Hi folks, One quick update on my situation, unfortunately the gig in Brisbane was cancelled before it started so I'm back in Melbourne... for the time being ;)
Thanks to everyone who came along to the November meetup and shared their favorite examples of Free and Open Source Software. I've just compiled a list of the software and links demonstrated on the night for the mailing list to peruse and enjoy. Wikimedia Etherpads - Shared Text https://etherpad.wikimedia.org Jitsi Meet - Video Conferencing https://meet.jit.si/ Linux Deploy (Android) - Install Linux https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.meefik.linuxdeploy&hl=en Debian Kit (Android) - Install Linux https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.dyndns.sven_ola.debian_kit/ Termux (Android) - Android Terminal https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/ Red Moon (Android) - Night Screen Coloring https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.jmstudios.redmoon/ Librem 5 - Freedom Respecting Laptop https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ Puppeteer - Headless Browser for Automated Testing https://developers.google.com/web/tools/puppeteer/ https://www.npmjs.com/package/puppeteer ~~ Ben On Mon, Nov 19, 2018 at 3:19 PM Michael Verrenkamp <jabj...@fastmail.com.au> wrote: > Just an update on were we are going with Free Software Melbourne and Free > Software Australia in a more bored sense. > > On Thursday 15th November was our final "official" meeting for FSM for > 2018; while there will be an end of year dinner to come in December (date > to be decided) - we also had our yearly committee vote. > > There have been three changes to committee. > > Firstly Damien Zammit has stepped down from his role. To put it bluntly, > Zammit is simply far to busy saving us from the clutches of proprietary > software to be worrying about, frankly, a minor role of organizing these > monthly events - and we are forever grateful for his work in the field. He > is doing far too much good in the role of software warrior to be worrying > about writing an announce for these events! That said, the time he put in > especially in terms of the audio archives of meetings in 2016/2017 are > wonderful. A real treasure to be cherished and a great record of our past. > I'm sure he will turn up from time to time with our ongoing meetings and we > look forward to hearing about the latest developments of his work or just > being one of the many cool folk in the community. > > Secondly, Ben Minders while not officially stepping down from the > committee will no longer be directly organizing and running the monthly > event. While not the direct reasoning, we choose to prefer the narrative of > Ben re-starting the engine of Free Software Brisbane! Anyone want to step > up for Free Software Sydney/Hobart/ACT/Adelaide/Perth/Darwin etc/ ? We are > more than welcome to help you out. > > A little note on Ben's time with FSM. Ben has been a part of the committee > since March 2015 as Secretary and took over the full reigns of the > organization in March 2016. To say that Ben has been the driving force of > FSM for the last 2 and 3/4 years is a bit of an understatement. He has kept > the organization alive and on target and constantly out in the Melbourne > scene looking for people to share their projects and ideas. Always ready to > organize the next meeting, get it all prepped and announced and then ready > to jump on to the next months meeting ready to 'spread the good word' if > you will. > > Having organized, along side Linux Users Victoria, the last three Software > Freedom days has not been an easy thing to do. But it is something that we > the committee have always jumped behind when guided by Ben's ideas and > concepts. Personally it sometimes felt like we were taking credit for his > work like a group high school project but it was never intended in this > fashion. > > You could always count on Ben to turn up to these events with a big smile, > a great attitude and always some news about some new programming technology > that half of us had never heard of. There will be a lot less 'pan-docs' > presentations going forwards. He will be missed at these events but > definitely not forgotten, I'm sure whatever groups he gets involved with up > north will be glad he turns up. So lucky them! > > He will leave a vacuum of interesting ideas, resources and most > importantly personality. So best of luck to Ben where ever he may go. > This is good thing! Dang it! Needless to say, we wish him all the best in > his new endeavors and we will be hearing from him from time to time in > future - probably via a projected live stream via Jitsi or Mumble. > > With this we have to focus on the future and were FSM will be heading. > > The direct Melbourne based committee now consists of essentially three > positions. Tatiana and Myself (Michael) are still serving and will be > organizing events going forwards. Les, a frequent attendee will also be > pitching in when possible even if in a semi-part time situation. We > couldn't be more than happy to welcome him on board! > > We will be doing some contemplation over the next few weeks and months as > too the direction of FSM and Free Software Australia as a whole. This will > come down to the timing of meetings, the kinds of meetings we want and how > we can interact with other people and groups for the benefit of everyone. > To essentially get at the heart of what we and others want us to achieve. A > somewhat nervous but exciting thing to be doing. We want to be a force for > good and welcoming to all that want a free digital world too. > > FSM/FSA in 2019 will continue to provide an alternative voice in the > crowded world of computer technology. A community for which we can meet and > discuss the ideas and technology that will help us try to keep and > eventually grow our freedoms. Don't be shy, we are welcoming and the > digital water is inviting. ;) > > A side note, just because you are not part of the 'committee' doesn't mean > you cannot help out if you wish. This is a community, not a dictatorship. > > Thank you to everyone that has come along this year. We could not have > done it without you. > > Also Special thanks to the following people. > > Ben Sturmfels for creating FSM and guiding us through out the years. Also > for providing on going mumble servers for us to organize these events. > > "System Saviour" Adam Bolt from providing on going hosting of not just the > website but these mailing lists. Without this service I wonder want awful > state this organization would be in, or more accurately, what nasty > non-free alternative we would be trying to use. > > The folks at Electron workshop for not only providing us a meeting space > but also for putting up with our noise, especially on games nights. > > It might be early to say this (42 days early!) but Happy Gnew Year and we > hope to see you at one of the many events on next year. > > > Michael Verrenkamp > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Committee Member - Free Software Australia - > http://www.freesoftware.org.au/ > Advocating for freedom in computer software > _______________________________________________ > Free-software-melb mailing list > Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au > > https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb > > > Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/ _______________________________________________ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
