- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

RE: [wlug] suse linux goes community
by David Nicholls 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

9.3 seems to have bumped up its detection of hardware I'm pleased to say. It managed to detect an old scsi card that 9.1 & 9.2 both did not pick up. As a consequence I now have my tape drive & cdrwiter back... Yay! You can also choose a gnome install for suse (it's been my default choice since 9.0) although a few people up @ the uni seem to prefer the kde install. Cheers... david -----Original Message----- From: Oliver Jones [mailto:oliver(a)deeperdesign.com] Sent: Monday, 8 August 2005 10:55 pm Subject: Re: [wlug] suse linux goes community Hmmm... the System admins at work were waving around copies of SuSE 9.3 the other day. I only just installed FC4 on my Laptop and I'm happy enough with that. Certainly the Geekiest of the Sys Admins at work seemed to think SuSE was nice. Though he still uses primarily FC. I've toyed briefly with a SuSE 9.x Live CD just after I got my Laptop. It didn't detect all the hardware as well as FC3 did so I didn't dally with it long. Also, I'm not a big KDE fan. Good too see that Novell is being more open about SuSE development though. The whole Cathedral built from OpenSource bricks idea is not so good IMO.

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suse linux goes community
by David Nicholls 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

you might find this interesting... <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050802-5162.html> SuSE goes community 8/2/2005 11:40:34 PM, by Ryan Paul <mailto:segphault(a)sbcglobal.net> The community dynamic perpetually stimulates the progress, development, and communication that enable distributions like Gentoo, Fedora, and Ubuntu to maintain their position at the pinnacle of Linux popularity. In an attempt to create a community of its own, Novell plans to announce <http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1843097,00.asp> the creation of an OpenSuSE community at LinuxWorld in San Francisco. Novell intends to make the entire body of SuSE Linux source code available to the public by the end of 2006 via its future OpenSuse.org web site. Novell believes that collaboration with the Linux community will substantially benefit Novell as well as Linux developers and consumers. Novell's open source marketing director, Greg Mancusi-Ungaro says "We're trying to make it easier for application developers to come to Suse, create forks, create packages and build the software." Source code accessibility will bring new developers into the fold, which could potentially yield exceptional new technologies. It will also broaden the base of active testers, which will enable Novell to squish bugs faster. Despite plans to make the new, fully open incarnation SuSE Linux widely available at no charge via Internet downloads and CD give-aways, Novell will also sell OpenSuSE in boxed sets. Distribution and availability are key in this game, and the marketing minds at Novell are well aware of it. According to Mancusi-Ungaro, Novell previously "made [SuSE] not widely available--just retail stores or a packaged download from an FTP. It's not the easiest way to gain a large user community." He says that Novell now plans to "give away thousands [of copies] at user group events." Migration towards a community model is always a very positive change for everyone involved. The value of a strong community is possibly best seen in Ubuntu (which means "I am what I am because of who we all are"), a widely popular Linux distribution that places an incomparable emphasis on collaboration. Ubuntu was named best community of the year, and best distribution of the year in the 2004 Ars Technica Linux Awards <http://arstechnica.com/columns/linux/linux-20050102.ars> and continues to be a favorite of the Linux.Ars crew. By establishing a well-knit community of users and developers, Novell hopes that SuSE will be able to achieve the level of success and notoriety attained by open distributions like Ubuntu. SuSE has always been a popular commercial distribution, and now by actively engaging its fans in the development process, it could become one of the new Linux leaders, both on corporate desktops and in the homes of individual users. Novell is already the proud custodian of countless imperative Linux technologies like Mono, Evolution, Hula and Beagle. OpenSuSE will give Novell even more leverage as it struggles against fierce competitors like RedHat and Mandriva. The notion of an open SuSE is not a new one. In May, Jason Perlow wrote an article for Linux Magazine in which he states: "It's pretty darn clear to me that to make mojo, SuSE Linux Professional needs to look deep into its roots and re-birth itself as a public, open-source project similar to Fedora." Now that Novell has heeded the call of the community, SuSE will have an opportunity to grow and evolve in ways that it never could before, and Novell will have many excellent opportunities to capitalize on increased community interest. David Nicholls Computer Support Consultant d.nicholls at waikato.ac.nz School of Science & Engineering / Dept of Chemistry The University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand

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Software Info, Wiki with file attachments?
by Andrew Thrift 08 Aug '05

08 Aug '05

Hi, Just wondering if anyone knows of a PHP based wiki that allows users to attach binary files to a page. e.g. a page called "ServicePack4" could have a description and attached a copy of Service Pack 4. Users would also be able to attach files themselves. I have a use for it internal to our company for keeping track of information relating to client sites. Regards, Andrew Thrift

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RE: [wlug] Announcing Planet WLUG
by Lindsay Druett 07 Aug '05

07 Aug '05

Looks cool :) I could get the person of the month up and running again :) > They're a great way to get a summarised view of what is happening in a > community. > > WLUG's planet can be found at http://planet.wlug.org.nz/ surprisingly > enough. > > If you have a a blog and want to be added let me know.

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Announcing Planet WLUG
by Matt Brown 06 Aug '05

06 Aug '05

Hi, WLUG now has a planet. If you've not heard of one of these before it's basically a blog aggregator. Some of the more famous planets are at http://planet.gnome.org/ http://planet.debian.org/ http://planet.ubuntu.com/ They're a great way to get a summarised view of what is happening in a community. WLUG's planet can be found at http://planet.wlug.org.nz/ surprisingly enough. If you have a a blog and want to be added let me know. Cheers -- Matt Brown matt(a)mattb.net.nz Mob +64 275 611 544 www.mattb.net.nz

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Reminder: linux.conf.au 2006 - Call For Papers
by Mike Beattie 05 Aug '05

05 Aug '05

2006 - Dunedin, NZ! linux.conf.au is the annual Australian Linux technical conference, and is one of the largest gatherings of users and developers of Free and Open Source Software in the Southern Hemisphere. It is an opportunity for developers and groups to present their ideas amongst peers, and for the Free Software and Open Source communities to gather in general. Summary: A gentle reminder that the Call for Papers is open, and there's only one month remaining for submissions! http://lca2006.linux.org.au/cfp.php The 2006 conference is being held in Dunedin, New Zealand, at The University of Otago[1]. More information can be found on the conference website: http://lca2006.linux.org.au/ Call for papers: The organisers of linux.conf.au 2006 would like to invite you to submit a paper for presentation at one of the world's leading Linux community conferences. Most presentations will be of a technical nature, but those covering legal, educational, organisational, community or similar aspects of open source software will also be welcome. Promotional presentations, commercial advertisements, sales pitches and their like are not appropriate for this conference. Papers on the following topics are encouraged: * The Linux kernel, filesystems and networking * Databases and storage * Programming languages and tools * Linux on the desktop: productivity, groupware and GUIs * Multimedia, audio, video, music and games * Security * Linux deployments, practical experience and war stories * Linux on unusual platforms: embedded systems, virtual systems, handhelds and very large systems * Distributions, management and standardization * Other open source projects We are open to a broader range of topics as well, even non-Linux based projects. So, submit it to us anyway! Please note however, that all presentations must be based on 'open source' software and projects. We have two (very different) main presentation formats: 120+ minute interactive tutorials and 50 minute seminars. You may also wish to participate in a miniconf, lightning talk, BOF session, or present a poster. ** Submission Guidelines Abstracts are required for paper, tutorial and work in progress presentations. Abstracts should be up to 400 words and be submitted to the Paper Review Committee via the web page: http://lca2006.linux.org.au/cfp/ Submission requires pre-registration as an Author, providing the following information: * Author's full name (and preferred handle, if any) * Author's complete email address * Author's affiliation with commercial or relevant organisations * Author's postal address * Author's telephone and/or mobile numbers, with area and country codes. * Author's short biography, in around 1 - 3 paragraphs. * Whether travel and accommodation assistance will be required Abstracts and biographies should be submitted as plain text. The final paper should be submitted in an appropriate open format, such as 7-bit ASCII text, HTML, DocBook or LaTeX. Any featured software in papers must be available under a licence compatible with the Open Source Definition[2]. Any papers that are accompanied by non-disclosure agreement forms will be rejected. All successful papers must be eligible for republication on-line and on distribution media given to conference attendees. linux.conf.au requires publication rights to accepted papers, including the publication of the audio proceedings as well as publication and reproduction rights to any video filmed during the presentations. These rights are non-exclusive. Copyright ownership is retained by the author. Submitting an abstract indicates understanding of and consent to these conditions. In the event that you miss one of the deadlines we reserve the right to revoke any offer to present your paper. We take having the paper for the conference proceedings very seriously and late submissions place an undue burden on our formatting team. ** Travel and Accommodation Assistance Some financial assistance is available for speakers' travel and accommodation in cases of need. Please indicate in the appropriate place during registration as an Author if this is the case. Financial assistance may be withheld if final complete submissions aren't received by the date specified above. Dates to Remember: * CFP Opened: Tuesday July 12, 2005 * Abstracts Due: Tuesday September 5, 2005 * Notifications by Review Committee begin: Wednesday September 20, 2005 * Final Complete Submissions Due: Friday December 1, 2005 * Conference begins: Monday January 23, 2006 Please feel free to forward this announcement to your local LUG, or any other person or group that would be interested! [1]: http://www.otago.ac.nz/ [2]: http://www.opensource.org/osd.html Regards, Mike Beattie, linux.conf.au 2006 Organisers

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Trying to contact Bryce Utting
by zcat 04 Aug '05

04 Aug '05

If Bryce is on the list or if anyone here knows how to get hold of him, please tell him to give me a call, 8551826 thanks..

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wlug server (hoiho)
by John R. McPherson 02 Aug '05

02 Aug '05

Before people start noticing and complaining, there is currently a problem with the server due to a misconfigured firewall. Not sure when it will be brought back up - Craig M (who's hosting it) doesn't seem to be around at the moment. John

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Waikato Linux Users Group Inc. Statement on discuss@meta.net.nz
by Greig McGill 02 Aug '05

02 Aug '05

Waikato Linux Users Group Inc. Statement on discuss(a)meta.net.nz =============================================================== Tuesday, 2nd August 2005 WLUG affirms the goals listed in our Interim Statement dated 26 July 2005 on the formation of a National Linux Body and encourages all interested parties from around the country to participate in the discussion on the mailing list setup for that purpose. -- Greig McGill President Waikato Linux Users Group Inc.

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Invitation to participate in discussion about a national Linux body
by Matt Brown 01 Aug '05

01 Aug '05

Tue, 2 August 2005 Recently, discussion has taken place in a number of forums around the creation of a national Linux body in New Zealand. We (the undersigned) envisage a national Linux organisation for New Zealand which would be very closely modelled on the successful Linux Australia. In particular, such an organisation would have the following broad goals: * Support, resource and promote local LUGs[1] * Provide national co-ordination services (speaker organisation, etc) * Provide web/email/mailing list hosting for LUGs where required * Seek funding from corporates and other interested parties in order to provide financial support to LUGs and individuals to foster F/OSS[2] development efforts and support attendance at F/OSS conferences. * Partner with organisations like NZOSS[3] to advocate and educate the community (and particularly the Government) on the benefits of Linux and F/OSS. * Partner with organisations like Linux AU to support and enhance the LCA conference. * Provide SIG[4] mailing lists and support services for NZ F/OSS users The national organisation would not perform the functions of a LUG itself, instead it would: * Provide a central location where users could be connected to their local LUG * Provide co-ordination and communication between individual LUGs * Undertake national initiatives supported by all LUGs * Aggregate LUG opinion and present a unified voice to the Government and other industry groups. * Support the formation of local LUGs in areas where they currently do not exist. We believe that to be successful such a group must be separate to local LUGs but have strong relationships with each of the LUGs around the country. A mailing list has been setup at discuss(a)meta.net.nz; see https://secure.meta.net.nz/mailman/listinfo/discuss for details on how to subscribe. All interested parties are invited to join this list and participate in the disucssion. In particular, we would like to see robust discussion of the above goals and also of the scope of the organisation: * What should the name of the organisation be (LinuxNZ, NZ Linux)? * Should the group seek to enhance an already existing group (eg NZOSS)? * Should it seek to support other Free Operating Systems (*BSD, etc)? * Should it seek to support F/OSS on other Operating Systems, eg Mozilla / OpenOffice.org on Windows? * How should the organisation be organised legally? * What should the nature of the group's relationships with NZOSS and Linux Australia be? Our intention is to solicit opinions until about 1 October 2005. At that point we would hope to be able to be in a position to put together a more formal proposal to refine the discussion. All going well it would be great to be able to hold the inaugural AGM of the new organisation during LCA'06 in Dunedin in the final week of January 2006. We look forward to seeing you on the discussion list. Kind Regards -- Craig Box <linux(a)dubculture.co.nz> Matt Brown <matt(a)mattb.net.nz> John McPherson <jrm21(a)cs.waikato.ac.nz> Footnotes 1. Linux User Group(s) 2. Free and Open Source Software 3. NZ Open Source Society 4. Special Interest Group

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