[GTALUG] Any Debian User Groups in the GTA?

[Russell Reiter]

On Sat, Aug 18, 2018 at 8:40 AM David Collier-Brown via talk <
talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

> We have a state of Postgres talk every year or so, I would absolutely
> love a state of Debian talk, they're the root of a whole group of
> interesting distros.
>
> And I think a state of RedHat every hundred years or so, with each new
> release (;-))
>

A hundred years between Red Hat talks. I got my first RedHat 5 install CD
for $5 from Jan Carlson c. 1997 or so. 79 more years would be a heckava
long wait.


> --dave
> [Running  Fedora, Centos and Ubuntu these days]
>
>
> On 2018-08-17 7:51 p.m., Val Kulkov via talk wrote:
> > On Fri, 17 Aug 2018 at 19:48, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk
> > <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
> >> In other words, consider GTALUG a debian users group.  And a Fedora,
> >> Ubuntu, Centos, Slackware, Arch, ... group.  Even Android.

>>
> >> I'm happy enough to include BSD too.
> >>
> > +1. Also, OpenWRT.
>

I think that it has come to pass that the Linux kernel is the most widely
distributed kernel on the planet. Remember all the world domination
t-shirts that started popped up in the 90's?  I even had a set of penguin
cufflinks that I got at a trade show.

The GTALUG acronym is the Greater Toronto Area Linux Users Group. In my
head however, I think of it as Gnu Toronto Area Linux Users Group. This way
I remind myself that I use GNU software on a Linux kernel.

For questions on the list, specifically mentioning distro in the subject is
good if the question is directly related to an install or configuration
issue. For smaller special interests, there use to be three or four
Install-fests or trade shows a year where Birds Of a Feather could flock
together. I don't see much of that advertised anymore.

At one time, to assist new Linux users with learning troubleshooting and
basic tools, Evan Leibovitch organized Newtlug. However finding sponsored
space was difficult and basically it was folded into GTALUG.

Fundamentally any hard/soft wares running a linux kernel are fair game for
Q & A on the list.

We even tolerate questions about <gasp> M$ products, if it relates to
playing with SMB or other warez.

Organizing a place for a SIG to breakout and meet is a much more difficult
task. I think Evan can attest to that. I know he put a lot of effort into
Newtlug. However, finding a non competing convenient space to meet at a non
competing time was problematic.

I think this list is the local linux kernel users bucket and the membership
is diverse enough that most answers to questions can be, if not explicitly
found, here may certainly be referentially sourced here.

Jan, who was the closest thing to a mentor that I and other new users had
at the time, passed away many years ago. The recent passing of Peter
Hiscocks reminds me of a famous quote by Rousseau.

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

I still have the Toshiba Peter offered up to the list. It had the MP bios
issue. I had to strip out the battery and hd elements but it still boots
SoaS from a usb.

I'm a hacker, that is usually meant to be someone who is self taught, I
guess as opposed to those who have degree's in EE or Comp Sci. I did teach
myself DOS from manuals, but I learned much, if not most of I what I know
about installing and using Linux from the people messaging on this list.

These are the kind of people who take an interest in other people and help
them over some of the very complex hurdles of using this kernel; its
associated API's, which natively provide users with much finer grained
control over hardware than any of the mainstream OS's and last but not
least; the historical developments which have catapulted Linux beyond
hacker domain to mainstream desktop use.

I could never get Jan to tell me if he was the C of the /etc directory unix
lore. Basically the lesson was that developers should not sign consulting
contracts authored by employers, they should draft their own, in order to
protect the tools they write.

I always tell people that I chose Linux because I learn something new, not
just how to do something new. However, I never did learn if Jan was that
Carlson.



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> --
> David Collier-Brown,         | Always do right. This will gratify
> System Programmer and Author | some people and astonish the rest
> davecb at spamcop.net           |                      -- Mark Twain
>
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