Thanks for your reply Steve,
When the Inbox has overflowed and one is scrabbling for a dignified exit, silence is instinctive.
But your post I should have answered first. I apologise.
Steve Holdoway wrote:
Hi Rik,
If I could, I would be there. But, thanks to my parents not taking the hint and following me around the world, I'm out of circulation for the next few weeks (: That said, these are my views for what they're worth.
Happy travels, and the comments are most welcome.
I am 1000% behind the prohibition of software patents - if they had been around from the start it might have been different, but now that countless millions of hours of effort have been spent without them... it's just some get rich quick scheme designed by a group of US lawyers to lazy to work for a living. Also, having seen some of the puerile cr*p that Amazon have seen fit to put forward, I also boycott them. I've already signed up on my own behalf, and am eternally grateful to Poland.
The last part I didn't get, but the first is on the button. There's a 'combined effort' case behind the (telecoms) technology that's irrefutable. Left to it, those guys will carry on and start genetic tests to find the descendants of the first Neanderthal that chucked flint at a rockface, and made fire. Then there'd be a court case with Cro Magnon. Where is that going to get us? Not forward in human progress. This particular technology (Turing's universal machine) belongs to everyone. It is time to make the point. Determinedly.
As for a new group - I think that there really aren't enough people locally to split off from the CLUG - although the idea of a Friday pm drinking club called GLUG does appeal (: Same for BSD, really - and Bill Gates is living proof that just having the best technical solution is not enough.
Given the proclivity for temper and flaming onlist, I choose the human interface. People talking B-GL ('a group') needs no formality, or exclusion from anything else. I like the pub too, but not this week most likely.
For any budding SysAdmins... b*gger off you might be good at it ((: May be able to help there if I ever get time - maybe a live ess academic approach than some?
Yes, it's the real deal we need - business applications. Product & service identification. Inspiration for young guns to take pushing Linux professionally onto their shoulders, because there's something in it for them. Not that I am against the hobbyist ethic. It's just that it lacks any motivation to grow the user base, which is what not only you and I, but *perhaps* FOSS itself, needs to survive in the long run.
Monopolistic forces have shaped our industry more than anything else. Do we expect them to stop now? Under Bush? If I told you that AT&T was reassembling by chunks, you might not believe me, except that MS has partnered in for the 'entertainment channel'. The question is, do we mosey along and leave it all to chance, or get in and push for openness and FOSS prosperity. We know the product quality, principles, and community are worth it. There's a job to be done in sharing that knowledge. We have to make those jobs.
Also, I think that it may be an idea to start up a few projects - lets use them to give focus to tuition, rather than learning for learning's sake alone.
Yes, my points may not have made that clear. Practise is the best teacher. Saleable output will keep folk alive.
If you have any notes after the meeting, I'd be grateful for a copy.
If someone wants to make some, that'd be fine. I've really no idea how it will go though. We'll do our best to keep everyone happy and constructive. New territory is what needs charting. ..Sounds like there could be some paperwork required.
Cheers,
Steve
Regards,
Rik
.. I hear a swan, ..singing?..
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
-- Richard Tindall, InfoHelp Services, Canterbury Technology Ltd.
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