Feb 7th Ubuntu Toronto meeting suggestions

[Jane Zhang]

:-) By the way Dave, thank you for all the hard work you have put into this
group!

I have started posting on the TLUG list to generate interest for Software
Freedom Day 2007. I'm hoping that we can get the different open source
groups together for the event. So I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.


A big hi to you all that's hiking out to the event tonight... I'll be
reading the minutes with keen interest... 

Take care, 

Jane 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Sullivan [mailto:dave at dave-sullivan.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 12:33 PM
To: The Canadian Ubuntu Users Community
Subject: Re: Feb 7th Ubuntu Toronto meeting suggestions

On Wednesday 07 February 2007 11:48, Jane Zhang wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the meeting tonight. However,
I
> do want to congratulate everyone on the Microsoft Ice House Event. Perhaps
> it was too "grass root" for some, but I think by just getting out there
and
> proudly display our passion for Linux is a huge win for us. Yay!
>
>
>
> However, there are some lessons learned that I would like to mention here:
> (disclaimer: these are my own opinions, and in no way reflects that of the
> group as a whole)
>
>
>
> 1.	While it's good to have impromptu events such as operation cold
> comfort, we need to plan bigger, more high profile events as well.
Software
> Freedom Day is in Sept, why not start planning now?

Good idea. I'll add it to the agenda for tonight's meeting.

> 2.	At the risk of coming across as being "too Ubuntu" in our events,
> why not get the rest of the Linux community involved? Let's all sign up
for
> the TLUG mailing list, and become more active in the greater community.
> After all, it doesn't matter what distribution you are using/were using,
we
> are all using Free and Open Source Software are we not? Let's invite
> another group to our events next time!
This is true, and based on comments I've seen on the TLUG mailing list, this

is exactly what's happening. I've added an item to tonight's agenda 
called "Ubuntu in the Greater Linux  Community" to discuss our apparent 
exclusive nature, and how we can change that.

> 3.	I like being able to express my own opinions on the mailing list,
> but as we have seen, things can be taken out of context and misquoted.
> Instead of censoring our opinions, why not put a disclaimer of sorts as a
> footer?  This is a mailing list for a users group, not a press release.
I'll have to poke Corey for this one, as he's the mailing list admin.

> 4.	We should have a CD-burning session after our meetings, this way we
> will always have CDs really to be handed out. Perhaps we can store the CDs
> at the Linux Caffe?
I've already burned half of the CDs that we collectively purchased on 
Saturday. Perhaps we can pool together some more money and buy a spindle of 
50, or maybe 100, and start on those? I also have a shipit request for 150 
CDs, but I'm not optimistic about that being approved.

> 5.	What I really liked about the Ice House event was the fact everyone
> concentrated on the benefits of using Linux instead of points out faults
> about Microsoft. Passion is contagious. Bitterness is not. I loved how
> excited some windows users got when they talked to us and I'll bet the
odds
> are good that they will at least try the live CD once. At the end of the
> day, it's not about us against Microsoft, we want to bring awareness to
the
> public of other alternatives. People should have the right to choose for
> themselves, let's show them the possibilities!
This is what I emphasized on my blog: we're promoting and raising awareness 
for Linux and FOSS, not bashing and protesting against Microsoft. Talking 
about the problems with Microsoft's EULA isn't harmful either, I don't
think. 
It is simply educating the users who simply click "Accept" without reading 
it, and explaining to them that there's an alternative in which you don't 
need to agree to such licensing terms.

A lot of the negative comments we got regarding Operation Cold Comfort were 
about "Linux isn't ready for the average user," or "Windows will always be 
better, stop spreading mis-information," and such. My reply to those
comments 
is that the people who made those comments have made an informed decision 
about the software that they use. They choose Windows because they feel its 
better, and that's fine. But most computer users buy a computer with Windows

pre-installed and have no clue there's an alternative. This is where we come

in...

> 6.	To all the nay-sayers. Don't like what we did? Plan something! I'll
> be happy to help out!

I'll be sure to post the meeting notes for tonight's meeting promptly 
afterward, so people who are unable to attend (such as yourself) can keep up

on what's been going on.

>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
>
>
> Jane

-- 
Dave Sullivan
dave at dave-sullivan.com
647-235-0328

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