hi. All:
I am strongly in favor of keeping VAGUE focused on UNIX and FOSS. Comrades! Balk not! Sail forth for this new UNIX/FOSS realm we seek still rises from the East! Our journey is not awash in sea-foam and froth! The fact that I can invite a marketing professor to install GNU/Linux on a primary workstation is a huge indicator of the progressive usability and public acceptance and understanding of the FOSS revolution. That said professor can use the system for most everything... well, that speaks volumes. In the face of that transition from "edge" to "understood," that we might question our purpose is natural and healthy. I will therefore dare to suggest that we are more relevant than ever before! Moreover, I will foolishly claim that the GNU|UNIX|FOSS trump sounds more loudly now than in the last 20 years. As more people discover GNU|UNIX, more people will seek in-person assistance and wisdom from the "long-beards" in the community. We have much wisdom among us to share! I further dare to suggest that we meet more frequently than once a month, and on various days. I found myself "locked out" of VAGUE meetings due to various job commitments events, meetings, etc. Nevertheless, I care about VAGUE, and VAGUE's focus. I have volunteered several times to give presentations. I will continue to do so. I am more than happy to address the following topics (and others): 1. Getting started with git. (Yes, we did this in the Spring. I will do it more, and more (every semester, most likely). Kevin's presentation at vtcodecamp was great, btw, thanks Kevin!) 2. Project Management with Redmine 3. Running an Internet Radio station using FOSS (WIP: http://radio.newspectrum.org) 4. Being a DJ using GNU/Linux 5. Linux Audio: a survey of prominent points, and hazards. 6. KDE4 FTW! 7. Installing Debian for servers 8. Got copy? A dialogue about Copyright and Copyleft. 9. A showing of Sintel and other shorts from the Blender Foundation 10. An update on Blender 2.5 beta. Yes, practically everything has changed. 11. FOSS 3D Game Engines. 12. GPG, TrueCrypt and friends 13. Libre Graphics: It's more than the GIMP. Which of those topics do you find interesting? Do you have a suggestion? These topics run a wide swath of skill levels, and are not necessarily likely to appeal to all--- but they will appeal to many. Given enough interest in a topic, I will work to host the event with the Champlain College FIREHOSE student group. BTW, FIREHOSE is: For Improving & Recognizing Emergent Human Open Source Endeavors. Thanks. have a day.yad jdpf
