Hi all, I do concur with both George and Mark,
since we don't have a chance to get together to discuss what is our hobby, we have very little chance to actually make a solid community. I, like majority here, became a desktop user who does experience very little issues from now very reliable and well documented OS like Ubuntu/Mint. It makes almost no sense to ask technical questions on PLUG list due to the fact that so much tech advice is available to hand on many forums. I don't have time to actively take part in PLUG as daily commute, family life and recently MCSA preparation take up most of my "free" time. I would opt for this list to stay open and maybe think of a way to popularize/advertise it existence to other possible users. With many people experiencing lots of issues from Win10 (updates, system crashes, etc.) there is still area where linux could prove useful and attractive. It's hard not to agree that desktops and possibly even laptops fall from grace in recent years. More people moved to so much easier touch screen devices (SMARTphones, tablets) as they don't require/allow for any system interference/malfunction. Everyone is happy if they can install an app from an app store, who this days thinks about OS updates!? Keep the mailing list open... in 10 years time, when my kids as youth will not won't to talk to me; when my wife will meet with her friends on regular bases I'll take over and the Linux community in Peterborough will thrive again. That's all providing that I'll get a different job and IT will be my hobby once again. Also did you noticed that a computer fair has popped up in Peterborough? Earlier in Feb and last weekend there was a relatively big IT fair in Queen Katharine Academy, maybe that is an reoccurring event? Old event poster: http://www.qka.education/calendar/?calid=1&pid=3&viewid=1&event=29 @Mark To answer your question from ALUG regarding the boot to a single application, you can try something called DietPi. OS that has an in built boot selection from friendly looking blue/white command line prompts. If that's not what you are after you can use LXDE and something like that: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=90754 obviously this will be less complicated as you want to start a browser rather than presentation(+ ppt conversion). cheers, Bart 2018-03-13 22:41 GMT+00:00 Chris Sandles via Peterboro < peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk>: > Hi Mark > > I'm still happy to receive posts from Peterborough LUG, although I seldom > need to write them any more. I think this is probably more to do with the > maturity of Linux-based systems these days, where all the headaches and > compatibility problems of the past are largely forgotten. Nowadays, > everything pretty much works and very rarely do I have an issue that > creates a real problem. That said, I speak purely as a desktop user. I > started using Linux around 2006 when I tried Fedora Core 6 from a Linux > magazine coverdisk. I was so impressed with this "new frontier" of > computing, I pretty much ditched Windows XP within a few years of > multibooting, and since 2008 have used various distros exclusively. My > early days were plagued with the type of problems average Windows users > would never have come across (missing or non-existent hardware drivers, > software incompatibilities when it came to file formats, missing features > or software to do certain jobs). On the other hand, blue screens of death > became a thing of the past and feeling part of a community that knew it was > on to something quite special. > > That rose-tinted glow has admittedly faded a little in recent years as I > have simply become accustomed to using Linux day-in, day-out. For the most > part everything works, and I don't chop and change distros like I used to. > I probably use the same software and rarely experiment unless looking for a > solution to a problem (ie. whilst learning accountancy using a study book > based on MS Excel, trying to find certain equivalent features in > LibreOffice and Gnumeric is occasionally a challenge!). > I think it used to be something of a challenge to try and encourage > Windows users to try Linux, especially with said issues mentioned above, > but these days, the necessity to promote Free Software has been eroded by > the advance of smartphones and tablets. Ironically, many Android users are > also Linux users without even knowing it. There's still a place for Linux > on the desktop (and certainly in server rooms) but maybe it's not a battle > worth starting, let alone trying to win now. > I would like this LUG to continue though, and I hope that there are others > locally who might find it useful just to know there are other Linux users > out there, even if we don't meet up or socialise any more. > > Chris Sandles > > > On 12/03/18 22:36, George Edward Fuller via Peterboro wrote: > > On 12/03/18 21:03, Mark Rogers via Peterboro wrote: > > Is this LUG dead? Pushing up the daisies? > > It's not a good sign when it's the person who manages the list asking the > question! > > Is there any demand for a meet? I know we don't have a venue (and I'm not > offering one) but is there any demand that justifies trying to find one? > > Are we all happy with using the list, and it's just we have nothing to say? > > Just curious. > > Mark > > > Hi Mark, > > I personally don't think the LUG is on a level with the Norwegian Blue. > But with no social side, even an informal pub get together, it's difficult > to encourage that sense of belonging, that keeps a group bonded. The answer > to your question regretfully is that the Peterborough Lug is on life > support, *‘condition critical’*. > > Questions posted on the monthly board are unfortunately almost always > beyond my technical competence, though I have been a user, off and on, > since the release of Fedora Core 4. Not before that because I had an Apple > tower at the time, sporting a PowerPC chip. These days I prefer *‘deb’ *based > distro’s over *‘rpm’ *ones for simplicity of use, and currently run Linux > Mint. > > I generally just use my system until something goes wrong and then search > the web for a solution. My piffling little problems, usually caused by my > own ignorance or stupidity, never seem serious enough to bother the > professional system people who discuss issues way above my level on this > list. > > Now retired I seldom do anything more on my machine, than keep my own > personal records up to date, and of course, roam the web. > > I would like the LUG to have miraculous recovery and resurgence, and would > like to support it, I’m just not sure how. Sorry I can’t be more upbeat > about the prospects. > > > Best Wishes, George E Fuller. > > > > > -- > Peterboro mailing list > Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro >
-- Peterboro mailing list Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro
