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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder Bot 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

There's a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting on Monday: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) We'll have covered a huge bunch of software on Software Freedom Day (http://www.wlug.org.nz/SoftwareFreedomDay2008) For the particular benefit of any visitors (or new members) Bryce Utting (http://www.wlug.org.nz/BryceUtting) will review the ones people were most interested in and kick things open for questions. This may bear a passing similarity with the 2pm session from Saturday. Note that next month's meeting is the AGM, so there won't be a presentation. Feedback from SFD will however be used to guide the November presentation.

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Software Freedom Day
by Bruce Kingsbury 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

Hi all, just a quick email about software freedom day (bcc's to random people who may or may not be on the WLUG mailing list, sorry if you got this twice) Bryce is a little worried that at the moment we only have three or four people involved in SFD who really grok Free/OSS software and have a broad knowledge of what's available in various areas. So my first request is that some of the less active members and past members who are able to confidently talk to the public about Free and Open Source software do come along on SFD and give us a hand. RSVP so I know who's coming and don't have to stress about this. Or if you wanted to be more involved in SFD planning, put your hand up now! We've got less than two weeks to get everything sorted and could really use some help. I'm planning to follow up with PBTech about them lending us some nice computers for the day to demo stuff on. Alternatively, would WAND group be able to find some suitable demo machines? It might be easiest if we make use of something that's already on campus. Alternatively, we may end up relying on WLUG members to bring their personal machines. I'd rather avoid that though. Anything else that runs GNU/Linux or embedded Linux? Lindsay is hopefully providing Linksys phones and webcams for the day, and running an Asterisk PABX, hopefully we can link up with other groups during their SFD events. Also if you have a eeepc or similar linux-based 'nettop', bring it along. They're cool and we should let lots of people see how cool they are. And of course, thanks you to those who are already helping. I really hope it all comes together and we have a great SFD! -- This email is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient you must burn your computer, while standing on one foot and chanting the entire jabberwocky. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of the person who expressed them.

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Fwd: Wanted - Windows PCs for Software Freedom Day
by cmoman 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Wanted - Windows PCs for Software Freedom Day Date: Wednesday 17 September 2008 From: Roderick Aldridge <rod-aldridge(a)xnet.co.nz> To: wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Most of the PCs at SFD demonstrating Free Software will be running Linux. It would be good for the visitors, most of whom will be Windows users to be able to see software running on their familiar system. Most will want to try out Windows versions of FOSS on their PCs rather than taking the plunge and installing Linux, so if you can bring a Windows PC it will really contribute to the success of the day. Roderick Aldridge -------------------------------------------------------

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SFD now very close
by Jaco van der Merwe 17 Sep '08

17 Sep '08

So! The SFD is on hand We've managed to get something up, albeit a bit late in the hour, @ http://www.wharfit.co.nz/Free_Software_meetings & http://softwarefreedomday.org/teams/oceania/nz/devonport (thanks, Milan). More info to be added A big thanks out to everybody who's contributed to the effort, and good luck to our gLUG piers in their SFD endeavours on Sat. Here's hoping next year's event is even bigger than this year's - Jaco _________________________________________________________________ Get the next generation of Free Windows Live Services http://get.live.com

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Re: [wlug] FW: Stuff that'd be useful on Saturday
by Chris O'Halloran 17 Sep '08

17 Sep '08

Bryce Utting wrote: > Michael McDonald wrote: > >>> Does anyone have: >>> b) a MIDI keyboard (& a PC that'll talk to it) >>> > > anyone got a gameport-equipped Linux PC? there's plenty of ways of > generating sound from a PC given MIDI input, so no worries on that > score; plug a MIDI kbd in, plug some speakers in, and start up MuseScore > or whatever. > I have a linux box equipped with a DSP2000 (http://www.audiencedp.com/DSP2000.htm) audio/MIDI interface. It would be good for a demonstration of multi-track recording with Ardour and midi with Rosegarden, along with jack for audio routing and transport control, etc. I also have a MIDI keyboard that I use with it. I can bring it along on Saturday if you're keen. Cheers, Matt

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Software Freedom Day
by Ron Dean 17 Sep '08

17 Sep '08

I'll be there and would be happy to demonstrate gimp basics -- Ron Dean 2 Shannon Place Nawton Hamilton Ph 8493904

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Stuff that'd be useful on Saturday
by Bryce Utting 17 Sep '08

17 Sep '08

Does anyone have: a) a USB steering wheel b) a MIDI keyboard (& a PC that'll talk to it) c) digital video cameras (the higher quality the better, and the more the better come to that; USB-capable ideally) the first'll be good for showing off Torcs, the second for keeping any musicians' attention, the third for recording Nandor's talk. (I'm entirely happy with editing say three roughly-synced video streams on the day while being shoulder-surfed then uploading to YouTube. I tried, work's are all in Sydney.) if there's *any* chance of any of these being there on Saturday, they'd be grand. as for other instruments, I'm thinking of packing a guitar + multi- effects and bringing them in if there's anything to attach them to (and anyone interested). can't commit to my laptop being any use: Audacity will record single tracks to an empty file, but then refuses to even recognise the microphone to record any more. (bizarre, that) (this... also means that the demo Audacity file on the poster -- which, yes, really *is* tracks from a Hammond through a Leslie, a guitar, another guitar, a Hammond through a plain speaker, and a piano, all recorded wild and independently, with a drum solo stolen from the web, all sliced up randomly based on what looked pretty -- is a *truly* hellish din, not helped at all by Audacity repeatedly crashing in horror while trying to make it. I'll try not to play it too much.) butting (mad science isn't just for Christmas, you know)

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Re: [wlug] [NZOSS-OpenChat] SFD Events
by Michael McDonald 16 Sep '08

16 Sep '08

2008/9/17 Don <don(a)catalyst.net.nz>: > Micheal > That looks like a great event and congrats on getting Nandar in. > Cheers > Don Don't thank me! I'm not on the committee. It has been others who have been doing the work. I'll post this to WLUG also so that those who did the organising can take the kudos. Michael >> 2008/9/17 Don <don(a)catalyst.net.nz>: >> > 95bFM in Auckland want to talk about SFD. I know a lot about the >> > Wellington event but would be keen to publicise details of events >> > elsewhere in NZ. The SFD website is sorely lacking in info this year. >> > So, if you have some details please pass them on to me before 1:40 this >> > afternoon. >> > On Wed, 2008-09-17 at 09:53 +1200, Michael McDonald wrote: >> WLUG's (Hamilton) plans are at http://wlug.org.nz/SoftwareFreedomDay2008

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ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 14 Sep '08

14 Sep '08

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) Topic to be announced.

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FLOSS Technology Feature in Waikato Times
by David Hallett 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

There is a quiet revolution going on among the world's computer users. One of the people at the heart of that revolution is New Zealand Open Source Society president Don Christie, who preached his revolutionary message to the New Zealand Computer Society at Wintec, in Hamilton. http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/4690613a14335.html Regards, David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS Pulsar Computer Solutions Ltd P.O. Box 15-516 Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: +64-7-210 5520 Mobile: +64-21-802 256 Email: david(a)pulsar.net.nz

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Preparing for SFD
by Bryce Utting 11 Sep '08

11 Sep '08

Hi all, The publicity's up, the word's out, the gremlins have been beaten senseless with 4x2s and the usual appalling jokes, and now it's time to get ready for the day. A quick recap (since I've lost track of what's happened on which list): * we're putting on a bunch of (short, hourly) presentations at S Block on Saturday the 20th * Nandor Tanzcos is opening * we're hoping to see a whole bunch of people wanting to know more about F/OSS software * preparations are under way to kit the place out with PCs and have them doing hopefully-interesting stuff * there's also the -tiniest- suggestion of a hint that we might be implying that we're there to help answer questions, solve problems, and help out installing stuff. The only remaining worries now are: * nobody comes * EVERYBODY comes It's the latter I'm thinking about. We need to be sure of a core of people who'll be there on the day (it doesn't have to be the whole day), who can offer expertise in areas that people might come with questions about. Know how to painlessly burn CDs? How to walk a Windows user through what's different about Gnome or KDE desktops? How to build documents in OpenOffice? How to safely camp in Tremulous? Then you can help. You don't need to be an expert: if you know enough to be useful, and also know what your limitations are, then that's enough right there to get someone started on the basics and if you hit the wall to pass them on to the next person on the list. So, after a quick chat with Bruce I figure the best way to manage this is to sign up with what we're each willing to help with. This'll mean that, in the event of things getting overwelming, we all know who we can pass thorny questions on to and who can help with triage on queues. And if we keep copies handy, we can discreetly look it up rather than relying on some dim idea that what's-'s-name-'ve-met-twice-three-months- ago might be able to answer the question of how to create a DVD menu. If that's you, adding yourself to the list will help hugely. www.wlug.org.nz/SFD%202008%20Hosts (yeah, I know. but WikiWords don't LIKE acronyms, and it's really a use-once-and-forget page anyway.) And, further to that: we can keep the day flowing, and keep people's interest, if we can be sure of spot presentations during the day. If you're comfortable with getting up front and talking for three minutes about Gimp, Firefox extensions, something weird you've done in Perl, or how Mandrake keeps your cat fed, that'd be great: add that too. These are particularly useful because it means that we can keep the technical lot fed between user-level main presentations, and the users fed in between tech-level main presentations. (and if the day -is- quiet, you might get let off the hook.) sweet as. bryce

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SFD poster: need a photo gallery from a member URGENTLY
by butting＠ihug.co.nz 10 Sep '08

10 Sep '08

Hi all, We have the makings (I hope) of some great publicity for SFD. The banner I'm working on will hopefully be ready to print tomorrow, which you might guess is well past the original deadlines (and getting woefully close to the day itself). I've had some excellent stuff come in, but far far too late for our original plan of printing last Friday. I'd like to finish tonight, and there's one last thing I need: an online photo gallery that I can take a shot of. I don't need a screenshot, just a URL, of a gallery that you've created and own the rights to and are happy to have an image of the thumbnails of it released under creative commons with non-attrib. (the thumbnails, not the images themselves.) Something like: Something like http://softwarefreedomday.org/gallery/2007/newzealand/hamilton would be brilliant, only I've already used those images elsewhere. Can anyone help? Would be greatly appreciated. ta, Bryce

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Upcoming WLUG committee meeting (1 week today)
by Meeting Reminder bot 07 Sep '08

07 Sep '08

As per the WLUG charter, please note that there is a WLUG executive committee meeting one week from today. If you wish to get an item on the agenda for this meeting, please email it to secretary(a)wlug.org.nz. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # Previous Minutes # Treasurers report # Correspondence # Matters # Server status # General business

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Re: [wlug] SFD library poster: still urgently need shots!
by Bryce Utting 07 Sep '08

07 Sep '08

I wrote: > CURRENT NEED-URGENTLY LIST: ... > CC photos of the Symphony cluster > (can anyone get me into the Symphony lab today or tomorrow?) does anyone have phone numbers for Jamie or for Donald Neal? (or anyone else with access to the lab) or for Rod or Nandor? contact me please ASAP thanks. Bryce

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gNewSense
by Bruce Kingsbury 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

I just installed gNewSense this morning on my laptop, and I am rather plesantly surprised how useable it actually is! I have no inbuilt wireless, of course. Broadcom chipsets require a non-free binar blob so I was expecting that. My USB wireless adapter (ZyDAS WLA-54L WiFi) also doesn't work, which surprised me. It worked OOTB in Ubuntu so I had assumed it was using only Free software, but perhaps not. I'm fairly sure my rt2400 card would work with entirely free software, but I an't seem to find it at the moment. Pity. I've installed swfdec and I'm very happy to find it plays both youtube videos and weebls stuff. At least all the ones I've tried so far, which isn't many.. I'll have to try some flash games next. I've also installed all of the 'Free but patent-threatened' codecs and libdvdcss2. Apart from not having wireless, I can do pretty much everything I was doing before in Ubuntu. This rocks! -- This email is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient you must burn your computer, while standing on one foot and chanting the entire jabberwocky. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of the person who expressed them.

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Re: [wlug] SFD library poster: call for contributions (now URGENT)
by Bryce Utting 06 Sep '08

06 Sep '08

Hi all, A couple of weeks ago, I wrote: > To do that, we need colourful, compelling, and useful (where applicable) > screenshots of a wide range of FOSS software. These screenshots need to > be released under Creative Commons, so we need to draw on resources > within WLUG rather than simply downloading sample screenshots. We've > got around 2.4 x 1.2 metres, so we've got real estate to burn. > > I've set up a page detailing the goals, showing the current layout > design (using, ahem, downloaded screenshots), and listing candidate > packages: > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~butting/wlug/contrib.html > > If you think you can offer something -- killer examples of Inkscape or > Gimp in use, Kino being used to create something lively, a Rosegarden > composition, a Mono program that looks good onscreen -- please, please, > check the page out and drop me a line. Things are looking grim, and it's causing a truckload of stress here. Deadline is *FRIDAY*, and so far I've not seen -any- final, print-ready artwork. The only contributions so far have been from just two people. Everything else has come off my bat: Impress, Kino (will be replacing with either Jahshaka or Avidemux), Firefox (pending, tho), Inkscape, MuseScore, and Torcs. I *need*: Euler, Wesnoth, Freeciv, Frets on Fire, Glest, Neverball, Flightgear, Gimp, OpenOffice Writer & Calc, and Mono (*especially* Mono). Surely someone's able to contribute? butting

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 05 Sep '08

05 Sep '08

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 6th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm We will be holding our SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/nz/hamilton/enderley/-te+whanau+ptahi/?place/full_map) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee and light lunch, etc.

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 05 Sep '08

05 Sep '08

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday September 6th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm We will be holding our SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/nz/hamilton/enderley/-te+whanau+ptahi/?place/full_map) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee and light lunch, etc.

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Reminder bot? Saturday workshop
by Bruce Kingsbury 04 Sep '08

04 Sep '08

I haven't seen any bot reminders for the Saturday workshop. Is it getting them from the wiki page or just the sidebar? Anyhow; Saturday workshop on the 6th. I'll be there. If you have stuff you'd like help with, be there too! -- This email is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient you must burn your computer, while standing on one foot and chanting the entire jabberwocky. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of the person who expressed them.

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Happy Birthday to GNU
by Ronnie Collinson 03 Sep '08

03 Sep '08

As part of GNU's 25 birthday, has released a short film featuring Stephen Fry, for those intersted here is a link<http://www.gnu.org/fry/happy-birthday-to-gnu.html>. Havent watched myself yet, but will a bit later

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Getting blog on http://planet.wlug.org.nz/
by Stuart A. Yeates 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

Hello My previous blog was on http://planet.wlug.org.nz/, and now I have a new blog at http://opensourceexile.blogspot.com/, could this please be added? I've moved to increase the level of geekiness by separating my photography and my dacing into separate blogs. cheers stuart

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Fixit Meeting
by Ron Dean 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

Is there a fixit meeting this Saturday -- Ron Dean 2 Shannon Place Nawton Hamilton Ph 8493904

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Happy Birthday to GNU!
by Bruce Kingsbury 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

http://www.gnu.org/fry/happy-birthday-to-gnu-download.html -- This email is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient you must burn your computer, while standing on one foot and chanting the entire jabberwocky. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of the person who expressed them.

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Trash folder location...
by Chakat Sandwalker 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

I have something stuck in my Trash folder that I can't delete because root owns it. Where is the trash directory stored in Ubuntu 8.04? It was easy when it was just ~/.Trash, but I've no idea where it is now -- I can't get into trash:/// through the command line. Makes me wish there was a 'delete as root/administrator' option in the right-click context menu. Sandy

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NZCS Innovators Series Lunch: Don Christie (Hamilton) - 8 Sep 2008
by David Hallett 31 Aug '08

31 Aug '08

The NZ Computer Society (NZCS) is proud to announce a new monthly series of events from August to December 2008 in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Hamilton, bringing some of the true "Innovators of ICT" to a city near you. Register at http://nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/3202-NZCS_Innovators_Series%3A_Don_Ch…<http://nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/3202-NZCS_Innovators_Series%3A_Don_Ch…> This month Don Christie will be presenting his talk on "Using Open Source to Build Innovative Solutions". Don Christie will need no introduction to those in the Open Source world, but has an extremely interesting story of innovative success relevant to those in the commercial software space as well. As a founder of what is now New Zealand's largest open source solutions provider, Don is one of the first people to build a truly viable and successful commercial model in New Zealand around open source software. Don's company Catalyst IT, which was voted in NBR Magazine earlier this year as the most exciting company in New Zealand, provides significant solutions to companies such as Telecom, Fairfax, the TAB, plus a host of Government agencies. Catalyst also architected, designed and developed, host and maintain NZ Registry Service's core system, the Shared Registry System (SRS) which maintains the .nz domain space (i.e. handles all .nz internet addresses). In this intriguing presentation, come and hear what inspired Don to take his passion for Open Source to the mainstream and the hurdles he has had to overcome along the way. Don will also discuss his keys to success in turning concepts into reality, an integral step on the path of innovation. The insight presented by Don will be of huge interest to others aspiring to be the best in their field through hard work and true innovation. Don is also the organiser of the NZ Open Source Awards and president of the NZ Open Source Society. Date: 8 September 2008 Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Venue: The Hub at Wintec, City Campus, Gate 5, Tristram Street, Hamilton REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL: http://nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/3202-NZCS_Innovators_Series%3A_Don_Ch…<http://nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/3202-NZCS_Innovators_Series%3A_Don_Ch…> This event will sell out in most areas, hence registration is essential. Best Regards, David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS Pulsar Computer Solutions Ltd P.O. Box 15-516 Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: +64-7-210 5520 Mobile: +64-21-802 256 Email: david(a)pulsar.net.nz

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