metalug.com.org.net.ca and the MetaLUG Foundation.

[Russell McOrmond]

   Sorry to be replying to older messages.

David J Patrick wrote:
> CLUEs recent policy shift, towards lobbying and advocacy for FOSS (not
> just linux) was a motivator for metaLUG. I want to be able to help
> channel energies to existing groups, like CLUE, rather than create a
> new group that diffuses focus.


   It is my understanding that CLUE has added to its mandate, not 
subtracted.  I'm new blood brought in to do something that CLUE didn't 
try to do before.  I hope people aren't taking the fact that CLUE now 
wants to do policy work as an indication that it has dropped its 
interest in what it did in the past.

   What is lacking isn't a desire to do things, but resources.  If 
having separate groups increases resources than this is great, but this 
isn't what I've observed in the past.   There are always personality 
problems that come up, which is one of the benefits to having larger 
groups such that any one personality doesn't control the agenda.

   I don't know what happened between CLUE and GTAlug, or with any other 
LUG.  If specific individuals didn't get along, then it should be left 
to those individuals to work things out.  It's very unfortunate when 
larger organizations suffer.

   There are going to be people who have a personality conflict with me. 
  I'm a hot headed political person who gets emotional.  This emotion is 
what motivates me to volunteer so much time towards policy work (You 
don't want to see what percentage, or what my business revenue looks 
like at the end of the year), but it is also a personality trait that 
some people won't get along with.   For those people answer isn't to not 
be involved in CLUE, but to help resource CLUE such that I can 
eventually be just one of a diverse team of people helping protect the 
interests of FLOSS in Canadian policy making.


> Wonder if you would consider holding a workshop here, on
> FLOSS use in Canadian institutions; why it's important, what to do
> next. (or something like that)

   I would be happy to do so.  It would be great if we can organize it 
to coincide with some other trip to Toronto so that expenses can be 
minimized.  The more CLUE expands, the more it will have the resources 
for transportation and other policy work.

   In Ottawa we are able to do a tag-team between Joseph Potvin and I. 
He knows more about how the governments use/distribution of FLOSS, while 
my focus is on how the government regulates FLOSS.  Joseph is now at 
Treasury Board, and is leading a number of FLOSS related projects: 
Intellectual Resources Canada (SourceForge for gc.ca, but for more than 
just software), and ITERation (IT for Expenditure Reporting Automation).


   There are a number of policy papers I'd love to see CLUE hiring 
recognized/qualified professionals to carry out for us.  As one example, 
to really put meat behind out software patent policy proposals really 
requires us to hire an economist.

-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
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