Meeting time!

[Tracy Reed]

Hello all,

It's that time of the month again! Time for the next SDCS/KPLUG meeting!
We will be meeting in the usual place at UCSD Extension at 6256
Greenwich Drive room 317.

Next month we need to have another go at an election. The last couple of
months we haven't announced far enough in advance to make it legit so
I'm announcing this one before this meeting so it is more than a month
in advance of the next one. WE NEED PEOPLE TO STAND FOR OFFICE. I am
working on bringing back the idea of SIGs. Currently KPLUG is the only
one and the most active members have literally died off over the years.
KPLUG itself is very nearly dead and would be were it not for me pushing
things along (barely). So we need to get new people in and that means
new SIGs. So I am contacting the many other meetup groups and inviting
them to join for the benefit of non-profit status, an incorporation,
insurance, meeting space, etc. I still need to finish migrating the
website and mailing lists (although I might skip this and just archive
and shut them down as they are basically dead. Does anyone care?) but
I've been plenty busy so that project has been lagging for many months.

As for this meeting, we plan to be raffling off at least one book.

The topic will be "Building Your Own Linux Distribution from Scratch"
presented by Rudolf Streif. Description of the talk provided by Rudi:

Building a Linux distro is a daunting task. But with the right tools and
knowledge it can actually be a lot of fun. This presentation gives an
introduction into the Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded, a complete tool
set allowing you to compile and integrate a custom Linux distro from
source to bootable image. We will discuss the anatomy of a Linux stack,
cross-building for different architectures, package management,
bootloader and more. You will also have the opportunity to win a copy of
the presenters book on the Yocto Project.

[Mychaela Falconia]

Post by Tracy Reed
I am
working on bringing back the idea of SIGs. Currently KPLUG is the only
one and the most active members have literally died off over the years.
KPLUG itself is very nearly dead and would be were it not for me pushing
things along (barely). So we need to get new people in and that means
new SIGs. So I am contacting the many other meetup groups and inviting
them to join for the benefit of non-profit status, an incorporation,
insurance, meeting space, etc.

On the idea of SIGs: does a SIG have to be strictly 100% technical, or
can it be more expansive? I personally feel a strong unmet need for a
group that is more than just purely technical, extending into certain
neglected social aspects.

How about a social justice SIG, a SIG for people who use their FLOSS
work as part of a fight for a better world, who feel passionately
about some social justice causes and use FLOSS as their tool?

Or how about a "soul nurture" SIG, a type of support group addressing
the emotional and psychic needs of those kindred souls who have
devoted their lives to social justice causes that intertwine with
FLOSS? Yes, guys, I realize that my estrogen-soaked brain has a lot
more need for this kind of emotional and "soul stuff" than the average
brain of an average male geek, but don't guys have at least *some*
spiritual and emotional needs too?

If anyone is interested in pursuing the above ideas, let's talk about
it at this Thursday's meeting or after-meeting, and let's make it
happen!

Love & Light,
Mychaela

[Tracy Reed]

Post by Mychaela Falconia
On the idea of SIGs: does a SIG have to be strictly 100% technical, or
can it be more expansive? I personally feel a strong unmet need for a
group that is more than just purely technical, extending into certain
neglected social aspects.

It should have some relationship to computing. That's all. So if you
want to form a SIG to talk about the FLOSS aspect or women or LGBTQ etc.
in computing that's fine. But you would have to lead it and meet the
requirements (still to be set, should probably take a look at the bylaws
which are still in need of revision).

Post by Mychaela Falconia
How about a social justice SIG, a SIG for people who use their FLOSS
work as part of a fight for a better world, who feel passionately
about some social justice causes and use FLOSS as their tool?
Or how about a "soul nurture" SIG, a type of support group addressing
the emotional and psychic needs of those kindred souls who have
devoted their lives to social justice causes that intertwine with
FLOSS?

These seem like rather niche SIGs but if you can make it work then fine.

Post by Mychaela Falconia
Yes, guys, I realize that my estrogen-soaked brain has a lot more need
for this kind of emotional and "soul stuff" than the average brain of
an average male geek, but don't guys have at least *some* spiritual
and emotional needs too?

None that aren't already being met at home. Thanks for your concern.