====== 2001-03-22 The Bear Cross, Bournemouth ====== Here are a few of the key points discussed at the meeting at The Bear Cross on Tue 22/03/2001. ===== The Next Meeting ===== It would appear that Tuesday evening is Pub Quiz Night at The Bear Cross, which with the questions and answers being broadcast over the tanoy was a bit of an annoyance for us (and no doubt our conversation was a bit of an annoyance for the teams competing in the quiz). As a result, we decided that next time we would give The Bear Cross a miss. James suggested that we meet in Dylan's, the bar on the University Talbot Campus, which is generally fairly quiet on a Tuesday night provided that there is no major sporting event on the TV that night. We can probably retire to one of a number of rooms on the campus if the bar proves to be a problem. ===== LUG Web Site ===== A few ideas that proved interesting included: A hall of fame/shame. For this we need to collect photos of the various members and a short biography (e.g. name, location, digital camera to the next meeting to take a few photos. Having map of members locations. There were a few suggestions for good places to buy Linux related books and magazines but unfortunately, the only two I have written down are Borders (Bournemouth) and Omni Books (Poole). ===== Linux Install Day ===== It was suggested that we start setting-up in a room on the Talbot Campus from 10:00 on the Sunday morning and open for the public from 12:00 until 17:00. We can then clean-up and leave at about 18:00. We discussed which distributions to use and came to the conclusion that we should try to use Mandrake 7.1/7.2 as it's pretty easy to install/re-install, understands most modern hardware and can run Win for Linux which allows it to coexist on a Windows file system, which should be good for anyone wishing to try Linux without doing any major changes to their system. One of the down-sides to Mandrake not work on older machines (e.g. non-Pentium machines), so we agreed to keep a few distributions of Red Hat for such cases. We also decided that having some copies of Demo Linux, which can be run from the CD-ROM and therefore requires no installation or disk partitioning would be useful for people who wanted to 'play' with Linux for a while before committing to it enough to re- partition their hard disk. James kindly offered some of the University's hardware such as: keyboards, mice, monitors, NICs, cables, etc. and also some machines for demonstrations (a DELL running Mandrake 7.2 and an Alpha running Red Hat 6.2). (NB: we might need some PS/2 to keyboard DIN socket converters for the keyboards). There were many suggestions for places/ways to advertise the Linux Install Day. These included: * Magazines (Linux Format, PC Plus) * Local Shops (Creative Computers, Clintons, Borders, Ottakers, PC World, Staples) * Linux for Schools (SuSE sponsored scheme). ===== Other Events ===== A few of us discussed options for the Linux Bier Wanderung (LBW) 2001 in Bouillon, including the possibility of taking a minibus across between us. Tracy suggested that we might hold a mini-LBW in the New Forest (Foot and Mouth precautions permitting). I'm sure much more was discussed but I didn't manage to take-in all of the conversations going on and get them down on paper. So, if you feel I've missed something, please post something to the list saying what was discussed. ===== Going forward ===== I would suggest that our biggest priority is to get things organised for the Linux Install Day, although this seems quite a long way away at the moment, we only have one more meeting before the event and we have quite a lot to organise. We could also do with continuing the enhancements to the LUG web site. To get this done, I suggest we divide-up the tasks between us each taking on one or more tasks which we think we can do and reporting progress back via the list and the meetings. Here as a starting point for the list of tasks, is a modified version of the '7 foot agenda'... ;-) TASKS: Projects: 0.1 Maintain this list ;-) LUG Mailing List: 1.1 Form for subscribing/unsubscribing from the mailing list (that doesn't rely on 'mailto' links working from your web browser); [Beanz is awaiting a reply from Mark Lewis on this] 1.2 Alias support (alternate addresses or post-only addresses); 'Bounce' rejected mail back to sender rather than to LUGMaster; [Beanz is awaiting a reply from Mark Lewis on this] LUG Web Site (www.dorset.lug.org.uk): 2.1 Logo (Tux); 2.2 Next meeting: 2.3 Date, time, venue & proposed agenda; 2.4 Map/directions, parking, bus/train notes, etc; 2.5 Recognising other LUG members (look for penguins!); 2.6 Meeting type: informal!; 2.7 Membership: free!; [The site needs updating to show the date/venue of the next meeting and the various comments above] 3.1 Archive of previous meetings, locations, minutes, etc. [I will post a copy of the 'minutes' of the last two meetings to Beanz, if he can find time to put it up on the site] Member information (optional): 4.1 Form for entry/update of information; 4.2 Hall of fame/shame (photos & names); 4.3 Map of members locations; 4.4 Need to check Data Protection Act implications; [I will see if I can find out what the implications of the DPA are - JMS] 5.1 Voting system for venues of meetings, etc (e.g. PERL); 5.2 Calendar/Schedule (or use www.intranets.com); 5.3 Results of users survey of distributions; Projects: 6.1 Summary of present projects, contacts + status; 6.2 Summary of past projects, contacts + status; Local (Dorset) related information: 7.1 Good local sources of hardware; 7.2 Good local sources of books: Borders, Omni Books (Poole); 7.3 Good local sources of magazines; Borders; 7.4 Internet cafes for visitors, etc. Dorset LUG related sources of information: 8.1 Mailing list FAQ (My postings are 'lost, I get two copies, etc); 8.2 Local expertise (e.g. PERL, networks, clusters, etc); Clusters - James (PhD/MPhil); C++ - John Smith; 8.3 Informal HOW-TOs; 8.4 Book/Hardware reviews; 8.5 Informative articles; Other sources of information: 9.1 Pointers to various FAQs and HOW-TOs held elsewhere; 9.2 Subject categorised link lists; 9.3 Documentation indexes; 9.4 Linux related magazines (and where to buy them); 9.5 Online bookstores (Computer Manuals, Amazon, etc); 9.6 List of Linux related mailing lists; Local Linux related events: 10.1 Linux Install Day (see below); 10.2 Other Linux related events (LBW2001, etc); Miscellaneous: 11.1 Merchandising (T-shirts, etc); 12.1 Review other LUG web sites for ideas; 13.1 contribs@dorset.lug.org.uk address; 13.2 anonymous ftp accessible directory /contribs on the server; Workshops: Linux Install Day: Date: Sun 29th April; Time: Set-up: 10:00, Open to Public: 12:00-17:00. Venue: Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus. Room? Sponsors: Red Hat, SuSE & Mandrake are sponsoring the event; UK Site: http://linuxday.org.uk 14.1 Distribution(s): Mandrake 7.2, Red Hat 6.2, Demo Linux. [I will try go contact the UK Linux Install Day people again, failing that I will try to contact the sponsors directly - JMS] 14.2 Updates/Patches (esp. security); 15.1 Charge to cover media & other costs (YAST non-free licence?); 16.1 List of Help Needed: 16.2 List of Help Offered: 17.1 List of Hardware Needed: Spare keyboards, mice, monitors, etc; NIC, cables, etc; 17.2 List of Hardware Offered: 18.1 List of Software Needed: 18.2 List of Software Offered: 19.1 Demonstration machines/software; 20.1 Power requirements; 21.1 Repartitioning/Backup facilities; 22.1 Security, labelling & logging facilities; 23.1 Posters (with map & directions): 24.1 Questionnaire/vote on distributions suitable for newbies: Qualities required (e.g. stability, ease of installation, ease of use, etc); Weighting of qualities; Weighting of experience level of user; 25.1 Information leaflets: 26.1 Printed Installation FAQs; 26.2 Printed Linux Compatibility Guides; 26.3 Sources of Help (Linux web sites, etc); 27.1 Creating distributions; [James offered to copy distributions using the University's multi-CD writer providing we provide/pay for media] 28.1 Testing distributions (on different hardware); Advertising: 29.1 Voluntary donations to cover advertising/distribution costs; 30.1 Dorset LUG web site; 30.2 Linux Day UK web site (http://linuxday.org.uk); 30.3 E-mail postings to Linux newsgroups; 30.4 E-mail postings to friends/colleagues; 31.1 Poster/Flyer creation: Poster posting (with permission): 32.1 University campus; 32.2 Other; Local hardware/software shops; 33.1 Creative Computers; 33.2 PC World; 33.3 Staples; Local businesses: 34.1 Clintons; 34.2 Borders; 34.3 Ottakers; 35.1 Other local sites; 36.1 Template letter creation: 37.1 Newspaper article creation (human interest): Local newspapers: 38.1 Poole & Bournemouth Advertiser; 38.2 Bournemouth Echo; Local radio stations: 39.1 BBC Radio Dorset; 39.2 2CR FM; 39.3 Wave 105; Local TV stations: 40.1 Meridian; Linux magazines: 41.1 Linux Format; 41.2 PC Plus; 42.1 Linux for Schools (SuSE sponsored scheme). Lectures: 43.1 Possible mini-lecture for Linux Install Day; 44.1 Possible lecture on Linux for BCS/BU; What I suggest we do, is each of us pick a task (or tasks) we think we can do, post an amended table with your name/initials and comments against the tasks you plan to do back to the list so that we know who's doing what. We can then revise a master list from time to time, to keep track of things. As always, these are only suggestions, please feel free to comment and/or amend them.