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

[Dave Sullivan]

You definitely have Ubuntu Toronto's support (and more specifically, my
support) on this project!

On Mon, 2006-10-30 at 21:30 -0400, David J Patrick wrote:
> OK ubuntuers, here's the full poop;
> 
> metalug.com.org.net.ca and the MetaLUG Foundation.
> 
> Years ago, as a direct result of my frustrations with proprietary
> software vendors, I discovered linux. A boxed version of Mandrake 7.2
> was my gateway to the world of Open Source (yes, RMS, GNU too) and I
> never looked back. In my earlier explorations, the desktop software
> was, to put it gently, not-ready-for-prime-time, but I recognised the
> underlying philosophies; freedom-as-in-speech, global colabouration,
> gravitation towards best practices and open standards, stuck with it,
> and was proven correct in my belief that the development model would
> survive and flourish and result in software that was good, for all the
> right reasons.
> 
> At first, it was lonely. I didn't meet another linux user for a year,
> or so. I would boot back into Win98 (because I couldn't yet connect to
> the net) and researched my way through RPM hell and code that
> shouldn't have been called beta, and to burn linux .iso CD images.
> 
> Then I found TLUG and, even though cries for help were often met by
> the RTFM squad, and threads that would go immediately OT, or radio
> silence, it was encouraging to know that there existed like minded
> individuals in my immediate area. Ifn I wuz crazy, I wasn't the only
> one. Direct contact with a handful of generous souls kept me on the
> path and (eventually) I was able to reformat my Windows partition.
> 
> Now linux is mainstream (in a grass rootsy, underground way) and I'm
> on the Board of Directors of GTAlug, run linuxcaffe; a local coffee
> shoppe with WiFi and more distros than you can shake a stick at. We've
> been open for about a year and a half. Momentum is building. The
> energy and enthusiasm for FLOSS is undeniable, and linuxcaffe may seem
> like the eye of the hurricane.. but it ain't !
> This thing's everywhere. It's like there was some dormant gene just
> waiting for the
> technology to catch up.
> 
> LUGs happen. Some of us will grok FLOSS and then have a need to gather
> with other birds of a feather. This is a global happening and anywhere
> that has electricity and an internet connection, has (or will soon
> have) LUGs. This is good,
> 
> but,
> user groups are naturally and necessarily geographically dispersed.
> There is no consistent form and communication within a LUG is often ad
> hoc. Communication IN BETWEEN lugs is spotty to non-existent. This
> misses brilliant opportunities. Small groups of like minded
> individuals gather in small groups around the planet and say pretty
> much the same things to each other;  "if only more people knew about
> this...", "if we could only scrape together some resources...", "if we
> could just contact the Big Players..." and "this linux thing is
> actually pretty cool, isn't it !". Although linux.ca and linux.com
> both post large lists of lugs, inter-lug communication is dismal, as
> demonstrated by our experience here in Toronto, where the synergies
> between GTAlug, CLUE, NewTLUG, WestLUG, KWLug, are all but unrealised.
> 
> So I introduce to you, my local lug,  metalug.
> 
> It's a Linux User Group whose focus is Linux User Groups.
> 
> As yet, it's all in my head, but I've taken the liberty of registering
> a few domains, and here's what I'd like to do with them;
> 
> metalug.com - the global lug site, that attempts to track lugs (and if
> they exist, other metalugs) worldwide.
> 
> metalug.org - a gathering place for lug resources; website CMSs,
> templates, membership management software, documents, how-to, and the
> like.
> 
> metalug.net - a gateway for interlug communication, mailing list
> hosting / interlug announcements etc.
> 
> metalug.ca - the Canadian metalug, listing all known Canadian LUGs
> with maps and contact info and Canadian Interlug forums.
> 
> These will all be sister-sites, with seamless links in between, but
> clear and distinct separation of function. OTOH, a single domain, with
> sub-domains, may prove the saner way, and the other domains will
> simply re-direct. idonno.
> 
> It's insanely ambitious, yes, but if we never start, it'll never happen.
> No sites have been set-up, no DNS pointed, no domain hosts chosen and
> this is the very first salvo. Do you like the idea ? Is it worth
> putting effort into ? Does it exist elsewhere ?
> And who's going to pay for all of this metalug mail, website, resources stuff ?
> Who's going to pay people to actually put in all the work required to
> set up and run metalug.com, and organise these workshops and create
> promotional stuff ?
> The MetaLUG Foundation, of course !
> 
> With the help of more the legally and bureaucratically inclined
> members of our little community, I hope to realise a Foundation whose
> goals are;
> 
> 1) identify, catalog and map LUGs everywhere.
> 2) to foster synergies between LUGs and create effective channels both
> inter-lug and upstream.
> 3) to aggregate resources to help make the creation or maintenance of
> a LUG easy and fun.
> 4) to promote the use of GNU/linux and/or FLOSS.
> 
> The MetaLUG Foundation will raise funds through private and corporate
> donations, and by offering large, paid workshops. The entire process
> will have to be kept way out in the open and eat an all-dogfood diet.
> Funds raised will go towards the above stated goals, often employing
> the considerable skills found in our very midst. The MetaLUG
> Foundation will buy mainstream advertising, with funds raised from the
> grass roots to the glass towers.
> 
> dreaming ? [shrugs] it's what I do ! can't help it, and if I have your
> ear, I'll use it.
> The worst thing that could happen is that I'm branded as a flaming
> linux fan-boy nutcase and get osrichsized !
> The best thing that could happen is that some folks might like the
> idea, and run with it ! Can I do it alone ? c'mon, no way, not in a
> million years, I can't even configure a network printer, but could the
> combined memberships of GTAlug, NewTLUG, KWlug et al ??
> why maybe yes !
> I think they could !
> If they were so inclined,
> so I toss it out there.
> 
> I'll be setting up metalug.com.net.org.ca initially as a means of
> refining and defining the mission, and then running them to achieve
> it. I hope you'll join me. I need help ;-)
> 
> djp
> 
> 
> -- 
> djp at linuxcaffe.ca
> www.linuxcaffe.ca
> geek chic and caffe cachet
> 326 Harbord Street,
> Toronto, M6G 3A5,
> (416) 534-2116
> 
-- 
Dave Sullivan
dave at dave-sullivan.com
www.dave-sullivan.com