[plug] #introducing and Installfests

Wed Jun 17 11:08:30 AWST 2026

You make a good point Onno

These Installfests are advocacy rather than finding out what members and list 
lurkers want from PLUG.

In retrospect, I missed promoting that Linux doesn't install an AI tool by 
default.

And yes, I tackled the Installfests at the Collins Street Centre because I can 
get wireless from home and can drag gear there quickly (and why I said I'd run 
a series this year).

I dropped in to my two closest Mens Sheds this morning with posters.

Curtin FM did some promotion to a similar audience based on their commercials 
and promotion.

RTRFM had an entry in their newsletter.

I'll see if this attracts more people on Saturday. Otherwise, it is hard work 
but it is an opportunity for PLUG people to meetup and share projects.

All the best
Harry

On 16/6/26 19:11, Onno Benschop via plug wrote:
> While the notion of promoting Linux is one way of getting PLUG noticed, I 
> think that there are more fundamental questions to consider.
>
> What is the purpose of PLUG, why does it exist, what does it mean to be a 
> member of PLUG?
>
> Getting members or promoting the club at public events is all fun and games 
> in theory, until you get into the logistics of the process when you discover 
> that it's the same three people doing all the work.
>
> O
>
> --
> finger painting on glass is an inexact art - apologies for any errors in 
> this scra^Hibble
>
> ()/)/)() ..ASCII for Onno..
>
> On Tue, 16 June 2026, 18:56 Steve Schrader via plug, <plug at plug.org.au> wrote:
>
>
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* committee <committee-bounces at plug.org.au> on behalf of Steve
>     Schrader via committee <committee at plug.org.au>
>     *Sent:* Monday, 15 June 2026 12:43 PM
>     *To:* Harry McNally <harrymc at decisions-and-designs.com.au>; PLUG
>     Committee <committee at plug.org.au>
>     *Subject:* Re: [plug-ctte] [plug] #introducing and Installfests
>     Interesting letter and history lesson, Harry. You detailed many points
>     that were (i) before my time with PLUG, and (ii) pertinent to issues
>     which Wyatt has raised in his recent talks at Cannington library. I must
>     admit to being unaware of the political machinations which had been
>     taking place.
>
>     Rather than hosting at events which people who are already interested in
>     and knowledgeable about Linux,  I would suggest that we consider hosting
>     Linux information sessions/InstallFests at events which the general
>     public would be attending. One specific idea which I have suggested at
>     recent committee meetings would be to hire stalls at some of the local
>     market events which take place around Perth.
>
>     These events could be used to demonstrate how everyday computing could
>     be readily achieved on systems without tracking every action being
>     performed. We could promote the InstallFests at these events, as well as
>     PLUG membership.
>
>     Steve S.
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* plug <plug-bounces at plug.org.au> on behalf of Harry McNally via
>     plug <plug at plug.org.au>
>     *Sent:* Monday, 15 June 2026 12:16 PM
>     *To:* plug at plug.org.au <plug at plug.org.au>
>     *Subject:* [plug] #introducing and Installfests
>
>     Late last year, Onno and I discussed ways to find out what subscribers
>     might be seeking from membership of PLUG or subscribing to the PLUG
>     mailing list. Onno had helped another NFP group by hosting a meeting
>     that, after four hours of ideas, arrived at a direction that suited the
>     whole group. We wondered if a special event like that might increase IRL
>     participation at events and encourage paid membership to support those
>     events.
>
>     To add to that Onno posted about his own experience with Linux and,
>     while he got a few people figuring out when they started participating
>     in PLUG, there wasn't a lot of feedback to match Onno's thoughtful
>     consideration of how Linux has been part of his professional and
>     technical life.
>
>     It takes time to articulate and, I wondered, what am I going to say
>     other than that I use it every day (pretty much exclusively other than
>     when I use Win10 as a software wrapper around Altium Designer) ? So,
>     apologies Onno, this post is a long time coming.
>
>     With the next Installfest less that a week away, I thought I'd explain
>     why I asked the committee if I could run a series of Installfests this
>     year. The journey begins in the last millennium.
>
>     I'd been using Linux for a few years by 1999 although I think the first
>     system in the house was a firewall installed for us by Harry Protoolis
>     around 1994.
>
>     In the late 90's the Coalition Federal government needed support from a
>     Tasmanian senator for <some unrelated bill> and he predicated his vote
>     on the introduction of a net censorship bill. Wikipedia is light on the
>     machinations but EFA has some archive material:
>
>     https://efa.org.au/media-releases-archive/
>
>     There was a lot of campaigning by the EFA and the first (of not very
>     many) political rally I attended was the Anti-Censorship Protest in
>     Perth May 28, 1999.
>
>     See: https://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/may28/perth/index.html
>
>     My reason for taking part was a technical one; that the methods they
>     were proposing would not work and it was easy to take that position
>     because CSIRO were an authoritative source that were informing
>     parliament in the same way.
>
>     The political reaction was savage. For anyone that remembers, the tactic
>     taken was that anyone who opposed the Online Services Bill was a bomb
>     maker, drug dealer, or child molester.
>
>     I wondered, outside of the astonishment and outrage, if more people were
>     better informed about what the Internet offered, then the debate might
>     be more rational.
>
>     That started what turned out to be 7 years of participation in Computer
>     Angels in various roles and I am forever grateful for the participation
>     of so many other technical supporters and non-technical volunteers for
>     what was a free training and awareness organisation that supported that
>     with a free re-furbished Linux computer.
>
>     But while there was a lot of support from all sides with time and
>     knowledge, the thing we constantly struggled with was financial; a
>     premises needed rent and disposal costs for "working glass monitors"
>     that were found to have weeds growing through them meant we were
>     constantly looking for operating funds.
>
>     That really wore us out and stopped us in 2007. Associations law
>     required that we had to wind up in the black and boxes and boxes of IEC
>     power cables became a skip full which went away for chipping to copper
>     scrap. The copper price was at a peak and we got $2400 (I think) for the
>     scrap which cleared our debts and, as required to wind up, we passed the
>     remainder to "a like-minded association" which naturally was PLUG.
>
>     I've also learned that a past Benjamin (we have a few) donated all fees
>     from one of his consulting contracts on to PLUG so these intermittent
>     cash injections have helped PLUG continue to host events; albeit frugally.
>
>     Skip to late 2025 and this year and with Online Services (Age
>     Restrictions) Bill and AI and I wondered if Installfests could encourage
>     a new group of users to install Linux or become proficient with
>     independent content using Hugo or a Mastodon server.
>
>     James has demonstrated the minimal cost required to host PLUG on Digital
>     Lane and my own interest is still RaspberryPi hosting on a home network.
>     Could PLUG share Ansible scripts or configured RPi images to download to
>     offer alternatives to social media algorithms ?
>
>     So far public attendance at the Installfests has been mute but I have
>     extended the promotion this time to see if we can reach people to simply
>     install on a retired machine and give it a try. I see it as a Computer
>     Angels flashmob; all the fun but at much lower cost.
>
>     So the event this Saturday is on the usual page.
>     https://plug.org.au/installfest
>
>     Committee has added backup/restore as a theme and I have extended the
>     RPi theme if anyone wants to bring ideas for home hosting servers or all
>     other things Pi. If you let the list know if you are coming for an hour
>     and what time then it is an opportunity to get like-minded project ideas
>     at certain times.
>
>     If we get more public attendees then more hands will be helpful. If we
>     don't, then we can hear your ideas and projects that you can bring. It
>     would be great to see you and them.
>
>     All the best
>     Harry
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
>     https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>     Committee e-mail: committee at plug.org.au
>     PLUG Membership: http://www.plug.org.au/membership
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list:plug at plug.org.au
> https://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
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