MHCUG is a great group and has been helpful to me in the past as well. I am sorry that they are in a tight spot, financially and might well find that their members would find the group worth higher dues.
It is a truism that Linux is cheaper, because having to retrain all your people is a considerable expense. Sometimes the best deal is to just pay for a piece of proprietary software that will install quickly, self-configure, and solve your problem. If your company's systems are down and you can't service your customers, you need to get it back online, this minute! The time that I have spent learning Linux wasn't cost effective, but, once it got done, I got a laptop that loads faster, has more free memory, is virus free. Mark Wallace On Mon, 2010-07-26 at 22:08 -0400, Jeff Dowley wrote: > Hello, > Without an vitriol or flaming I hope to make a few points: > > What John Mort wrote on the topic fits me well too. Thanks John! > > I too see PC's and devices as tools and I just use either what tool I know > is best for the job, or the tool that I have sufficient skills to use. It > takes time to learn new things and no one has time to know it all. No one > should waste the time of those on this list just to say they hate MS, etc. > But it has happened here more than a few times and it doesn't color the > MHVLUG well if allowed. > > Frankly, some of the stuff written attacking my agnostic side of the fence > wasn't well thought out by those that lowered their rhetorical standards to > merely a rant about how antiquated/evil/? some non-Linux software/companies > seem to them. Personally I don't think everything free is all honey and > spice as a rule, but you won't read me attacking anyone that wears > rose-colored lenses. Please consider doing us agnostics the return courtesy. > > > I attend and read because I want to know Linux better, but that doesn't mean > to the point of exclusion of other solutions. One thing this group is good > at is informing each other of highly specialized tools or the right > programming approach for problems that themselves are not usually of the > type that can be a help to Linux newcomers. > > To let folks know a bit about my background and how I fit in here, please > allow me to tell you a few short things. There is a purpose for writing > about my background. So,... I regularly attend the monthly presentations, > but find them over my head at times (gasp!). I both attended and worked in > Computing Services at Carnegie Mellon for many years and at the time I > needed to be fluent in MS, Apple, SunOS, Solaris, plus Cisco, etc. So it's > not every day that Linux topics seem so removed from my ability to use them > in my life. But I have found that a number of the bits people here help each > other out on either require working in a enterprise environment or require > programming skills to implement. Sadly, I don't see myself as a programmer, > nor do I think other mortal newcomers to the LUG would either. > > Continuing on to clear up a few mis-conceptions that were paraded here. The > MHCUG (PC users group) does charge $35/yr for membership. But it has nothing > to do with a desire not to be free. All dues go towards paying for the > meeting spaces we use, group insurance against slip and fall type lawsuits, > and a few other minor things that keep the gov't happy to allow us to > operate as a 501(c)(3). We worked very very hard last year to lower our > costs of meeting space and found ourselves at the barrier of lowest cost we > can find anywhere. And as an aside, the entire MHCUG is near a precipice of > heading for extinction since even the $35 doesn't cover our costs. > > So those posts that stuck out their tongues at the MHCUG need to understand > just how lucky you are that you don't have to pay for your space, or > insurance or ISP fees, etc. And no, it didn't seem nice as to me as the > President of the MHCUG to find ourselves part of a flame post. > > And lastly I would like to tentatively vote to keep allowing the digest type > of subscription. But after the recent posts I'm not sure as a digest reader > it's worth it. The digest is nearly impossible to read by way of seeking the > signal vs. the noise. I find very few of the posts here bother to trim off > the prior message and .sig files when replying. > > So perhaps it would be easier to just go without digest and then have better > threading. > > Sean, you have my support in whatever decision you need to make to make this > work. > > > Jeff Dowley > [email protected] > MHCUG President > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of [email protected] > Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 7:02 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: mhvlug Digest, Vol 35, Issue 32 > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: We need to redefine ourselves, or re read the definition > that we already have (John D. Mort) > 2. Re: We need to redefine ourselves, or re read the definition > that we already have (Michael Quick) > 3. Re: NYC DebConf "Debian Day" August 1 Sunday 10 AM to 6:40 PM > (Chris Knadle) > 4. Re: We need to redefine ourselves, or re read the definition > that we already have (Chris Knadle) > 5. The preponderance of OS X in the Linux/SysAdmin community > (Derek J. Balling) > 6. list suggestion (Dan Simoes) > 7. Re: list suggestion (Joseph Apuzzo) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:48:25 -0400 > From: "John D. Mort" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [mhvlug] We need to redefine ourselves, or re read the > definition that we already have > > > > Sorry for the rant, but the group is at a crossroads. Open source > > computing is changing so quickly that we need to remember our roots and > > objectives. > > > > I don't know. I consider myself a computer pragmatist and have no > qualms or hard feelings about using proprietary software when there > aren't any reasonable Open Source options or when the proprietary > product is superior enough to the Open Source alternatives to make it > worth paying or subscribing as necessary to gain access to it. But > while I enjoy poking fun as Microsoft and often dislike the manner in > which they wield the influence they have over the computing world, I > have no real venom toward the company and would be inclined to argue > that my life is ultimately better in a world where they exist as they > do than if there never was such a company. I just don't share the > venom toward them that I see expressed sometimes. > > I accept that I'm in the minority here, but I don't believe that I'm > the only person with this view. For myself, this list is primarily a > resource for handling problems with Linux, even when said problems > revolve around getting Linux and Windows (or some other proprietary > system) to play nice. As a result, I tend to take more of a larger > tent view of what this group is than what you've expressed here. > Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I figured I ought to speak up in case > others felt the same way. > > -- > John D. Mort > http://john.mort.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Aug 4 - Samba > Sep 1 - BOINC > Oct 6 - Creating Firefox Extensions -- Robert Mark Wallace 60 Delaware Road Newburgh, NY 12550-3802 Telephone: (845) 566-0586 Visit my Blog, Mark Wallace Following Christ, at > http://markwallacefollowingchrist.blogspot.com/ > _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Aug 4 - Samba Sep 1 - BOINC Oct 6 - Creating Firefox Extensions
