[nflug] Meetings - A Brief History of NFLUG and its Future

Tue Nov 25 17:33:35 EST 2008

Speaking for myself, please merge my email address. Otherwise I will have to go join the other list anyway and it sounds like the goals are all very compatible. I think at this point you would need a reason not to... I'll offer my help at the next meeting, but in the meantime feel free to contact me off list if there is any volunteer work needed.  

----- "Darin Perusich" <Darin.Perusich at cognigencorp.com> wrote:

> I think Mark makes some valid points and agree with the assertion
> that
> a single, unified user group has the best prospects for success. I
> also
> prefer the WNYLUG name as well and feel it best describes the area
> we're
> promoting Linux too. I recall trying to get that domain name but it
> wasn't available and NFLUG seemed like the next best choice ;-).
> 
> I'm strongly in favor of merging the mailing lists and moving forward
> under the WNYLUG moniker. Having said that I tend to feel that having
> a
> separate mailing list for "enterprise" topics is unnecessary given
> the
> likely low volume and discussing such topics in the general forum
> exposes everyone to advanced topics which is always beneficial. I
> agree
> with Brian that having multiple sessions going on at meetings, one
> which
> covers advanced topics and one which covers desktop usage or whatever
> would be advantageous and may draw larger audiences. We all know you
> can't have a successful meeting if you're not putting bodies in the
> chairs.
> 
> If the consensus is the we merge the various groups I'll coordinate
> with
> Brian the export of the NFLUG addresses to be incorporated into
> WNYLUG
> mailing list.
> 
> Mark Musone wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > Sorry for not responding sooner ( I guess 3 months is enough time
> to
> > keep silent)..
> > 
> > This email is going to be long, but just bear with me and try to
> read it
> > to the end, because I have an important reason for finally
> responding now.
> > 
> > (and please forgive me if some of my memory is fuzzy..)
> > 
> > PAST:
> > 
> > Back in 1994, when I was a grad student at UB, I created the
> Buffalo
> > Linux Users Group. This primarily consisted of UB students (gotta
> love
> > UB being an island to itself), and we held monthly meetings in UB
> > classrooms. Fast forward to 1998, I was working downtown and simply
> > became too busy with work to continue leading the user group. I
> handed
> > the reins to James Simmons who headed it up until he decided to move
> out
> > of the area. Right about that time, we received an email from Bob
> Meyer
> > who was running the Niagara Linux Users Group. Bob proposed that
> both
> > user groups join together in order to create a more active and
> larger
> > group. This made sense at the time not only to allow for a larger
> > usergroup base, but to satisfy James’ need to leave. So at that
> time,
> > the two user groups merged together to become the Niagara Frontier
> Linux
> > Users Group (NFLUG). Bob courageously headed up the NFLUG for a
> number
> > years and did a wonderful job. I then pretty much hid in my corner
> until
> > 2004, when around the same time Bob’s personal responsibilities
> needed
> > him to take a more passive role in NFLUG. Peter from Cybersource
> > volunteered to host and organize the meetings. This lasted about a
> year,
> > and then around 2005, Richard Hubbard volunteered ITT tech to host
> the
> > meetings, and himself to help organize them. In 2005, I also saw
> the
> > need for a more advanced Linux Users Group. The NFLUG to date seemed
> to
> > primarily focus on new linux users and helping them out. In 2005, I
> > started the Buffalo Professional Linux Users Group (BPLUG) which
> focused
> > on using Linux in an Enterprise environment, basically having
> > presentations about more advanced topics.  At around 2006, Richard
> had
> > to leave ITT Tech and subsequently also needed to take a more
> passive
> > role in the user group. Since then, the user group has pretty much
> been
> > free-wheeling with little leadership.To my knowledge, there are no
> > organizing documents for NFLUG or BPLUG.
> > 
> > PRESENT:
> > 
> > In my experience being involved in a number of user groups,
> community
> > organizations, volunteer efforts, etc.. There is one central
> component
> > that members of any group needs. This core requirement is
> LEADERSHIP;
> > without it, any group will be guaranteed to fail.
> > 
> > I believe the present NFLUG situation exemplifies this. There has
> not
> > been an NFLUG or BPLUG meeting in many many months (years?). To my
> > knowledge, there is no leader of the user group and there is no
> > “Official” leadership position. There are no organizing documents.
> >  Currently, the primary use of the usergroup is this mailing list.
> > Whenever I bump into  a member of NFLUG, one of the first things
> they
> > ask me is “When is there going to be a NFLUG meeting”. I get
> requests
> > from people almost begging for there to be a meeting. This is really
> a
> > shame because so many people want to have a meeting and want to
> gain
> > knowledge and experience, and it does not happen due to lack of
> leadership.
> > 
> > Please understand that I am not saying this to berate or chastise
> anyone
> > or their efforts. I fully understand and am an example myself of
> how
> > busy people can get and how other responsibilities must supersede
> these
> > type of activities.  I wish that even I could give more time for
> this
> > organization, but the reality is that I (and others) cannot. I am
> also
> > very thankful for the people that in the past have stepped up and
> did
> > what they could. Leading a usergroup like this really is a decent
> amount
> > of work.
> > 
> > So the present situation of NFLUG and BPLUG is glum at best and is
> > destined to be more of the same; providing little value to most and
> a
> > lot of frustration to some.
> > 
> > FUTURE:
> > 
> > I was lucky to have recently been present for the first meeting of a
> new
> > Linux user group..WNYLUG (www.wnylug.org), started by Brian Powell.
> I
> > must honestly say that I have not been this excited about such a
> group
> > for years. The meeting was truly inspiring. Brian has a significant
> > amount of experience being involved in a Linux user group in the
> past
> > and is an official Ambassador of the Fedora project. Brian knows how
> to
> > run a usergroup, and he has the excitement, knowledge, initiative,
> and
> > vision to grow it to where I believe it needs to grow to. In the
> first
> > meeting he already had a mission and charter. I believe this will be
> an
> > invaluable service to the area and everyone on this list and am
> thankful
> > for his tremendous efforts already.
> > 
> > With all of that said, there are a number of decisions that need to
> be
> > made in which everyone here should have input. Understandably,
> while
> > there is a big initiative for WNYLUG, one must figure out what do
> to
> > with NFLUG, BPLUG, and the corresponding mailing lists.
> > 
> > In simple terms, we have somebody that is willing to step up and
> lead
> > whatever Linux usergroup is available. As far as what the name is,
> does
> > it really matter if there are consistent, current, and valuable
> > meetings? For me, my main concern is that there be a viable and
> active
> > Linux user group.
> > 
> > My $.02 and suggestion is as follows:
> > 
> > I personally like the name WNYLUG. I think it best describes the
> > geographical membership better than BPLUG or NFLUG. Upon speaking
> to
> > Brian, he also like the idea of having a more “Enterprise” level
> > usergroup, and is willing to lead that one also (it might simply be
> a
> > sub-group of WNYLUG). So, if it was up to me, I would merge NFLUG
> and
> > BPLUG into WNYLUG and adopt the WNYLUG charter and mission statement
> for
> > the time being. The next WNYLUG meeting is December 10^th . At that
> > time, there will be voting for the leadership and acceptance of the
> > mission statement and charter (note, even though Brian is founding
> this
> > and taking on the initial leadership, actual voting for all
> officers
> > will be done). Anybody is welcome to come and not only vote, but
> put
> > themselves up for election.
> > 
> > Once this is done, the next item that needs to be cleaned up is the
> > mailing lists. I would suggest that the only mailing list that
> remains
> > be WNYLUG. People can either manually sign up for wnylug, and at
> date
> > certain, the nflug mailing list be shut down. I strongly discourage
> > having multiple Linux mailing lists be active at one time, It only
> > encourages division of our local community.
> > 
> > Thanks for listening and for your input,
> > 
> > Mark
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > *From:* nflug-bounces at nflug.org [mailto:nflug-bounces at nflug.org]
> *On
> > Behalf Of *Tom Reid
> > *Sent:* Monday, August 18, 2008 11:29 AM
> > *To:* nflug at nflug.org
> > *Subject:* Re: [nflug] Meetings
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Hi Joe and all,
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > I am still at ITT Tech and can make space/resources available. 
> Although
> > I couldn't make the meeting(s) there, we apparently also have
> Trocaire
> > available (thanks to whoever set that up).  Our need seems to be
> less
> > about space available and more about commitment--people(volunteers!)
> to
> > keep things moving month to month.  If we have events and subjects
> > planned further in advance, we will probably have better turnout
> and
> > more involvement.  For the near future, I am willing to help with
> > meetings (with the incentive that ITT "encourages" its instructors
> to do
> > this kind of thing for 'professional development' and 'community
> > involvement' !).  However, I won't (can't, don't have that much
> free
> > time) do it by myself.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > But first a request for some background.  Mark (Bob?) and any other
> of
> > the original or past organizers/leaders, can you give us some
> history,
> > specifically whether NFLUG has any organizing documents (charter? 
> > founding statement?), whether there were ever formal officers,
> > elections, etc?  Or did you just do what you could in your spare
> time? 
> > Having several (committed/Elected!) people share the load is better
> than
> > one or two, and having ongoing recognition for those currently
> carrying
> > the load can help until the next "election" when maybe some
> > others volunteer to take the lead for a while...
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Maybe some disagree about the need for structure - comments?
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Thanks, Tom
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > On 8/18/08, *Joe* <josephj at main.nc.us <mailto:josephj at main.nc.us>>
> wrote:
> > 
> > I haven't been to an nflug meeting in  a long time.
> > 
> > Are there regular meetings now or just once in a while when someone
> has
> > the gumption to organize one?
> > 
> > Do we have a meeting location that is generally available - like
> that
> > great space we had at ITT?
> > 
> > Most of the interest I have seen is for relatively advanced topics.
> > 
> > Are there any other end-user types (like me) around who would
> appreciate
> > things like presentations on desktop applications or some meeting
> time
> > devoted to ironing out small problems in people's systems -
> especially
> > if they are notebook systems that are easy to bring in and set up?
> > There used to be install fests, but I guess the newer distros are
> > generally so good at figuring things out for themselves that the
> fests
> > aren't needed any more.
> > 
> > I know that sometimes I have problems that I can't seem to get
> resolved
> > on the list or find in Google that I'm pretty sure someone more
> > technical than I am could resolve in a couple of minutes if they had
> the
> > system in front of them and could see what was happening.
> > 
> > Joe
> 
> -- 
> Darin Perusich
> Unix Systems Administrator
> Cognigen Corporation
> 395 Youngs Rd.
> Williamsville, NY 14221
> Phone: 716-633-3463
> Email: darinper at cognigencorp.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nflug mailing list
> nflug at nflug.org
> http://www.nflug.org/mailman/listinfo/nflug