I was thinking that a sig could be an hour of people just asking
questions, as the question part of the meetings is usually quite tiny.
When i asked about building a kernel, i got a deluge of responses, which
was helpful and not helpful at the same time. I feel that there was also
an impetus on ending the meeting as well. I think, that there is a
tendency for "I.T. types" (to use a generalisation) to be answer
machines. We give short and efficient answers to questions, which may
not be what everyone wants. I think a more relaxed and open atmosphere
could help the flow of questions.
on the other hand, it may just be that moving the question and answer
period to the first item on the meeting, or right after the
presentations is what could facilitate this.
Of course, i may be right off in left field, so i would like some feedback.
-Rob
Shawn Grover wrote:
How big of an installfest? Well, I think the answer is somewhat
subjective. If we have two or three "experienced" people there, then we
can probably aim for about 6 to 10 "non-experienced" people at any point
in time. People come and go, so the total number of people attending, and
the total currently in attendance aren't necessarily the same. If no
"experienced" people were there, then you'd have a room full of people
struggling and not getting the help they need (though I'd imagine they'd
have the moral support of the others). This is a great way to learn, but
that isn't the purpose of the installfest. So, how big depends somewhat
on how many experienced Linux users can make it. In the past I think the
target has been 20 computers at any given time.
For the ISO's, there are normally a number of different distributions to
be found at the installfest, and copies of the CDs can be made on the fly
(gotta luv the open source licenses).
With regards for a SIG, starting one more or less is up to you. If you
feel there is a need, and would like to take on the role of organizing
and maintaining it, then you just do it. (er, at least that's how it
happened for the Programming SIG.) My personal recommendations though,
are as follows:
1) Make a judgement if the SIG has enough interest.
2) Determine what the SIG would do. i.e. regular or infrequent meetings?
presentations or open discussions? What topics will be discussed, or is
training the focus? where will the meetings take place? etc. Get an idea
of what the SIG is about, but be ready to make changes as SIG members
offer suggestions. 3) Discuss the SIG with the executive. Most likely,
they will be happy to help out, but may also have inside knowledge that
might suggest the SIG isn't a good idea at this time. (I hear Jarrod is
a little more receptive after a beer or two.. <grins> j/k.) Also, find
out from the executive what would be needed for their part (attendance
tracking, tracking winners of door prizes, etc.). 4) If you have done the
previous and have determined to proceed with the SIG, decide what needs
to be done to make it happen (meeting place/time, announce to the list,
create a mailing list, etc.) and then make it happen. 5) In the first
meeting or two (or prior to them, if possible), have the SIG members
ratify the purpose of the group, or at least state their expectations of
the group. This information has to then be used to keep the group
focused on topics relevant to the group's desires. 6) Commit yourself.
If you are running the SIG, make sure that it isn't something you'll
loose interest in after a couple of meetings - you're responsible to make
sure the meetings happen and organize any presentations that may be
needed.
That said, my own thoughts on a newbie SIG is that it's not really needed
at this time. The main CLUG meetings are really where the newbies can
get information they need. That's the purpose of the presentations, and
the question/answer period, as well as the casual social event that
happens at the tail end of every meeting. Creating a SIG tailored for
Newbies would be tough, because you would be covering the same topics
over and over, and loosing members once they've become proficient enough
to not be considered a newbie anymore. Not to mention that everyone has
their own specific needs/goals with Linux - are you building a linux
server or desktop computer? Do you use KDE or Gnome? Do you use the
command line to install new applications, or the distro specific tools?
Do you tailor the meetings to one distribution or all, and how do
reconcile the differences? But, these are from my own perspective -
perhaps there is a method of doing things that I don't see yet, that
would work out well. Again, this becomes a judgement call on your part
if you are looking to start a SIG.
My thoughts. (sorry for the long post)
Shawn
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of Rob S
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 1:56 AM
To: CLUG General
Subject: Re: [clug-talk] Installfest
I have some questions:
How big do we want the install-fest to be?
What iso's do i need to install suse? is the personal edition a demo
version?
How does one start a sig? I was thinking of starting a sig designed for
newbies, if there is interest and a few fluent linux users are willing
to volunteer time for questions.
-Rob.
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