On Mon, 6 Mar 2006, Scot Jenkins wrote: > While I couldn't attend this installfest, I have to comment on the > mailing list traffic that followed. If you were better informed, I'd be more interested in your comments but some of them are worth responding to anyway. I think they were intended mostly for me. > <rant> > First of all, you should be thanking Clay for organizing the > installfest. It's not an easy task. I agree that it is a lot of work. It looks like it was good for a lot of the people there and the number of attendees seemed to be pretty good. As I suggested earlier, I was disappointed that something that was promised was not available. I personally would have been better off if I hadn't attended because all the preparation and moving my heavy monitor did me no good. Still, just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean that it failed other people. I think that my experience is worth noting and we shouldn't dismiss people who offer some critical remarks as ungrateful and unhelpful. > And so what if it was on short notice? Most installfests are and > generally it all works out. At least some peole are saying that there were problems and that it didn't all work out for everyone. It's a lot of work, so why not plan a little farther ahead so that the work pays off better? > TCLUG is a volunteer organization. Anyone can step up and help. We're > always looking for folks to help organize installfests, secure topics > and speakers for monthly meetings, and help keep the website up to date. > Instead of just complaining, step up and offer to help, and stick to you > word. Plenty of people say they will do something, only to vanish when > the time comes to deliver. Well, I don't know what other people have done but I just did offer to help with the next installfest. I will now offer to do even more. I have a faculty appointment at the U and I'm sure that will help me to secure some space there. June would be a good time for me to do it. Does that seem like it would work for others? If so, write back to me or call 612-387-8150, especially if you have experience with organizing installfests at the U. In the meantime, I'll learn more about what I have to do to secure space. If any of you have ideas about which rooms at the U would be best to have, let me know. Maybe we can also try to organize some meetings and lectures. > As for someone not knowing what Ubuntu is...I don't blame them. There > are so many Linux distros today it's impossible for anyone to keep up. > Have you heard of the one called Tiny Sofa?[1] I hadn't. I think you haven't been reading the earlier messages in this thread. We aren't talking about Ubuntu because everyone should know about it, it's because the installfest announcement emails and signup web page both claimed that new Ubuntu CDs would be available at the installfest even though the official Ubuntu release wouldn't be for another month. Apparently that got quite a few people interested because I was told at the installfest that many people before me had asked about it. When I asked if the guy was joking when he said he didn't know what Ubuntu was, I really mean that I'm not sure if he was joking. He was kidding around a little in a friendly way, so I'm not sure. > You can't expect to walk into a room and have someone walk up to you > with all the answers. Installfests are about getting together with > other Linux folks and sharing knowledge, not just having _your_ needs > met. Talk to people. It's a human thing. Try it. I hope you aren't as arrogant as you sound here. I don't know who you are trying to address. Certainly, I did talk to people and I got clear, direct answers. I was told that they did not have the Ubuntu CDs that they promised to have and they didn't know why someone promised to have them there. They had a few other things, like Solaris 10, and some other Linux distros. I had to decide if I wanted to stick around. It would have been a lot of work for someone to install a Linux distro on my box and there wasn't a lot of time left. I didn't want to impose on them, especially not to have them install something that I would later delete. I was mostly interested in Ubuntu because I've been hearing a lot of good things about it. > Just think before you fire off that angry email. Again, I'm not sure if you think I sent an angry email or if you are saying that someone else sent one. My email was not meant to vent anger (I would not say that I was angry, just disappointed); it was meant to offer some critical comments that might help to improve future installfests. Mike -- Michael B. Miller, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Division of Epidemiology and Community Health and Institute of Human Genetics University of Minnesota http://taxa.epi.umn.edu/~mbmiller/