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.
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