Hello all,
Thank you for the GREAT feedback!
On 3/25/20 8:37 PM, Michael Barnes wrote:
Here's a comparison:
https://www.freeconferencecall.com/blog/webex-zoom-startmeeting-comparison/
FCC supports video and desktop sharing. Users can connect via computer or
telephone. FCC allows 1,000 users, Zoom allows 100. FCC sessions are time
unlimited, Zoom ends after 40 minutes. Zoom is $14.95 per host, FCC has
unlimited free hosts.
I know everybody is enamored over Zoom.
OH no we aren't. :) On this morning's Zoom call that I hosted (borrowed
account though), anyone who relied on the VoIP had their audio go south.
The impacted regions were... rural Poland, Austria, and in the USA where
their two kids were doing Zoom remote learning simultaneously and
presumably the connection was saturated. I suspect this person has
exceptional bandwidth.
Thoughts and lessons learned:
1. I always call into a conference because...
* A computer can freeze up at anytime
* I can roam freely, jumping in the car if needed because I forgot
carpool
* I have in-phone control over the mute
* Reconnecting can be faster
2. OMG do not use the attendee code on the phone. I believe Hangouts
DROPS you if you close the computer session, when you run to carpool...
3. Calling in confuses people because you are there twice, by name and
by number. See 2.
4. I... suppose we can assume every PLUG member has a phone? At least it
is, or was an open standard. Watching a talk can also be quite good on a
phone because the proprietary apps are well integrated into Android/iOS.
5. You need good hands-free hardware. Because I don't want to worry
about more than one battery, I use an iPhone 4-era headset. If you have
one in a drawer, I want it, and I buy spares when I can.
6. I've been streaming the PLUG meetings with OBS Open Broadcaster
Software which is open source, but the streaming service is a mix of
open and proprietary software, if not all-proprietary. It can be viewed
in more than one web browser, but I haven't seen a full compatibility
matrix.
7. If you're reading between the lines... I'm not seeing many open
source solutions suggested or even ones with clients for Linux, perhaps
FreeBSD, um, Flatpack, whatever. The phone part is much more universally
"open" than the video parts, despite the hard part being done in OBS.
8. Assuming most folks have phones, what burden can we put on them to
have a computer that supports reasonable video? Though again, a phone
can do this well, though is tiny.
9. How distracted would those attendees be? The recent WSLConf.dev went
virtual at the last minute and despite being a formal Microsoft
production, the speaker I saw as in their kitchen, rather than on a
stage with other presenters. The audience didn't have their full
attention and they didn't have ours. For day two I simply ignored it and
worked as usual, given the sea of interruptions I face every day.
"If I'm changing diapers, I'm not at a conference."
10. I've geared up for working from home but have NOT built an A/V
studio, however small, that would allow for even the training work I've
done. These might be a regular fixture in homes should the pandemic
continue for years, but for now it's ad-hoc for 99% of renders and
homeowners. How do two students effectively remote learn without
bothering each other, and their parents, and neighbors, and...
11. And... Virtual Lucky Lab? I will not name names, but I swear I
recall someone appearing there but not at the meeting. That's part of
the PLUG experience for many. It's this, "hallway track" aspect that
makes me shake my head and say "I'll just watch the YouTube video." Some
upcoming events have said they will want pre-recorded content and will
play it according to the schedule. I suppose this would free up the
speaker to be in the chatroom the whole time but... do they pause
themselves to answer questions in depth? The depth could in some ways be
better if remote (and they're in their home lab), but I'm having
difficulty picturing it. At least in my case. Having just been
interrupted while writing this to look at something that my wife is
working on.
12. As for YouTube, videos are hard, or are at a minimum time consuming.
I got through my Tokyo event from last March but have not gotten to a
May event. Let alone PLUG videos. I would need a paid month off to catch
up in a reasonable way. I did organized my content, a one-time
operation, but also means that the PLUG meeting does not end some time
around 9PM but continues for a few more hours. For this reason PLUG has
been to me an in-person event that is streamed for the handful that
watch the stream. (Plus IRC)
Which raised the question Bill E. and Rich S., why haven't you tuned
into live stream? :-) It's been there for years.
That said, I love the notion that more folks could participate, but then
what is "PLUG" about it? I've heard people say that the departure of
OSCON should reaffirm smaller regional events. Should circumstances
force us all to stay home for a LONG time, this could mean a new norm,
but the conference infrastructure becomes irrelevant given that the need
for a venue, sponsors, catering, contracts, SWAG, events... all go away.
(Just read a kid to sleep... where was I?)
Oh right. So. I prepared a few dozen slides for the "Home Labs" meeting
in case you you didn't, amazingly, talk for an hour and forty five
minutes! That was awesome! Plus it gives me a spare talk I can give at a
future meeting... or... record late one night after everyone else has
done to sleep and at worst the dog will want out. And in. And out again.
And in. I would NOT have audience feedback beyond YouTube comments, BUT,
you would probably have a more-focused presentation that might in fact
be recorded in more than one location. The office lab is different from
the basement lab. Plus the blah blah blah would best be at my desk.
So... we are being forced to draw several lines. Where do we draw them?
I don't know. But, keep it coming!
Then come the Clinics. :-|
Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
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