Hi WLUGers. I realise, as displayed at the last LUG meeting, that most of you read slashdot. :) Even so, I'd like to ensure that all of you have read the O'Reilly article on effective advocacy. Advocacy is something that is very important to me, and our WLUG Charter also lists it as one of the core goals of our group. http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2005/03/03/advocacy.html I think we have been doing well lately to be taken reasonably seriously as a LUG, and I'd like to continue this trend. One thing which I perceive to be damaging to our credibility is people at meetings asking "questions" which are little more than excuses to rant about how Microsoft ate their baby/killed their cat/defiled their church/whatever. I don't like Microsoft. I've never liked them, even before they adopted their extremely aggressive and monopolistic business practices. That said, calling them evil, and frothing at the mouth to people who can't do anything about it, does absolutely nothing to help the situation. It only serves to weaken the perception of the WLUG as a credible entity. Jokes are fine. I like jokes. Just remember that nobody likes to listen to a zealot (think of the mad bible bashers in Garden Place...), and "being that guy" will never get you taken seriously. This is as close to official as I like to get, so please take it on board. Your funloving, but slightly frustrated President, Greig McGill.