[GTALUG] At the GTALUG AGM: How we handle Internet services

[Erica Peterson]

Re: discord -- perhaps, in the interest of supporting open protocols, we could create a Matrix space on element.io?  It is free.

Cheers,
Erica


------- Original Message -------
On Monday, December 12th, 2022 at 5:43 PM, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:


> 
> 
> Evan makes many useful points.
> 
> I am the only official maintainer of the system and I only signed on to be
> backup. I just haven't taken the time to figure everything out.
> 
> What's wrong with the current system?
> 
> - there are (rarely) messages that require moderation on the mailing list
> and that isn't being done in a timely fashion. We have volunteers but
> the board has not yet considered them (I asked the board to do so).
> 
> - a particularly important example is that Alan hasn't been whitelisted
> for the announce list. I will endeavour to do this. I haven't yet
> invested the time to figure out how to do this.
> 
> - Gitlab hosts our meeting minutes and agendas. The new board members,
> particularly Evan, don't seem to like that collaborative tool. (I'm
> comfortable enough with it; it seems easy to me.)
> 
> - at some point we are going to have to update the system to a newer
> releases of software (mostly: debian, mailman). As usual, there will be
> unknown hazards there. (Scott has thought about this.)
> 
> In my estimation, switching to a variety of other tools will cause at
> least as many problems as they will solve.
> 
> The key issues are:
> 
> - we need a way of attracting volunteers (and new members; I will pretend
> that that is a separate problem)
> 
> - get volunteer time and effort to provide services that work for us.
> "Us" means maintainers and users.
> 
> - get enough volunteers so the we can survive unexpected resignations.
> 
> - help volunteers do the right thing: work towards positive goals.
> 
> - select tools that provide good services, ones that the "users" are happy
> to use.
> 
> - ease "users" into becoming comfortable and productive with the tools
> 
> - the tools must have a path into the indefinite future. Forced migration
> is not fun.
> 
> It seems that the scarce resource is competent admins. Someone with
> enough time can become competent, so the main scarcity is time.
> 
> We do seem to burn out competent people. We all leave them to do their
> tasks until that happens. We really need a pipeline of people to step
> forward.
> 
> The task are not all that hard but when a small number of folks take on
> all the load, we get problems because successors are not being trained.
> 
> I personally think that the existing services are mostly fine but need
> more:
> 
> - maintainer cycles (currently my fault)
> 
> - opportunities for users to master
> 
> I am not going to be an admin of a non-Linux solution.
> 
> ================
> 
> Just because "we've always done it this way" is not a sufficient argument.
> 
> I'm not engaged in Discord but maybe others are. That's why Evan's push
> to create Discord channels is worth a try. Especially since he did the
> work.
> 
> ================
> 
> Most of the time I've spent as a volunteer has been attending board
> meetings. I am not a member of the board but am invited to attend.
> 
> That shows how little time I've actually put into maintenance. I should
> have spent more; I should have fixed the whitelisting problem.
> 
> It is a worrisome sign that the board meetings sometimes don't reach
> quorum.
> 
> | From: Evan Leibovitch via talk talk at gtalug.org
> 
> | To: GTALUG Talk talk at gtalug.org
> 
> | Cc: Evan Leibovitch evanleibovitch at gmail.com
> 
> | Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:36:05 -0500
> | Subject: [GTALUG] At the GTALUG AGM: How we handle Internet services
> |
> | [Apologies if you received this message more than once]
> |
> | Hello everyone,
> |
> | By now you may have read or heard elsewhere about the announcement of the
> | Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Greater Toronto Linux User Group
> | (GTALUG), to be held virtually https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl on
> 
> | Tuesday December 13.
> |
> | Along with other AGM business, we will be discussing how GTALUG goes
> | forward with our online services.
> |
> | TL;DR: A number of the people who used to set up and run our online
> | services (mainly the website and mailing lists) have left the GTALUG Board,
> | and those who remain have neither the time to fix nor familiarity with the
> | tools currently running these services.
> |
> | As Google has provided to GTALUG its nonprofit services which include full
> | access to commercial Google Workplace (formerly G Suite), the Board has
> | been investigating migrating some of our online services there.
> |
> | While to some such a move would be controversial, the status quo is
> | unsustainable. So either we need new people to step forward to operate what
> | exists, or we need to move to a service -- provided free of charge -- that
> | can dramatically simplify operations.
> |
> | The Board wants to have an open discussion on the issue before deciding,
> | and the issue will be raised at the AGM. We look forward to hearing your
> | views. While responses to this email will certainly be read, the full
> | discussion will take place at the AGM.
> |
> | Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
> | @evanleibovitch / @el56
> |
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