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WeeklyMeetingFeb14y2003

Here are the topics for the meeting:

• How do we encourage Linux use?
  • our website -- we need active contributors and maintainers
  • Support and communication? -- chat: Jabber, IRC, ??
  • newsletter? -- perhaps in conjunction with our weekly meetings, we could have a few short blurbs about what's going on at Dartmouth and in the world in the past week. (let anyone write short articles or whatnot for submission).
  • meetings (see below)

• MicrosoftCampusAgreement -- What do we want to do about it? Why won't Dartmouth give me (Robinson) detailed information about it?

• IMAP, Blitzmail, and Email on Linux: Options for new users and public machines.
  • What do we put on public Linux machines ? -- jBlitz?
  • What about new users who are installing linux for the first time -- Evolution ? maybe Balsa ?

• Linux/OpenSource/Techie meetings -- What do we want them to be?
  • Specifics: When, where, how often?
    • (for example, it would be neat to get a room near the center of campus, where we could have a few computers, have some music if we wanted, and have fun).
  • Topics: what do we want to do?
    • Linux Help time (people can come and ask for help)
    • Invited speakers -- people who run Dartmouth's network, blitzmail, etc...
    • Instructional time -- mini-classes about how to do something with linux, how to run linux on your XBOX, how to make a BlueBox?, etc...
    • Talk/debate on issues related to computing (ethics, etc...)

NEWS TOPICS (short and sweet pieces of news)

• SidecarForLinux -- quick update on availability of source code.
• DirectConnect -- P2P fileservice -- the guy running a server here at Dartmouth got a cease-and-desist from BillBrawley.
• Open File Formats -- don't know if this should be a general topic or what --> (maybe for the next meeting?)
  • There is a good reason to go after open file formats right now:
    1. First, we ask for open file formats, which is not altogether unreasonable.
    2. Next, people realize that the format with the "most rich feature set" for Word is RTF, while OpenOffice and AbiWord support much more powerful formats. (Same for Gnumeric).
    3. Then, we suggest OpenOffice as a part of the Freshmen Software Package?.
    4. If they bite, or are even interested at all, we'll be making some progress... :-)
  • For file formats: we really need to know what kind of status OpenOffice has right now, namely:
    • What "common features" do students need/use in Word/Excel/PowerPoint, and how much of that is offered in the feature set? of OpenOffice ?

---

SamReisner was kind enough to take minutes for us here: LinuxMeetingMinutes14Feb2003

JefferyGoddard? also gave us a recap, which I am copying from his email:

Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 17:07:10 -0500
From: "Jeffery D. Goddard"  (make list)
Subject: Weekly meetings
To: Linux-users@Dartmouth.EDU (Verbose)Greets,

Just wanted to send out a note to recap what was discussed at our
meeting in case someone couldn't make it. We talked about the need for
weekly meeting in order to foster a better sense of a stable community.
One of the things that was clear during our installfest is that many
people are using Linux but they aren't aware that there is a local and
knowledgeable community. There was comments made about becoming a formal
student group but they were tabled until later as there were many other
topics. It was decided that on 2/21/03 somewhere on the second floor of
Collis we will hold next weeks meeting and proceed with organizational
discussions.

Several projects were presented:

Wincycle - how we can help them identify and recycle donated hardware
and helping educate them about open source and licensing issues.

Advocacy - inviting technology people from Dartmouth to present topics
(sidecar, Blitzmail, IMAP, etc.) and inviting school/technology decision
makers to give Linux demos for. This could include volunteering at local
Sr. Citizen's centers to consult with setting up donated hardware or
presenting how to use free software.

User Support - 3 classes of support - 1)Installation and configuration
2)Applications and usage 3)Upgrading and maintaining

Software innovation - We'd like to get a working version of Sidecar for
Linux and there are some cool things that can be done with AFS and PKI
which could be explored. Anyone interested in programing who wants to
make a name for themselves and leave a legacy behind please step up.

We thought that segments of our meetings could be used for things such
as PGP/GPG key exchange, disc burning of distributions to donate to
local libraries, or commentary on current technology issues.


If you feel that these items are of interest or if you would like to
suggest others please come to the next meeting - Sam will send out
details about what room when he gets confirmation. We will probably take
2-3 meeting to get our organizational stuff together but potentially we
could be doing another large project in April. There should also be a
summary of the meeting notes on the Wiki (http://linux.dartmouth.edu/).
We're also working on getting a calendar set up so that everyone can
look to what is being offered - this should improve planning and help
promote attendance.

That was it for this week. Much more to come later :)

Jeff

RobinsonTryon - 07 Feb 2003