[sf-lug] Meeting notes for Virtual Meeting of Sunday June 6, 2021 and the future..

[Bobbie Sellers]

Hi LUGers,

     Well the meeting was very well attended though several people
came in late and we see people leaving early for other activities.

I got there a bit before 11 AM then had problems with micro-
phone sensitivity, and with the audio setting but I finally realized
that my Audio was not turned on for Firefox which I found through
the Volume Control in my System tray on KDE desktop panel.

     Michael Paoli was present doing his update and later
engaged in conversation with Rick Moen and I believe
with Wayne and Aaron C. in regard to moving the
SF-LUG mailing list to another server.
     This apparentty involved adding new URL(s) to
Google and waiting for them to propagate through
the Internet.

     And RC channels Rick discussed briefly.

     Ken was an early arrival. Until he left about
1220 he had things to say about the topics.

     Toni L and Victor seeems to have something
to say about LibreOffice.

     The downfall of FreeNode, the less intrusive
and distributed Social platforn was outlined.
Some profit taker thought to monetize the
system to the dismay of the creators and the
eventual dimunition of FreeNode's influence.

     Sorry for the lateness of these notes.

     We need to replace me as Distribution Librarian and as
Convenor of the meetings.   I hope some one is interested.
One man inquired after the last time I posted this.
     The reason for the lateness and the need to replace
me is that i am past my warranty and running out of
energy to take care of the Library and/or convening
the meetings.  I can barely do my shopping any more.

     Since the one member inquired I responded and
will copy over the matters discussed.
>
> What is involved in "Distribution Librarian"?
> <Not that I wish to take it on.  I don't live in SF and can't promise 
> to show up every month>
>
> But I'm wondering, do you carry a shoebox full of flash drives?
>
>     I have been lugging a few boxes but not shoe boxes to meetings 
> with the later
> versions of what I was foolish enough to think would be of interest. I 
> also carry
> DVDs , CDs and business card sized CD to the meeting, but whoever takes
>  over the job does not have to what I have been doing,
>
>     But I also maintain an archive of distribution on a Terabyte 2.5 
> inch hard disk
> in a portable version.  I currently use that hard disk for other things
> as well but if someone takes over the chore of downloading and doing 
> check
> sums on the downloads I will donate that portable USB connected hard
> disk to the LUG and the new Librarian will be stuck with those chores
> and with keeping it up-to-date.
>
>     It would be best if the new Librarian also had a R/W DVD drive in
> the case of older hardware which may have a CD/DVD-ROm drive.
>
>     I expect that along with the Portable Disk Drive I will add most of
> the Flash Drives I have been using up until 2020.  And most of the
> blank optical media as well as specific written media for the problem
> cases where a system will need a special program to boot from
> CD/DVD-ROM or even USB.  Aaron C. donated these to the program.
>
     If I have to I will provide a working computer for the Librarian
to use.  I would rather donate the Dell Latitude 6520 to a needy
person but...   How about my blackduck® software squeaky toy in
addition to the media and disk drive.

>
>> I haven't tried Ventoy but it really sounds like a good way to do 
>> this.  You could put all
>> the iso on one large capacity flash drive or (more reliable) portable 
>> ssd.
>> Alternately there are drive enclosures with firmware that can load 
>> iso like:
>> https://www.amazon.com/Iodd-Iodd2531-Black-Virtual-Enclosures/dp/B00TDJ4BJU 
>> <https://www.amazon.com/Iodd-Iodd2531-Black-Virtual-Enclosures/dp/B00TDJ4BJU> 
>>
>>
>     That is a cool piece of kit as I believe you young folks would say.
>     But there is room at the beginning of the portable drive to
> install a program that would  enable choosing which iso file to boot.
> Aaron C. also supplied this file and I don't know if he has ever
> run it from hard drive.
>     However I now try out these files in VirtualBox which tells you as
> well which are not suited for such a use or function. 

   Now for the person who takes on the task of Convenor I will add the 
little figure of
TUX and the table sign.

     The next meeting is scheduled to happen on July the 4th and
some have suggested that it be virtual only which is fine with me
but we are failing to exploit the flexibilty of jitsi meetings when we
could have them any Day of the Month or week.  We also seem
to be quite rigid  in our adherence to a schedule that insists that
real meetings need to be held only on the 1st Sunday.

     It seems to me that when a meeting is scheduled for a national
holiday such as the Fourth of July that we should be flexible enough
to move it to the 2nd Sunday.

     So I will be at <https://meet.jit.si/sf-lug.org> on the Fourth of July
from 11 AM to 1 PM unless no other people without a life show up in
which case I will leave by 12:15

     Enjoy Flag Day, Juneteenth, Father's Day and the Summer Solstice.
Canadians can enjoy the Indigenous People's day.

     Bobbie Sellers -“Nearly any fool can use a GNU/Linux computer.
Many do.” After all here I am...