introducing metalug

[Scott Elcomb]

Switching to top-post + embedded response mode...                     [ ok ]

Thank you.  Your enthusiasm, skill set, and experience, was the reason
you were nominated.  I was frustrated much the same exactly 367 days
ago...  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.user-groups.linux.tolug/20774/focus=20774

IMO, this is a wonderful idea - but you're going to need a serious
amount of organization.  The kind of organization and volunteerism
described in the History of the World, Part 2 thread noted above.

On 10/29/06, David J Patrick <davidjpatrick-rieW9WUcm8FFJ04o6PK0Fg at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Years ago, as a direct result of my frustrations with proprietary
> software vendors, I discovered linux.
[...]
> Now linux is mainstream (in a grass rootsy, underground way) and I'm
> on the Board of Directors of GTAlug, run linuxcaffe; a local coffee
> shoppe with WiFi and more distros than you can shake a stick at. We've
> been open for about a year and a half. Momentum is building. The
> energy and enthusiasm for FLOSS is undeniable, and linuxcaffe may seem
> like the eye of the hurricane.. but it ain't ! This thing's
> everywhere. It's like there was some dormant gene just waiting for the
> technology to catch up.
>
> LUGs happen. Some of us will grok FLOSS and then have a need to gather
> with other birds of a feather. This is a global happening and anywhere
> that has electricity and an internet connection, has (or will soon
> have) LUGs. This is good,

Don't forget OLPC.  ;-)

> but,
> user groups are naturally and necessarily geographically dispersed.
> There is no consistent form and communication within a LUG is often ad
> hoc. Communication IN BETWEEN lugs is spotty to non-existent. This
> misses brilliant opportunities. Small groups of like minded
> individuals gather in small groups around the planet and say pretty
> much the same things to each other;  "in only more people knew about
> this...", "if we could only scrape together some resources...", "if we
> could just contact the Big Players..." and "this linux thing is
> actually pretty cool, isn't it !". Although linux.ca and linux.com
> both post large lists of lugs, inter-lug communication is dismal, as
> demonstrated by our experience here in Toronto, where the synergies
> between GTAlug, CLUE, NewTLUG, WestLUG, KWLug, are all but unrealised.
>
> So I introduce to you, my local lug,  metalug.

Personal preference:  use perl;  our local lug ;-)

> It's a Linux User Group whose focus is Linux User Groups.
>
> As yet, it's all in my head, but I've taken the liberty of registering
> a few domains, and here's what I'd like to do with them;
>
> metalug.com - the global lug site, that attempts to track lugs (and if
> they exist, other metalugs) worldwide.
>
> metalug.org - a gathering place for lug resources; website CMSs,
> templates, membership management software, documents, how-to, and the
> like.
>
> metalug.net - a gateway for interlug communication, mailing list
> hosting / interlug announcements etc.
>
> metalug.ca - the Canadian metalug, listing all known Canadian LUGs
> with maps and contact info and Canadian Interlug forums.
>
> These will all be sister-sites, with seamless links in between, but
> clear and distinct separation of function. OTOH, a single domain, with
> sub-domains, may prove the saner way, and the other domains will
> simply re-direct. idonno.

One thing I learned from *nix - there's a 1001 ways to do everything.
If you don't find infrastructure volunteers, use the easiest.

> It's insanely ambitious, yes, but if we never start, it'll never happen.
> No sites have been set-up, no DNS pointed, no domain hosts chosen and
> this is the very first salvo. Do you like the idea ?

Yes.

> Is it worth putting effort into ?

Yes.

>Does it exist elsewhere ?

If it does, I don't know about it.  I do envy interlug's email address
though ;-)

-- 
Scott Elcomb
http://atomos.sourceforge.net/
http://search.cpan.org/~selcomb/SAL-3.03/
http://psema4.googlepages.com/

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

  - Benjamin Franklin
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