[Leaplist] Florida Linux Show 2009 JAX

Thu Jan 29 08:28:21 EST 2009

This will definitely be an agenda item for the next exec meeting  
(planned for the next installfest).

--am

On 29 Jan 2009, at 08:14, Hank Lambert wrote:

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> I don't know enough about the situation to agree one way or the other,
> but I'm open to hear more about it. Knowing only what I've read in
> these posts, I do like the idea of having some kind of Linux
> convention. Like John said, a Linux convention wouldn't be so much a
> "spreading the word" event, as most people attending would more than
> likely be Linux users, similar to Hamcation to hams. But an event like
> that could be a lot of fun and informative. I am uncomfortable in
> supporting a person or group in an official manner for profit, and I
> am very much opposed to using LEAP's name in an official manner by
> anyone without the groups permission. Patrick is a prime example of
> spreading the word without any group affiliation.
>
> I will be at the Installfest on Feb 7th, and look forward to hearing
> more about it.
>
> - --Hank
>
>
> John Simpson wrote:
>> On 2009-01-27, at 1938, Vernon Singleton wrote:
>>> On Tue, 2009-01-27 at 18:39 -0500, Fred Moore wrote:
>>>> Vernon Singleton wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> We just got the go ahead from the JAX show.  Folks who email
>>>>> through me in order reserve your spot to man the Orlando LEAP
>>>>> booth at the Florida Linux Show 2009 in JAX on March 9 will
>>>>> get free registration and a badge waiting for them at the
>>>>> door of the show.  It looks like we will be using "leftovers"
>>>>> from the CDs and DVDs for hamcation at the JAX show, and if
>>>>> we need to print up some more, Phil will
>> help us
>>>>> do that.
>>>>
>>>> When was this discussed at a meeting, as I recall the overall
>> response
>>>> when this was discussed last year was that we didn't wish to
>> participate
>>>> in anything thats has a sole purpose of making one person some
>> money.  I
>>>> don't remember his name but you brought him to an install fest,
>>>>
>> when he
>>>> was looking for our support to get an Orlando show.  I only
>> remember two
>>>> people who wanted to do this (you were one).. Please help me
>>>> understand..  how is LEAP suddenly  involved and using
>> leftovers...  Fred
>>
>>> I've posted to this list several times about this, and spoke at
>> several
>>> meetings about this, and you are the only one who has complained
>>> ... imagine that, Fred.
>>
>> i remember you mentioning it on the list a few times, always with
>> very minimal if any response. however, i don't recall this other
>> guy speaking at ANY meetings. i remember you introducing him to me
>> at an installfest, but that's it.
>>
>> i also don't remember hearing ANYTHING about using "leftover" CDs
>> from the hamcation for this other show. not that i would have a
>> problem with it, i just don't remember it having ever been
>> discussed.
>>
>> i don't think anybody here is going to stop you from participating
>> in the show, or using LEAP's mailing lists and meetings to find
>> others who want to participate- anything which promotes linux is a
>> good thing.
>>
>> however, until/unless the board approves it, you cannot use LEAP's
>> name in conjunction with this. and as a board member since
>> september, i don't recall the issue coming up for a vote at all.
>> does anybody from last year's board recall voting on this?
>>
>> and just because fred is the only person publicly questioning this
>> guy's motives, doesn't mean everybody else magically trusts him (or
>> cares one way or the other.) i remember him talking about how he
>> was already a professional conference organizer, but i seem to
>> remember him saying that this was the first show he had tried to
>> start entirely from scratch and that he wanted to "get it
>> profitable" as quickly as possible... i didn't think much of it at
>> the time, but i do remember getting a vaguely uneasy feeling about
>> his choice of the word "profitable" as opposed to something like
>> "successful". i didn't say much about it at the time because fred
>> had already picked up that particular flag and started marching.
>> but guess what? i don't recall fred's concerns ever being
>> addressed, and now you can add my voice as a second person with the
>> same concerns.
>>
>> LEAP's charter says we exist to promote linux, not to help somebody
>> else turn a profit. even ignoring the "for profit" angle, i have
>> to wonder if "yet another linux-themed show" is really going to do
>> much to promote linux. the people who attend a "linux show" will,
>> for the most part, already know what linux is about, will probably
>> already be using linux on one or more systems, and won't be looking
>> to learn about linux- they'll probably be looking to find a
>> linux-based solution to some specific problem rather than just
>> learn about linux itself. the idea of LEAP participating in that
>> kind of a "linux show" seems like a waste of time to me. i think
>> those shows are more geared toward people who offer solutions BASED
>> ON linux, rather than people like LEAP who simply want to promote
>> linux itself.
>>
>> hamcation, on the other hand, i think is a really good idea. the
>> people who attend the show are already technically minded, but may
>> not know much about computers or operating systems- in other words,
>> these are the guys who are prime prospects to start using linux,
>> even if they don't realize it.
>>
>> those of us who were at the last regular meeting saw phil showing
>> off the "fldigi" software using a .wav file from the previous
>> evening to simulate the audio coming from a radio. to me this was
>> like a preview of what we hope to do at the hamcation- the only
>> difference is that i will hopefully be connected to a real radio,
>> with an antenna on the roof, and we can make some real two-way
>> contacts. i can see guys calling their buddies in tennessee or
>> michigan and saying "hey frank, get on the radio and see if you can
>> hear me doing some PSK on 14.070"... using linux. i'm also
>> planning on making a hand-out sheet which shows exactly how the
>> demo station is wired, and if the individual parts are available
>> from hamcation vendors, a list of who has what, so people can get
>> on the air.
>>
>> another reason we do the hamcation every year is that OARC, the
>> group who puts on the hamcation every year, is also a non-profit
>> organization. their surplus money goes to pay for and maintain
>> amateur radio repeaters, which are used by hams in emergencies, to
>> assist the authorities. people may not realize this, but when a
>> hurricane comes to town and the county opens the shelters, every
>> shelter has one or more ham radio operators on-site, WITH THEIR OWN
>> EQUIPMENT. the shelters use the hams as a communication channel to
>> keep the county EOC informed about how many people are in the
>> shelter, what kinds of special needs they have, and so forth. this
>> frees up the telephone lines (when/if they're still working) and
>> the city/county radio system (again, when/if it's still working)
>> for more critical traffic. there's also a second ham station at the
>> EOC with an HF radio, used to stay in contact with the state EOC in
>> tallahassee- and if the long-haul telephone lines are cut, that HF
>> station IS how the county and the state keep in touch.
>>
>> and in my mind, supporting a non-profit organization who serves the
>> community, is a lot better than serving a for-profit person who's
>> trying to line his own pockets. not that i have a problem with the
>> guy trying to make a living, i just get the feeling that you
>> (vernon) are the only LEAP member who's really interested in what
>> he's doing.
>>
>> again, feel free to participate in his show, and talk it up on the
>> lists and at the meetings... just don't use LEAP's name unless the
>> board approves it first. there will be a board meeting at the 2/7
>> installfest, i recommend you bring it up then so the board can vote
>> on it.
>>
>> and no, i haven't already decided against it. i'm looking forward
>> to hearing what you have to say at the meeting, and it's not
>> something about which i really have strong feelings one way or the
>> other- so it is entirely possible for you to talk me (and probably
>> most of the other board members) into voting "yes".
>>
>> (for the record: this is me speaking as myself, and should not be
>> taken as any kind of official statement on behalf of LEAP. any
>> official statements would need to come from the board as a whole,
>> after hearing from everybody who's involved or interested.)
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
>> John M. Simpson    ---   KG4ZOW   ---    Programmer At Large | |
>> http://www.jms1.net/                         <jms1 at jms1.net> |
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
>> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173 |
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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