Welcome to the Hull Linux User Group! If you're interested in becoming a member, feel free to drop by our forums and say hello. Keep an eye on the blog for future meet announcements.
Our new best friend is Linux Format Magazine. If you want to know why, get yourself down to your nearest good newsagent with £6.49, turn to page 14 and find out why.
There is a sneak preview in the forums, but it only gives you an idea why we like these guys so much.
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Hull LUG Stand at Haltemprice Computer Fair
I’ve had chance to recover a bit after Sunday’s efforts. Although the event was very busy for the first half and incredibly quiet for the last couple of hours, I think that disappointment is more due to the appalling weather than any fault of the organisers or the event.
Red Rat Computer Fairs were generally OK with us. We had twice as much space than certainly I was expecting, and of course the electricity was included in the cost. One specific condition of the organisers we did find a bit restrictive, that we couldn’t bunk off early. However I guess that is one of the prices you pay to set out your stall in a room with an audience of folks who are at least reasonably computer-aware.
Tony Standing Guard
Standing on our stall chatting to folks and demonstrating what we had on the computers reminded me of when I was at Art College, and I spent my weekends employed as a Saturday-Lad on the Photo Counter of Boots the Chemist.
However over 20 years have passed since those days, and it was more than a bit tiring on my feet and legs; it should be pointed out that this was due mainly to there being pretty much nothing to do for the last couple of hours. Tony and I chatted to a lot of people, and spent a lot of time demo-ing Ubuntu on the two machines that we had there. Overall the response that we had from the public was very positive, and it will be interesting to see how this translates to site hits and new members.
Pick a card - any card
Tony and I felt that overall it is an event that we would recommend that the LUG attends in the future. However it might not be cost effective to attend every month – perhaps every 2 – 3 months. Firstly because what we do for fun could easily become a chore if we committed ourselves to it too often, and secondly there is a danger that in going every month there is a danger that we would just be seeing the same people time & time again.
Of course if it is decided that this is some thing that we want to do again in the future, we would have to work out a fairer way to finance the costs of the stand, and of course a few more volunteers on the stand would be nice.
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That’s right! Not only have computer fairs returned to Hull over the last couple of months, but we’ve acquired ourselves a stand in order that we can exhibit and show off the wonders of Linux.
Myself, Tony and a few other members will be on the stall, answering questions, demonstrating distros, handing out CD’s & leaflets and generally evangelising about Linux and more importantly Hull LUG.
The fair itself is getting more and more popular both with the numbers of traders, and the numbers of visitors. The fair is at the Haltemprice Leisure Centre on Springfield Way, Anlaby. The fair runs from 10am until 2pm. If you’re going, or in the area pop over and say hi – we might even put you on the stand for a while.
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Wow – it’s hard to believe that it’s a month since the last (official) meeting. So much has happened, it’s hard to put it all in any kind of order.
The obvious thing to report is the web-site, http://hulllug.org which thanks to Jackie’s incredible hard work was up and running within hours of our discussing it in the Old Grey Mare in early June.
The other significant event of the month was the additional meeting where a dozen or so folks fought over a choice between the uncomfortable chairs or un-hoovered floor-space in my front room when we met to organise a committee and direction that the LUG should take. The results of the elections are on the forum:
http://hulllug.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39
Additionally the minutes of that meeting are on our LUG blog:
http://hulllug.org/2009/06/19/minutes-for-the-meeting-of-17-june-2009/
For me, some of what was left of my time has been spent running around checking out the Red Rat Computer Fair a couple of Sunday’s ago with Carl & Tony, and checking out a couple of prospective pubs where we could hold future meetings. Although the Old Grey Mare is OK, We’re all pretty much in agreement that it’s not really suitable for things that we’d like to be doing in the future such as hosting talks and workshops.
We’ve been doing a bit more to spread the name of Hull LUG, and to that end produced some A5 flyers. If you would like some I can either email you the file (They’re a .doc file format – so that they’re easy to print off at work 
), or let you have a few. I will print off a bundle for the meeting next Tuesday.
Contact was made with ScunDoG LUG (Scunthorpe, Doncaster & Gainsborough), which has been very quiet this year. Their next meeting is on Tuesday 14th July at the Punch Bowl in Thorne. Full details are on the ScunDoG’s site:
http://www.scundog.org/meeting.html
With all this, I haven’t had much time for fiddling with my computer. In fact the most I’ve done is write a few posts for my own blog, and to break VirtualBox. In fact I still haven’t fitted the DVD RW that I brought at the computer fair the other week!!!
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Apologies for the slight delay in getting these posted up here. Many thanks to Dave Harding for not only putting together an agenda and hosting the meeting at his house, but also compiling the minutes in a very timely manner! So, without further ado, printed below are the aforementioned minutes.
Hull Linux User Group (LUG)
17th June 2009 8.00pm
Meeting to Elect Officers, and Determine Group’s Aspirations
It should be noted that the minutes are written in the order of the original agenda, however this is not necessary the order in which items were discussed
1.Elect Temporary Chair – to preside over meeting until item 3
Dave elected
2.Discuss and decide Committee Posts (Including period committee to sit before re-election).
Committee posts discussed and agreed
3.Nominate & elect committee members (including handover of Chair)
Chair – Steve
Liaison Secretary – Dave
Membership Secretary/Treasurer – Gus
Web Admin – Jackie
Fund-Raiser/Event Co-ordinator – Tony
Core-Tech Support – Ben
4.Report on website development:
Jackie reported that hulllug.org is up and running, both the main site and forums, however there is a lack of content on the main site. There was an appeal for content from members, especially to the longer established members for input regarding the history of the LUG
5.Report from liaison with other groups and organisations (Dave)
Dave reported that initial contact has been made with ScunDoG LUG (Scunthorpe, Doncaster & Gainsborough), and they are receptive to the idea of joint or exchange meetings. They have been meeting infrequently, but their next meeting is 14/07/09.
Also joined the mailing lists on lug.org.uk for Beverley and York LUGs, with a view to making contact with them, however their mailing have been very quiet over the last week. Dave proposes to make contact with Ryedale and Scarborough LUGs, Scarborough LUG is organising an event for Free Software Day later I the year.
Dave reports that he has applied to lug.org.uk with a view to their updating our contact details, as well s the domain hull.lug.ork.uk to be re-directed to our site.
Contact has been made with BBC Radio Humberside, and Tim John’s, the producer of the Breakfast show has expressed an interest in their featuring Hull LUG on the local companies & organisations feature slot on one of their shows. To that end they have asked for a simple – layman’s terms outline of who we are and what we’re about. Dave has compiled a list of Q&A’s , which will be made available. It was proposed that Tony pursue the interview in his role as Fund Raiser/Events Co-ordinator.
Dave proposes to make contact with O’Reilly Publishing with a view to obtaining samples of their books. In addition to make contact with Linux Format Magazine, with a view to releasing a ‘full press release’ with a view to hopefully being featured as ‘LUG of the Month’. In addition to obtaining spare copies of their magazine.
6.Any other reports
None
7.Discuss interim constitution and time-scale to draft & implement
Steve expressed concerns desires to have a constitution in place as soon as possible, primarily to protect the interests and assets of the LUG in the event of the LUG folding. It was felt that constitutions of other LUGs are easily accessible on the web, and that in the first instance we should cut and paste from these to form a constitution that fits our needs.
8.Proposals for a new/alternative venue for meetings. Essential qualities being:
a Wifi
b Private room for talks
Useful Qualities
a Beer
It was suggested that the Blue Bell on Market Place, and the Haworth Arms on the corner of Beverley Road and Cottingham Road may meet all these requirements. Dave will make enquiries with Landlords as the the possibility of holding meeting on their premises.
It was requested that if members think of any other suitable venues, that suggestions be posted on the forum.
9.Forthcoming events that Hull LUG may wish to get involved with, and proposals (including logistical) for such.
a.Red Rat Computer Fair 21/06/2009 Haltemprice Leisure Centre
Tony spoke about how Hull LUG had previously had stalls at local computer fairs, and the limited response from them. As Haltemprice is a new venue, and Red Rat appear to be re-establishing themselves in the area it was felt appropriate that we should go to the next fair this Sunday, and explore the feasibility and practicalities of having a stand at future events.
Dave had a number of money off vouchers to get into the computer fair. Should any more be required by them, to pm Dave (Davey_Speedstar) their e-mail address via the forums, and he will send them
b.ScunDoG LUG (TBA)
Dave reported that the date of ScunDoG’s next meeting is 14th July at the Punch Bowl in Thorne, and that where possible those who want to attend can liaise via the forums so that everyone that wants to go can have a lift.
c.LUG Radio Live – Wolverhampton 24/10/2009
Notice was given about this event, and once again where possible liason can be made via the forums to arrange car-share/lifts.
10.Any Other Business
There was brief discussion regarding T-shirts and other promotional materials, enquiries will be made with a view to obtaining quotes
11.Date & Place of Next Meeting
Tuesday 7th July, 8.00pm in the Old Grey Mare, Cottingham Road
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In case you haven’t checked the forums recently, we are holding an extra meeting on Wednesday 17 June 2009.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the direction the group is to take over the next few months, and where necessary, nominate and elect people to act as LUG Officers and points of contact. As you may be aware there have been no official positions, or even a leader within the LUG for quite some time, and in order to move forward in new and exciting directions it will be a necessity to form a proper ‘committee’.
Further details can be found on this forum thread.
It’s not compulsory to attend, however if you’d like to have a say in how the group is run in the future now is your chance! If you plan on attending please drop a line on the forum thread. Dave has very kindly volunteered his house as a meeting place but an idea of attending numbers is needed for obvious practical reasons.
See you there!
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Just a quick post to introduce everyone to the Hull LUG blog.
As existing members will know, we’re in the process of setting up the brand new site. This blog is a part of that, and hopefully it will become quite a large part!
What can you expect to see here? For the time being it will likely just be announcements relating to the group, news of meetings etc. but hopefully somewhere down the line there will also be some linux related articles.
If you’re a member of the group and want to contribute to the blog let me know!
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