[sf-lug] (forw) Re: (forw) Re: SF-LUG meeting notes for Sunday 02022020

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com):

> Actually on PCLinux the updates are done by VirtualBox Manager which
> is likely a script run from the menu.

One bizarre exception does not disprove what I said as a general distro
truth.

Much is possibly now explained, however, about your compliaint about
VirtualBox updates being 'rather large':  If the 'update' is, as you
suggest, PCLinuxOS just running scripts that fetch an entire new version
from upstream, yeah, that would probably be a bit 'rather large'.

According to bloggers, PCLinuxOS uses the same slapdash approach for
LibreOffice, Calibre, and the Linux kernel.  (Good grief.)

> Aside from the VB being able to find the file created from the
> original iso file that is more or less an accurate restatement of what
> I intended to say.

I still have no clear idea what 'the file created from the original ISO
file' is supposed to refer to.  What file?  You give us no idea what
you're talking about.  

Anyway, if this frustrating exercise has led to a useful practical
suggestion that puts an end to your system (namely, 'Bobbie, try no
longer deleting or moving around VirtualBox virtual disk files and then
acting all surprised that related VMs will thereafter no longer start'),
then this time has not been entirely wasted.

> Then perhaps you should let my lapses from your standard go and let my
> problems go as well.

You think this is about _you_?  Oh, my sweet summer child.

A Linux user group is a public institution, where people participate to
propagate understanding and the sharing of knowledge.  When I see 
obvious key problems ignored, one thing I know is that this teaches
exactly the wrong lesson to others, and I care enough to not like seeing
people mislead and taught the wrong things.


> As an example you are working hard to keep the mail
> flowing.

No, actually I'm not doing that at all.  That's the beauty of
automation.


> I am indulging in downloading distributions which are either useful to
> some of the membership or completely irrelevant.

I may have some further words about that, inspired by Akkana having also
stepped in and tried to help:  Above and beyond tactical concerns about
whether to do real installs via dedicated-host reloading (I hear the
ritualised objection of 'can't afford more hardware; must keep using
existing software on existing machines) or multibooting or VM/hypervisor
containter technology, the real problem is:  What on earth is all of
this years-long tourism, via booting one live distro after another,
mousing around for a short time without learning anything about
_actually_ living with the distro, and then moving to the next live
distro, aimed at achieving?  

You don't really learn anything that way that you couldn't get from
browing the distro Web pages and a review (if available).  You certainly
aren't learning anything about how to administer (any) Linux system.

If that's your hobby, fine, so be it.  But the pretense that this is
somehow learning something worthwhile, especially as something to teach
LUG newcomers, is IMO regrettable.


> The results of my previous little survey revealed that almost no
> individual member is interested in learning about new distributions or
> in changing the distribution that they use.

This would be a fairer question if you actually offered knowledge about
new distributions, but you aren't really offering any.  And you
basically cater overwhelmingly to a very non-technical 'desktop' crowd,
who tend to be, if novices, highly unadventurous, or, if experienced,
set in their ways and therefore also uninterested in anything but the
familiar.