. Note that one voids one's contract terms, I believe (tethering may not be kosher as per the contract). > I've done this with dsl connections before (back in the mid to late > 90s I think). > > Anywho; I have all the junk here to give it a go if you want to maybe > do a quick sprint on this to see how far we can get in an afternoon? > Excellent! Will ping you in a bit...slightly busy with a bunch of things. Maybe we can make it a SF-LUG exercise ;-) Sameer > On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Sameer Verma wrote: >> Here's an idea I've been mulling over. >> >> Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all >> you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) >> that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage >> traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a >> bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 >> + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both >> 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing >> my aggregate bandwidth? >> >> Has anyone tried this? >> >> cheers, >> Sameer >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> From jasonstone at gmail.com Fri Aug 21 10:28:11 2009 From: jasonstone at gmail.com (jason stone) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:28:11 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Can you do a Beowulf of them too? (sorry for the 90s meme-- i was getting nostalgic) On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:37 AM, Sameer Verma wrote: > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:46 AM, Dennis J Harrison > Jr wrote: >> This sounds "Oh, so; FUN!". >> >> WRT to all you can eat data - most plans are limited to ~5GB/mo (iirc) >> > > If we are looking at two phones, 10GB a month is not that bad, really. > Note that one voids one's contract terms, I believe (tethering may not > be kosher as per the contract). > >> I've done this with dsl connections before (back in the mid to late >> 90s I think). >> >> Anywho; I have all the junk here to give it a go if you want to maybe >> do a quick sprint on this to see how far we can get in an afternoon? >> > > Excellent! Will ping you in a bit...slightly busy with a bunch of > things. Maybe we can make it a SF-LUG exercise ;-) > > Sameer > >> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Sameer Verma wrote: >>> Here's an idea I've been mulling over. >>> >>> Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all >>> you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) >>> that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage >>> traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a >>> bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 >>> + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both >>> 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing >>> my aggregate bandwidth? >>> >>> Has anyone tried this? >>> >>> cheers, >>> Sameer >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> sf-lug mailing list >>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >>> > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From sverma at sfsu.edu Fri Aug 21 11:05:17 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:05:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5fb387c70908211105la1d3e64t74776c573cc1fc2@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 10:28 AM, jason stone wrote: > Can you do a Beowulf of them too? ?(sorry for the 90s meme-- i was > getting nostalgic) > don't tempt me >8-)~ Sameer > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:37 AM, Sameer Verma wrote: >> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:46 AM, Dennis J Harrison >> Jr wrote: >>> This sounds "Oh, so; FUN!". >>> >>> WRT to all you can eat data - most plans are limited to ~5GB/mo (iirc) >>> >> >> If we are looking at two phones, 10GB a month is not that bad, really. >> Note that one voids one's contract terms, I believe (tethering may not >> be kosher as per the contract). >> >>> I've done this with dsl connections before (back in the mid to late >>> 90s I think). >>> >>> Anywho; I have all the junk here to give it a go if you want to maybe >>> do a quick sprint on this to see how far we can get in an afternoon? >>> >> >> Excellent! Will ping you in a bit...slightly busy with a bunch of >> things. Maybe we can make it a SF-LUG exercise ;-) >> >> Sameer >> >>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Sameer Verma wrote: >>>> Here's an idea I've been mulling over. >>>> >>>> Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all >>>> you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) >>>> that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage >>>> traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a >>>> bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 >>>> + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both >>>> 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing >>>> my aggregate bandwidth? >>>> >>>> Has anyone tried this? >>>> >>>> cheers, >>>> Sameer >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> sf-lug mailing list >>>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >>>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >>>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sf-lug mailing list >> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >> > From dennisharrison at gmail.com Fri Aug 21 15:13:05 2009 From: dennisharrison at gmail.com (Dennis J Harrison Jr) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:13:05 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6e8b29e0908211513m6179bc0dob7a7a325113d1750@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:37 AM, Sameer Verma wrote: > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:46 AM, Dennis J Harrison > Jr wrote: >> This sounds "Oh, so; FUN!". >> >> WRT to all you can eat data - most plans are limited to ~5GB/mo (iirc) >> > > If we are looking at two phones, 10GB a month is not that bad, really. > Note that one voids one's contract terms, I believe (tethering may not > be kosher as per the contract). > Well, I've been using the pre with tun and dhcpd as a router lately, so while they don't encourage you to use it this way, I don't see anyway they can make it against the eula and still give you evdo ppp on there at all. You're most likely correct, but ... let them figure it out on their own :) >> I've done this with dsl connections before (back in the mid to late >> 90s I think). >> >> Anywho; I have all the junk here to give it a go if you want to maybe >> do a quick sprint on this to see how far we can get in an afternoon? >> > > Excellent! Will ping you in a bit...slightly busy with a bunch of > things. Maybe we can make it a SF-LUG exercise ;-) > Totally understood, would be a neat thing to document anyhow. > Sameer > >> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Sameer Verma wrote: >>> Here's an idea I've been mulling over. >>> >>> Scenario: Let's say, we have two Bluetooth-enabled 3G phones with "all >>> you can eat" contract. Let's say, I also have a DSL connection (eth0) >>> that runs into a home LAN management machine (Linux box to manage >>> traffic, etc.). What if I install two Bluetooth radios, and create a >>> bond (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Net:Bonding) say, bond0 = eth0 >>> + bluepppd0 + bluepppd1 and whenever the machine detects one or both >>> 3G phones, it sets up the pppd and bonds into it, thereby increasing >>> my aggregate bandwidth? >>> >>> Has anyone tried this? >>> >>> cheers, >>> Sameer >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> sf-lug mailing list >>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com >>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug >>> > From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 21 15:31:35 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:31:35 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] bonding 3G via bluetooth... In-Reply-To: <6e8b29e0908211513m6179bc0dob7a7a325113d1750@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908202102t17e85865ufe795e3b249a467b@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908210846h73742e12x114b92c086273dfd@mail.gmail.com> <5fb387c70908210937o598e7dafm80c5984065258ae4@mail.gmail.com> <6e8b29e0908211513m6179bc0dob7a7a325113d1750@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090821223134.GE22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Dennis J Harrison Jr (dennisharrison at gmail.com): > Well, I've been using the pre with tun and dhcpd as a router lately, > so while they don't encourage you to use it this way, I don't see > anyway they can make it against the eula and still give you evdo ppp > on there at all. It's simple how they (meaning Sprint, in the case of Palm Pre in the USA) _can_ do that. They just specify in the data-plan contract that your entitlement is device-specific. The telcos want to bill for tethered usage as a premium service, even if it makes no difference whatsoever in your monthly data allotment. Why? Because they smell money can and can get away with it. (Of course, they may or may not be able to detect your doing it.) From woodbrian77 at gmail.com Fri Aug 21 16:44:17 2009 From: woodbrian77 at gmail.com (Brian Wood) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:44:17 -0500 Subject: [sf-lug] C++ Middleware Writer In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I'm writing to tell you about the C++ Middleware Writer. It is an on line code generator that writes C++ marshalling code based on user input. It has a number of advantages over the Boost Serialization library -- http://webEbenezer.net/comparison.html . The C++ Middleware Writer has been a free service since it went on line in 2003 and we have no intention of changing that. Regards, Brian Wood Ebenezer Enterprises www.webEbenezer.net "Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, 'Until now the L-RD has helped us.'" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jim at well.com Tue Aug 25 09:53:12 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:53:12 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BayPIGgies meeting Thursday August 27, 2009: Intro to wxPython Message-ID: <1251219192.6819.40.camel@jim-laptop> BayPIGgies meeting Thursday August 27, 2009: Introduction to wxPython NOTE BayPIGgies meets at the Symantec Vcafe, at Symantec's location at 350 Ellis Street in Mountain View. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&ei=w6i_Sfr6MZmQsQOzlv0v&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=116202735295394761637.00046550c09ff3d96bff1&ll=37.397693,-122.053707&spn=0.002902,0.004828&z=18 Tonight's talk is * Introduction to wxPython by Tony Cappollini Meetings start with a Newbie Nugget, a short discussion of an essential Python feature, specially for those new to Python. Tonight's Newbie Nugget: List Comprehension LOCATION Symantec Corporation Symantec Vcafe 350 Ellis Street Mountain View, CA 94043 BayPIGgies meeting information is available at http://baypiggies.net/new/plone ------------------------ Agenda ------------------------ ..... 7:30 PM ........................... General hubbub, inventory end-of-meeting announcements, any first-minute announcements. ..... 7:35 PM to 7:35 PM ................ Newbie Nugget: List Comprehension ..... 7:35 PM to 8:55 PM ................ Title: Introduction to wxPython by Tony Cappellini wxPython presents the wxWidgets open source cross-platform GUI library to Python programmers. Tonight's talk presents essential issues of using wxPython. ..... 8:55 PM to 9:20 PM ................ Mapping and Random Access Mapping is a rapid-fire audience announcement of topics the announcers are interested in. Random Access follows immediately to allow follow up individually on the announcements and other topics of interest. From jim at well.com Wed Aug 26 17:30:55 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:30:55 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] BayPIGgies meeting Thursday August 27, 2009: NEW: Managing Software Developers Message-ID: <1251333055.9073.17.camel@jim-laptop> BayPIGgies meeting Thursday August 27, 2009: Managing Software Developers There's a last minute change in the BayPIGgies meeting: Alex Martelli will present his thoughts on managing a software development team. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Martelli Title: Managing Software Developers by Alex Martelli Managing software development projects can benefit from some approaches that are rather different from most traditional management techniques. Software developers operate with their own particular mindset, culture, and reward system. To motivate and inspire a top programming team, one type of ideal manager is a technical peer who can jump into the code and work hands-on, together with the developers, to solve thorny problems. Such technical involvement can keep a project moving forward and help the manager build credibility and trust within the team. In this talk, Alex Martelli discusses some common management myths, and shares some immediately useful advice for anyone involved in managing software development projects. NOTE BayPIGgies meets at the Symantec Vcafe, at Symantec's location at 350 Ellis Street in Mountain View. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&ei=w6i_Sfr6MZmQsQOzlv0v&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=116202735295394761637.00046550c09ff3d96bff1&ll=37.397693,-122.053707&spn=0.002902,0.004828&z=18 BayPIGgies meeting information is available at http://baypiggies.net/new/plone From sverma at sfsu.edu Wed Aug 26 17:34:58 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:34:58 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day Message-ID: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> Software Freedom Day is coming up fast. http://softwarefreedomday.org/ I was talking to Alex Kleider and Grant Bowman about it and we were thinking of doing a mass CD duplication order for the Open Disc (http://www.theopendisc.com/) or Open Education Disc for the event. We (SFSU) have been doing open disc giveaways to students because bulk of the users out there who need to understand FOSS are Windows users. We've found that giving out Linux disks have a lower chance of use compared to FOSS titles for Windows. Would anyone in SF-LUG be interested in doing a bulk order? How about other LUGs? (Please forward to other LUGs?) Orders over 1000 discs tends to be cheaper (approx $0.30). Sameer -- Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Information Systems Director, Center for Business Solutions San Francisco State University http://verma.sfsu.edu/ http://cbs.sfsu.edu/ http://is.sfsu.edu/ From einfeldt at gmail.com Wed Aug 26 18:20:37 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:20:37 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] job posting Message-ID: <4b5781040908261820o5966d4e9x40a7c1550c2a84ec@mail.gmail.com> hi, This is a job posting for a great company, Zareason. They sold hardware to a school our group is supporting with FOSS, and the equipment was reasonably priced and good quality, and, most important, dealing with Zareason is easy to do. ################ Linux Hardware Builder Small Linux shop on Hopkins in Berkeley needs a hardware builder for flexible part-time employment. Qualifications: - Good manual dexterity. - Takes direction well, good memory. - Attention to detail, perfectionism encouraged. - Self-directed, good at managing time efficiently. - People skills not required. - Familiar with the Linux community. - Has a history of building desktops for fun. Part-time 4-6hrs/day, hours flexible. Starting pay is $15/hr with quarterly increases based on performance. Interviews on Saturday 8/29/09. Please email support at zareason.com for an appointment. Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 08:37:17 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:37:17 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Sameer Verma (sverma at sfsu.edu): > We've found that giving out Linux disks have a lower chance of use > compared to FOSS titles for Windows. So, you sugges spending money and effort helping people remain on proprietary operating systems. Personally, I wouldn't. Helping the Linux (or BSD) communities is much more rewarding and useful. http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/#enabler From jim at well.com Fri Aug 28 09:21:51 2009 From: jim at well.com (jim) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:21:51 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> this fits my tho'ts: make the FOSS platform community stronger and stronger, it's the communities that are the strongest force in the process of adoption. fewer percentage of linux disks used is still likely promotion of linux and FOSS. greater percentage of windows- based FOSS programs used seems possibly not effective in promoting FOSS, as many may see their new software as new free stuff on the order of free detergent or cigarettes: no extra thinking. On Fri, 2009-08-28 at 08:37 -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting Sameer Verma (sverma at sfsu.edu): > > > We've found that giving out Linux disks have a lower chance of use > > compared to FOSS titles for Windows. > > So, you sugges spending money and effort helping people remain on > proprietary operating systems. Personally, I wouldn't. Helping the > Linux (or BSD) communities is much more rewarding and useful. > > http://zgp.org/~dmarti/linuxmanship/#enabler > > > _______________________________________________ > sf-lug mailing list > sf-lug at linuxmafia.com > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug > From einfeldt at gmail.com Fri Aug 28 10:12:25 2009 From: einfeldt at gmail.com (Christian Einfeldt) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:12:25 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> Message-ID: <4b5781040908281012s31415247i5cc52d1de946248e@mail.gmail.com> hi, On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:21 AM, jim wrote: > > this fits my tho'ts: make the FOSS platform > community stronger and stronger, it's the > communities that are the strongest force in > the process of adoption. I tend to agree with both Rick Moen and Jim Stockford here. We all have limited time, so I tend to focus on my end goal -- moving people to a Free OS. On the other hand, Sameer has a point, too. I can't tell you how many people at the schools we support with Linux who have used OOo or are using OOo or firefox or audacity. Each of these programs is a bridge from Microsoft Windows to Linux. Not everyone will be able to move immediately from Microsoft Windows to Linux right now. Using FOSS apps on Microsoft Windows minimizes the pain of the transition to GNU-Linux _if_ the user eventually has the incentive to migrate. But that's a big "if". And there are other problems with using FOSS apps on Microsoft Windows. Any failure or slowness in performance is blamed on the FOSS apps, not Microsoft Windows. And Rick also has a good point in that leaving the user on Microsoft Windows with FOSS apps leaves them dependent on Microsoft Windows. Here's my own practice. I will mention the FOSS apps for Microsoft Windows, but I won't spend any time supporting the user in using those FOSS apps if they are working on a non-Free OS such as Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. Instead, I will politely sympathize with them when the non-Free OS fails or gets viruses (Windows) or when the OS gets old and crusty, but the user can't afford to upgrade (Apple). At that point, I will offer the user a GNU-Linux machine "just temporarily until they are able to get their old system up and running again." This approach seems to be working with the teachers that we are supporting at the KSFBA school and the CACS school here in SF. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 11:09:56 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:09:56 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <4b5781040908281012s31415247i5cc52d1de946248e@mail.gmail.com> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> <4b5781040908281012s31415247i5cc52d1de946248e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090828180955.GE18781@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com): > Each of these programs is a bridge from Microsoft Windows to Linux. [Not intending to be critical of Christian's stance, in jumping on the above sentence in isolation from the rest of his post, which was well taken.] I've heard this "bridge" thing (or equivalent) alleged (about various MS-Windows programs) for seventeen years: I've kept track, and it's proven to be mistaken for every one of those seventeen years. All you're doing if you advocate MS-Windows applications (regardless of licensing) is to be an enabler. Just say no. ;-> From nbs at sonic.net Fri Aug 28 11:47:10 2009 From: nbs at sonic.net (Bill Kendrick) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:47:10 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <20090828180955.GE18781@linuxmafia.com> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> <4b5781040908281012s31415247i5cc52d1de946248e@mail.gmail.com> <20090828180955.GE18781@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <20090828184710.GA10418@sonic.net> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 11:09:56AM -0700, Rick Moen wrote: > All you're doing if you advocate MS-Windows applications (regardless of > licensing) is to be an enabler. Just say no. ;-> I, as the author of Tux Paint, cannot control the OS that kids' parents force upon them. OTOH, it probably helps that the app is Tux-penguin-themed. Bahahaha. ;) (And no, this was never the plan. I didn't see Windows or Mac as target platforms. I made Tux Paint because there was a gap that needed filling on Linux.) -bill! From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 11:50:32 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:50:32 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <20090828184710.GA10418@sonic.net> References: <5fb387c70908261734l476997bds658ae75ad08ad09a@mail.gmail.com> <20090828153717.GY22722@linuxmafia.com> <1251476511.6637.18.camel@jim-laptop> <4b5781040908281012s31415247i5cc52d1de946248e@mail.gmail.com> <20090828180955.GE18781@linuxmafia.com> <20090828184710.GA10418@sonic.net> Message-ID: <20090828185032.GE22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Bill Kendrick (nbs at sonic.net): > I, as the author of Tux Paint, cannot control the OS that kids' parents > force upon them. Nor would I dream of suggesting it, Bill. Going out of one's way to burn, distribution, and promote a bunch of MS-Windows application disks -- and doing it as an activity of a Linux user group -- is (of course) another thing entirely. And thank you for Tux Paint, by the way! -- Cheers, "Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first Rick Moen woman she meets, and then teams up with three complete strangers rick at linuxmafia.com to kill again." -- Rick Polito's That TV Guy column, describing the movie _The Wizard of Oz_ From david at sterryit.com Fri Aug 28 13:41:14 2009 From: david at sterryit.com (david at sterryit.com) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:41:14 +0000 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day Message-ID: <1246545427-1251492044-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-109951260-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> Let us not forget that this is software freedom day, not OS advocacy day. The quest for software freedom is a personal and difficult one and begins with the first exposure to a free software application like TuxPaint or Firefox. It ends with running a 100% free system like gNewSense or Kongoni. Anything that can move a user closer to software freedom is a win. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 13:59:00 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:59:00 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <1246545427-1251492044-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-109951260-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> References: <1246545427-1251492044-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-109951260-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> Message-ID: <20090828205900.GH22722@linuxmafia.com> Quoting david at sterryit.com (david at sterryit.com): > Let us not forget that this is software freedom day, not OS advocacy > day. Well, sure, but it'll also be (for example) International Talk Like a Pirate Day -- and yet, I don't actualy _have_ to wear an eyepatch and go around saying "Arrr!" every other sentence, unless I really think that's worthwhile. The question is: Is helping MS-Windows users worth a significant amount of money and effort for a Linux user group (or at least for members thereof)? For some, the answer will be yes. I don't happen to be among them, and find the arguments usually advanced by advocates to be extremely bad. (By the way, I am specifically _not_ an "OS advocate" of any sort, an activity I find not only distasteful but also pointless when indulged by Linux users. For more, if interested, please see: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/26/1040511127721.html ) > Anything that can move a user closer to software freedom is a win. This particular bad argument does not improve with repetition: It's frankly pretty obvious why giving MS-Windows users additional excuses to remain on that platform doesn't "move the user closer to software freedom", and never has. From sverma at sfsu.edu Fri Aug 28 14:47:24 2009 From: sverma at sfsu.edu (Sameer Verma) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:47:24 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <20090828205900.GH22722@linuxmafia.com> References: <1246545427-1251492044-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-109951260-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> <20090828205900.GH22722@linuxmafia.com> Message-ID: <5fb387c70908281447pfce3de0gb67e4959b8959244@mail.gmail.com> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Rick Moen wrote: > Quoting david at sterryit.com (david at sterryit.com): > >> Let us not forget that this is software freedom day, not OS advocacy >> day. > > Well, sure, but it'll also be (for example) International Talk Like a > Pirate Day -- and yet, I don't actualy _have_ to wear an eyepatch and go > around saying "Arrr!" every other sentence, unless I really think that's > worthwhile. > > The question is: ?Is helping MS-Windows users worth a significant amount > of money and effort for a Linux user group (or at least for members > thereof)? ?For some, the answer will be yes. ?I don't happen to be > among them, and find the arguments usually advanced by advocates to be > extremely bad. I agree that principally, it makes more sense for a *Linux* user group to hand out Linux CDs at an event such as this (BTW, does SF-LUG have any plans for SFD?), and given that the event is *Software* Freedom Day, and not *Linux* Freedom Day, prinicpally I would not discriminate against the OS on which the Software (application) runs. IMO, it goes against the spirit of some parts of the Open Source Definition. http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php I think its safe to say that if the LUGs plan on participating, we (SF-LUG?) do a CD run of Linux (which distro?) and we (SFSU) will do a run of OpenEducationDisc, which SFD actually ships to teams anyway...we just don't get enough to give out. > (By the way, I am specifically _not_ an "OS advocate" of any sort, > an activity I find not only distasteful but also pointless when indulged > by Linux users. ?For more, if interested, please see: > http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/26/1040511127721.html ) > > >> Anything that can move a user closer to software freedom is a win. > > This particular bad argument does not improve with repetition: ?It's > frankly pretty obvious why giving MS-Windows users additional excuses to > remain on that platform doesn't "move the user closer to software > freedom", and never has. I actually have statistical evidence to the contrary (innovation adoption of FOSS research), but I have 20 different things pulling me 20 different ways, so maybe I'll share another time. cheers, Sameer From pmpope at gmail.com Fri Aug 28 14:55:07 2009 From: pmpope at gmail.com (pmpope) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:55:07 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] ...Enabling M$ Message-ID: <1251496507.3739.27.camel@3dgelabs.gateway.2wire.net> All you're doing if you advocate MS-Windows applications (regardless of licensing) is to be an enabler. Just say no. ;-> Here! Here! I couldn't agree with you more, Rick, and not JUST because I'm some poor Debian Fr3ak, no sir, this has everything to do with the manner of enslavement tools the corporate overlords will use. MS developers look down their noses at the LX community at large because 'we're not greedy enough' Maybe they can't tell... we're greedy for freedom and we're willing to work for REAL freedom. I'm more of a freedom fighter than any glossy so I can't truthfully count myself among the illustrious ranks of of all the six zeros developers but I am able to maintain LX OSes on scrap metal architecture and that is why there is a cowboy on the O'Reilly Linux Pocket Guide. That is also why I am, today, the same day Mac releases their newest OS able to say most emphatically 'Happy Big Four Oh UNIX! Where would we be without you?' sincerely PMPope -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 15:17:51 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:17:51 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] mastering CDs in bulk for Software Freedom Day In-Reply-To: <5fb387c70908281447pfce3de0gb67e4959b8959244@mail.gmail.com> References: <1246545427-1251492044-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-109951260-@bxe1008.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> <20090828205900.GH22722@linuxmafia.com> <5fb387c70908281447pfce3de0gb67e4959b8959244@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20090828221751.GI18781@linuxmafia.com> Quoting Sameer Verma (sverma at sfsu.edu): > I agree that principally, it makes more sense for a *Linux* user group > to hand out Linux CDs at an event such as this (BTW, does SF-LUG have > any plans for SFD?), and given that the event is *Software* Freedom > Day, and not *Linux* Freedom Day, prinicpally I would not discriminate > against the OS on which the Software (application) runs. IMO, it goes > against the spirit of some parts of the Open Source Definition. > http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php *scratches head* I'm minutely familiar with the Open Source Definition, having participated in OSI's licence review process for many years. And yet, I cannot find any part of it, nor, as the USSC might say, "emanations and penumbras", that in any way suggest that it's a good thing, let alone obligatory, to cut CDs of MS-Windows software at one's own expense in time and money and hand them out. I've only been reading the OSD carefully for about a decade, so I might have missed something: Does it contain some personal obligation to hand out software for proprietary OS platforms, above and beyond the need for OSD-compliant software to not be licensed specific to a product or to be technology-specific? (Er, no, it does not.) And, again, the fact that Sept. 19 has been declared by some guys running a Web site[0] to be *Software* Freedom Day doesn't make it necessary for desirable for LUGs to hand out software for MS-Windows any more than it being International Talk Like a Pirate Day makes it necessary or desirable for them to adopt piratical attitudes. > I think its safe to say that if the LUGs plan on participating, we > (SF-LUG?) do a CD run of Linux (which distro?) and we (SFSU) will do a > run of OpenEducationDisc, which SFD actually ships to teams > anyway...we just don't get enough to give out. Without particular objection (except what I've noted before, i.e., it's no skin off my back if you toil on behalf of MS-Windows users), I note that OpenEducationDisc appears to be (also) MS-Windows-specific, i.e., to consist only of MS-Windows programs. Sadly, the related Web page (http://www.theopendisc.com/education/) doesn't mention that fact.[1] The linked FAQ page does clarify the matter: Q: What are the requirements to run program XYZ? A: You need to check the website of the program where it will give you exact specifications. Most of the programs on this disk need Windows XP or above and a computer bought within the last few years. > > This particular bad argument does not improve with repetition: ?It's > > frankly pretty obvious why giving MS-Windows users additional excuses to > > remain on that platform doesn't "move the user closer to software > > freedom", and never has. > > I actually have statistical evidence to the contrary (innovation > adoption of FOSS research), but I have 20 different things pulling me > 20 different ways, so maybe I'll share another time. Does your research indicate that handing out open source MS-Windows applications to users increases the likelihood of them deciding to run an open-source operating system, instead? It doesn't seem, from your brief description that it does, which would make your contention somewhat non-sequitur to the point. More to the point, the truly relevant question is whether the same amount of money and effort applied to the actual Linux or BSD communities has a greater or lesser benefit. I think it's pretty obvious that the benefit is greater. Not that I have any business criticising anyone else's decision to help MS-Windows users -- but personally I would rather devote my free time elsewhere. (I'd classify my, theoretically, doing it as "consulting". ;-> ) [0] Basically, consultant Matt Oquist, in conjunction with Phil Harper of the OpenDisk / OpenCD effort -- though they've got several other folks aboard, in the several years since. [1] An alert reader might also figure out that fact, from the main page's citation of contents that are obviously Windows-specific, such as Clamwin and WinSCP. From rick at linuxmafia.com Fri Aug 28 15:26:20 2009 From: rick at linuxmafia.com (Rick Moen) Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:26:20 -0700 Subject: [sf-lug] ...Enabling M$ In-Reply-To: <1251496507.3739.27.camel@3dgelabs.gateway.2wire.net> References: <1251496507.3739.27.camel@3dgelabs.gateway.2wire.net> Message-ID: <20090828222620.GJ18781@linuxmafia.com> Quoting pmpope (pmpope at gmail.com): > Here! Here! I couldn't agree with you more, Rick, and not JUST because > I'm some poor Debian Fr3ak, no sir, this has everything to do with the > manner of enslavement tools the corporate overlords will use. MS > developers look down their noses at the LX community at large because > 'we're not greedy enough' Maybe they can't tell... we're greedy for > freedom and we're willing to work for REAL freedom. Er, well, I wouldn't personally paint it as an ideological cause. (No criticism implied, just a difference of perspective.) For me, it's just a matter of optimisation of effort. Given a fixed number of hours of free time per month, I can elect to spend some of my time (and money) helping MS-Windows users, or Linux users. Helping Linux users helps repay the debt of grat