[kwlug-disc] (In progress) kwlug candidate meeting site sourced.

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sat, 19 Dec 2009, Chris Bruner wrote:

... snip ...

> I think it is a very good definition of successful if you are
> linking the rise of Linux popularity with the kwlug. kwlug has not
> gone away and would have been happy to stay at the working center if
> not for the noise factor. This is the only reason we are homeless at
> the moment.
>
> I remember when the Internet was new and there was an Internet users
> group which introduced people to email browsers different isps etc.
> It was quite interesting as a bunch of eclectic people attended the
> meetings, but over time the meetings grew less popular and more
> technical. Yet the Internet took off. I think the two groups have a
> 1 to 1 correlation. The Internet group died out because it wasn't
> new anymore, and everyone knew enough to get around.  It got more
> technical because the easy stuff had been done to death.

  trying to compare a linux user group with an internet user group
doesn't even remotely hold.  an internet users group would have
inevitably died off simply because internet access is ubiquitous these
days.  it's a commodity.  anyone can order high-speed access, hook up
their router, and start browsing.  that's it.  there's no longer any
need for specialized user groups to help people out.  you plug in
your PC and you're off.  my mom can do that.

  that doesn't describe linux these days.  linux is most emphatically
*not* a generic commodity.  corporations are still looking for linux
expertise, now more than ever.  i was simply pointing out the logical
disconnect in the ever-surging popularity of linux versus the fact
that KWLUG seems to have plateaued.  if that observation offends, so
be it.  but, as i mentioned in my earlier post, there's something just
fundamentally *wrong* about being a linux user group in *this*
technological climate in a geographical hot bed of technological
development, and be begging for a place to hold monthly meetings.

rday
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Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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