July 2003 - main - earth.li

[Alug]Anyone for a meet venue?
by Tony Dietrich 13 Jul '03

13 Jul '03

One of the minor frustrations for me as far as this group goes is the fact that most of the meets are north and west. Doing an hour's drive each way after work isn't something that appeals to me, especially if I've already been to a customer down in the Home Counties or up North that day :p So, following the adage 'if its worth doing, do it yourself' (:p) ... how many people would be interested in a meet in Ipswich/Felixstowe or the surrounding area? I live in Felixstowe, and have several local venues in mind (none of which I have investigated fully yet), but I'd be perfectly happy to look a bit further afield. But first I'd like a show of hands from people that would be interested in a meet in this area. Anyone? -- Tony Dietrich <td(a)transcc.co.uk> Transoft Computer Consultancy Ltd. -- Tony Dietrich <td(a)transoft.demon.co.uk> Transoft Computer Consultants

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[Alug]Spare monitors for ALUG
by Colin Hards 13 Jul '03

13 Jul '03

>Tony Dietrich <td(a)transoft.demon.co.uk> wrote >I *may* have a few old 15" monitors available >in a few weeks. I'll mail the list if they >come up, but someone needs to be prepared to >pop down to Felixstowe *quick* and collect them, >I have absolutely NO storage space here... Having volunteered, I'll be happy to do this, if it happens. Realistically, I think I could cope with a maximum of 3 computers systems by car to a local meeting. Three monitors on the back seat, computers in the boot, K/bs in a box. I have one computer, but no monitors, so I could collect three monitors if they are going spare. No one has commented on the spec of these machines. I read Linux is happy to operate on old computers but is this really so? Given the tasks Ive suggested, what is the minimum spec that is worthwhile for this idea? _________________________________________________________________ On the move? Get Hotmail on your mobile phone http://www.msn.co.uk/msnmobile

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[Alug]Alug computers
by Colin Hards 12 Jul '03

12 Jul '03

Keith, >We have some old monitors here a work >I think I can get one or two of if >they'd be of use. If this idea goes ahead then some monitors would be handy. My obsolete loft computer is without a monitor as this item is my working spare - but it's going dark, so not good for long periods. Colin _________________________________________________________________ Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

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[Alug]Ah well, it's happened at last!!
by Keith Watson 12 Jul '03

12 Jul '03

Don't say that Mr. Gates doesn't know a good thing when he sees it! <http://www.mslinux.org/> Regards, Keith ____________ CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others. Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary

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[Alug]Alug computers
by Colin Hards 11 Jul '03

11 Jul '03

Many thanks to those who've emailed me privately to express broad agreement to the ideas I've raised. Ill get around to replying to list comments when I get a chance. I'd like to make a further suggestion. One reason speakers may be less willing to step forward to talk at group meetings is the difficulty of providing computers for use in their demonstrations. Perhaps ALUG should provide them? If we provide speakers with one or two computers a few weeks before the meeting, then they can load them with their OS and relevant software for their discussion or demo well in advance. The advantage of this is that their own equipment does not need to be disassembled and transported, and at the meetings group members can experiment with the computers and test software after the talk, without fear of compromising private files or important work. Therefore the speakers equipment will not be risked. The best solution would be for the next speaker to collect the machines after an earlier group meeting, but if this is not possible then I'd be happy to deliver them (let's say Norfolk) at a convenient time to the home of speaker. I could also store a few machines in between whiles if this was necessary. I have one old machine in my loft and will be retiring another in a month or two, and would be happy to donate them. Perhaps over time group members upgrading could donate their old systems to the group rather than bin them, and this way the group can gradually update the stock. Maybe some businesses could also be persuaded help with old gear. Even if a meeting had no speaker a number of group machine could be set up so we can all try out different software. Taking the idea further still, once a reasonable number of computers were obtained by the group then demonstrations or open days become possible - even to schools! Colin _________________________________________________________________ Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

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[Alug]Late reminder - Norwich meeting tonight
by Syd Hancock 11 Jul '03

11 Jul '03

For anyone just in from work and who has missed the earlier announcements - Norwich social meet this evening, thursday 10th July, 8pm in the coffee bar of the Forum (big new place by the market) Syd

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[Alug]Distro Survey
by Keith Watson 11 Jul '03

11 Jul '03

Just out of curiosity I'd like to know what distro's the list members use and the numbers of each. If you have no objections can you email me at <mailto:kpwatson@ukfsn.org> telling me; 1) how many distros you have installed and bootable 2) across how many machines 3) what one is your favourite 4) what one do you tend to use most regularly 5) do you have a Linux only setup or do you have a flavour of Windows installed also. I'll collate the numbers and feed it back to the list as an anonymous set of statistics (or damm lies if you prefer :o) ). Regards, Keith ____________ CONSULT, v.i. To seek another's disapproval of a course already decided on. Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary

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[Alug]Linux friendly printers
by jamie.french＠talk21.com 11 Jul '03

11 Jul '03

Hi Guys, Can anyone recommend a Linux friendly cheap colour inkjet printer? It also key to work with Windows. Take Care, Jamie Best Regards, Jamie French -------------------- talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at http://www.talk21.com

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[Alug]Linux & education
by Colin Hards 11 Jul '03

11 Jul '03

Dan >While I sympathize with the replies of other group >members to the effect that we're a Linux users' >group, not a Linux trainers' group or a Linux >evangelists' group, and that Colin's post doesn't >give enough detail for us to help much, these >statistics scare me. Something's wrong here. Not necessarily. If the group reading this is satisfied with the direction ALUG is going in then I'm 'odd out' and will have to seek other solutions. The group may consist largely of trained computer professionals for whom this idea is irrelevant, and other users may be happy to potter along in their own time. I could be the only one using this list who wants this. There are other solutions - some costing, some long distance (for me). I'm merely asking if the local one is a possibility. But there's no suggestion of the group having to change if it doesn't want to. >Colin, perhaps you could tell us what your job is, >and maybe give us some examples of tasks you've >been unable to transfer to Linux, or have been >able to transfer, but only at low productivity. I >think it probable that we'll be able to come up >with some tips to change this. My job is not really relevant to this, but anyway I'm a video editor in broadcast television - working freelance mostly at Anglia TV, (and I'm doing a late shift on Thursday to midnight). Prior to that I was a cameraman. Anyone viewing broadcast television over the last 20 years will know of the consistent decline of the medium, and sadly I can see no end to this in ITV. Budgets are shrinking and so will quality, but the story is repeated in many other industries. We're also told we may have to work into our 70's if our pensions are to be worth anything. So tentatively I'm keeping an open mind for other avenues to move into if the work I do declines even further. As to specifics, MJR was good enough to sort out my computer at a ALUG meeting where apparently Apache was loaded (with the O/S) but wasn't functioning. To be useful to me I'd like to load PHP as well, but reading about this (from "PHP & MySQL web development" book) seems to indicate two types of integration, and anyway when I tried it following notes in there it didn't work. Under Windows loading a program is pretty much cut and dried. All have installers, and basically get on with it. I'm pretty sure that my failure here is almost certainly down to my lack of knowledge about the basics of what I'm doing. Putting this problem on the list would be difficult as (now) I can't remember exactly what I did or at what point the load failed. Perhaps I'll have another stab at it this wekend. But I doubt the group would want me to thrash around with this sort of problem on the list? What happens when the next piece of software I try out, also doesn't install / run? Wouldn't it be far better for all concerned if I could acquire the basics of what's going on, rather than trying to post possibly stupid beginner problems on the list? As to low productivity, this may be psychological as much as real. I get the impression that everything happens faster on my Win2000 system (Athlon 1.2GH, 392MB) box than the Xandros (Athlon 2.1GHz, 256MB) box - Win2000 loads in 70% of the time of Xandros despite the slower older system. Even the Win2000 control via a LAN of Xandros windows is better than the KDE control. But the real issue is that when any problem occurs on the Linux system, work stops as solutions are difficult to find. Some of the help files which I have accessed are pretty poor. This is I'm sure just a matter of acclimatisation, and it would be helpful to speed this up. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail messages direct to your mobile phone http://www.msn.co.uk/msnmobile

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Re: [Alug]Linux & education
by Jenny_Hopkins＠toby-churchill.com 10 Jul '03

10 Jul '03

MJRay wrote >.......the IRC channel (irc.alug.org.uk #alug) seems to have >people in it most of the time now, although sometimes not very talkative. You may find you have to first silence the more loquacious members who like to go on at length about their motorbikes and hens. Jen (Bored waiting for a 1.2gig file to unzip and untar itself)

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