[plug] Changes to PLUG

[Bret Busby]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007, Patrick Coleman wrote:

>
> 2. Organise an event for Software Freedom Day, which is Saturday
> September 15th.
>
> In brief the plan at this stage is to have people handing out CDs (either
> Ubuntu or the Open CD (see http://www.theopencd.org) or both) and possibly
> run a small booth/stall
>
> - in the UWA Guild on Tuesday 11/09/2007
> - at Forrest Chase in the CBD on Saturday 15/09/2007
> - in Fremantle on Sunday the 16/09/2007.
>
> More info will follow shortly. There is a reasonable amount of planning
> involved, so stay tuned. Anyone interested in being involved, please
> contact the committee via the committee list or reply to this email.
>
>

I assume that this obliterates the prospect of "Installfests" - what 
used to be a good feature of PLUG - assisting people with little or no 
Linux experience, to get an effective system up and running on their 
computers, and the provision of regular, monthly, workshops, to 
assist with any problems that arose, with PLUG now replacing the 
Installfests and regular workshops, with just distributing installable 
disks - 
"Here's what you need to change your life. It should be an experience 
you'll never forget. We assume no responsibility for whatever happens. 
Here's my card. Call my company if you need help, or if anything goes 
wrong."

Sounds a bit like the release of MS Windows, especially as portrayed in 
the film "Pirates of Silicon Valley", and the evolution of Steve Jobs, 
as portrayed in that film.

No workshops, and no Installfests?

Who will support the non-commercial Linux community in Perth, and, what 
will they charge?

The item 2 above, replacing Installfests, and eliminating workshops as 
they have existed, reminds me of the concept of giving kids blotting 
paper spotted with LSD, to get them hooked, and then charging them for 
the follow-ups.

Is this really the direction that people want for PLUG, to go the way of 
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, as portrayed in that film?

I would be quite disappointed if this is the future of what used to be 
PLUG.

Feedback was sought, and mine might not be liked, and, my opinions might 
not be shared by anyone else, but it sounds to me, like the end of PLUG, 
as we knew it.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

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