--- linuxprosun <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:21:16 -0800 (PST), saugata
> ghosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >> ? What all can we do in the coming events ?
> > Its difficult to stand under a different banner
> and
> > explain something else.
> > Most of the crowd came there for lottery, rest for
> > hardware pricing enquiry and about less than 5%
> > actually were interested about linux.
> > In fututre we should think twice before sharing a
> > place with other stall, otherwise we will get lots
> of
> > unwanted audience.
Saugata is right on the money. I think participation
in the book fair under the banner of amaar pc was a
crying shame of a failure for the ilug-cal folks.
Here's why.
First, ilug-cal and Amar pC are incompatible with each
other in terms of philosophy and the way people work.
As much as I appreciate the efforts of our braveheart
ilug-cal members who stood there, doggedly, for the
cause of linux, I personally did not like with the
idea that a group of linux community members sharing
space with some closed source, non-free, business
folks out to win customers and make money, nothing
else. You got defeated there, first round! Big time.
Second, it was difficult to approach the linux show
through the Amar pC stall. Think about it. The
approach of linux way of life is freedom, and its all
about openness. An independent linux stall managed by
ilug-cal folks in a fair would typically stand there
transparent, with glass panes and open spaces all
around it, with enthusiastic people from ilugs hanging
out to help people who'd walk in. No queues, no
"exclusivity", no questions. Everyone's truly invited.
Was this possible in the BF 2005 sharing with the amar
pc stall? No. To access linux in the Amar PC stall,
you had to queue and be herded like sheep/goats to
enter the amar pc stall through a caged collapsible
gate. [My personal experience, I went to the fair on
two days (the last two days, in fact), and just could
not enter the stall at all! the queue was long, the
pavilion was closed -- I thought the environment was
unwelcome. I turned back.]. This is NOT linux way of
life, this is NOT open source way of life, this is not
what ilug-cal should either promote or stand for.
Third, it is doubtful that Amar pc folks are _ever_ ,
if at all, going to distribute linux as their OS of
choice with their machines.
Finally, as for new members, those who have joined
post BF would have come anyway, even if there was as
simple a thing as a sticker in the ticket counter
windows stating a few words about ilug-cal and linux.
I think for future, the lesson is either ilug-cal gets
its own stall to show for its presence, or it does not
participate.
Absolutely NO piggybacking, AFAICS!
/Arin
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