[sf-lug] SF-LUG meeting 201/09/04

[Bobbie Sellers]

     Hi all,
         We had a nice little meeting.
     I managed to get my notebook computer
to the meeting for the first time in several
months.  Resting the back you know.
     Ken Schaffer came in with a couple of Micro-SD
card readers hidden inside a pair of silicone penguins
from <http://www.cyberguys.com/> Bone collection.
He waited until the devices were on sale to acquire
and set them up.  Each was charged up with Ubuntu
10.04 and proper selection from the boot menu and
3 quick hits on Enter/Return key allowed for a very
quick boot into the 'buntu which lacked a lot over the
full install but which went right online(as soon as the
pass phrase for Cafe Enchante was entered) and
allowed me to eventual access my home directory
and check out some things.
     Jeff Bragg showed up then & we all got a surprise when
Jim Stockford back early from the diggin's showed up.  Jeff
and he had quite a discussion of the things Jeff has
mentioned in the mailing list.  Eric came in finally and
talked a lot about the frustration of dealing with tablet
and pad developing requirements.  High fees to get into
the developer programs and confining development to
the Windows platform were among his remarks.
     I had to pass along the news that Mandriva which
forked at the end of the spring has consigned its Power-
Pack distro that comes with the programs and the
codecs which they use to deal with commercial DVDs
to the trash heap of history.    This may be a temporary
expedient to avoid spending money on licensing fees.
Personally this is a bummer for me as I have depended
on it for several years.   Mageia the other half of the fork
got their first release out early but they don't seem to
want to produce more than a minimalist distribution
so far.

     bliss
     Bobbie Sellers