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[Linux-aus] LA AGM 2005/02/07, LA ctte meeting 2005/02/12-13



Hello, world

As you probably know, Linux Australia had its annual general meeting on Monday afternoon. For your edification, a draft copy of the minutes are attached. They're not up on the website yet and won't be formalised until they can be approved at the next AGM, but I figure, why wait?

The incoming committee's first meeting will be this weekend in Sydney; we've already got a reasonable list of things to discuss, but if you've got something in mind that should be on the list -- whether it be a project that Linux Australia should be supporting, or an idea we should be promoting, or a problem we should be fixing, or something else -- please mail it to the committee list (committee@linux.org.au) over the today or tomorrow. Or later -- we will be having other meetings, after all.

Thanks,
aj

--
Anthony Towns <secretary@linux.org.au>
Secretary, Linux Australia Inc

http://www.linux.org.au/
** DRAFT ** 

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
of Linux Australia, held 7th February 2005

Chair: Pia Smith, President of Linux Australia

Committee Members:
 President:
  Pia Smith
 Vice President:
  Stewart Smith
 Secretary:
  Andrew Cowie
 Treasurer:
  Mark Tearle
 Ordinary Members:
  Paul Russell
  Michael Still
  Michael Davies [absent with apologies]

In attendence:
  Alex King         James Andrewartha  Michael Slade
  Ambrose Andrews   Jan Schmidt        Mike Beattie
  Anand Kumria      Jeff Waugh         Mike Tyson
  Andrew Pam        Jeremy Kerr        Nick Bannon
  Anthony Towns     Jeremy Malcolm     Silvia Pfeiffer
  Arjen Lentz       Jonathan Oxer      Steven Hanley
  Bernard Blackham  Kim Oldfield       Stuart Young
  Chris Deigan      Lindsay Holmwood   Tony Breeds
  David Tulloh      Matt Hope          Trent Lloyd
  Geoffrey Bennett  Michael Knight

Observing:
  
  Andrew Pollock
  Drew (DeeKs)
  (anonymous - bbadger)

The Annual General Meeting of the members of Linux Australia, Inc
was announced by the secretary of the organisation by mail on the
5th of January, 2005 in accordance with sections 23 and 24 of the
organisation's constitution. The meeting took place online using
the resources of the FreeNode IRC network.

Meeting opened by the chair at 2005/02/07 17:32 +1100

The chair presented the meeting agenda, and moved that it be accepted.
This motion was seconded by Jonathan Oxer, Chris Deigan, Andrew Pam
and Stewart Smith. The motion was passed without objection.

The chair moved that the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of
Linux Australia held on the 15th of January 2004 be accepted. This
motion was seconded by Paul Russell. The motion was passed without
objection.

The chair relinquished the floor to the secretary, who raised the
motion that the membership confirm the acts of the committee over
the past year. The secretary noted that the record of the committee's
activities after the 16th of August 2004 were not available, and
that the membership may wish to take that fact into account. Anthony
Towns proposed the motion be amended to confirm only those acts
recorded in the minutes up to and including those of the 16th of
August 2004. The motion as amended was seconded by Anand Kumria,
and passed without objection. The secretary further assured the
membership that minutes for the committee's remaining activities
would be prepared expeditiously.

The chair tabled the previously released President's and Treasurer's
Reports and opened the floor to questions regarding those reports.
In response to a question from James Andrewartha, the treasurer
noted that the $7,000 figure for bank fees included $268 in transaction
fees, with the remainder being merchant fees. The treasurer further
noted that these fees were comparable to those of previous years.

The chair then invited committee members to add to the tabled
reports. 

Stewart Smith summarised the experiences with the online election
software he was sponsored to write. Mr Smith noted that the election
was quite successful, with the majority of problems reported being
quickly fixed. It was noted that the number of people voting was
approximately half that when the elections were held at the annual
Linux Conference, and there was some discussion as to the need for
better announcements regarding the voting process.

Paul Russell summarised the committee's political activities over
the past year, regarding patents and anti-circumvention measures
arising from the Australia/United States Free Trade Agreement. Mr
Russell indicated that he had spent a significant amount of time
speaking with politicians about members' concerns and noted that
open source software and Linux are gaining awareness of policy
makers, and that in his opinion we should continue to be involved
in these discussions. Mr Russell additionally noted that there was
some reluctance on the committee's behalf in being involved in this
area, as the committee did not have a clear mandate as a political
organisation. Anand Kumria expressed a concern that some care might
be required in adding an explicit mandate for political advocacy
with regards to the organisation's non-profit status. Anthony Towns
proposed the motion that the membership endorse Mr Russell's and
the committee's activities over the past year, and further that the
committee aim to ensure these issues are dealt with in a similarly
professional manner in future. The motion was seconded by Jonathan Oxer,
Steven Hanley, and Silvia Pfeiffer, and passed without objection.

The chair moved that the reports be accepted. The motion was seconded
by Anthony Towns, and passed without objection.

The chair invited Steven Hanley, the Linux.Conf.Au 2005 lead organiser
to give an update on the conference status. Mr Hanley reported that
the conference was 60% sold out with ten weeks' to go and that a
draft program was online. Mr Hanley announced that the 2005 Penguin
Sponsor was IBM, and introduced HP as the Emperor Sponsor. Mr Hanley
indicated the conference crew had been working hard and getting
cool stuff ready for April. In response to a question from Stewart
Smith, Mr Hanley noted the organisers were very happy with the
numbers so far. Mr Hanley offered explicit thanks to fellow organisers
Tony Breeds, Michael Still, Alison Russell, Martin Pool, Jeremy
Kerr, Chris Yeoh, Bob Edwards, Andrew Pollock, Kristy Bennett,
Michael Bennett, Michael Cohen, Neill Cox, Rob Bolin and Rusty
Russell. He further noted that the 2005 team had equalled the 2004
teams' baby record, with three births in the past seven months, and
that the conference was going to be "hell cool".

The chair thanked Mr Hanley for the report, and moved that it be
accepted. This was seconded by Jonathan Oxer, and passed without
objection.

The chair relinquished the floor to the secretary, who explained
the background behind the choice of venue for Linux.Conf.Au 2006.
He noted that there were serious expressions of interest from two
cities: Melbourne, and Dunedin in New Zealand. The teams were
encouraged to arrive at a consensus as to which group was best
prepared to run the 2006 conference, and as a result of those
discussions, it was decided that the 2006 conference will be held
in Dunedin, New Zealand. The chair noted that she had visited Dunedin
for a due diligance investigation as part of confirming this decision,
and reported that the organising team were "keen beans". The floor
was relinquished to Mike Beattie, one of the Linux.Conf.Au 2006
organisers. Mr Beattie noted that progress had already been made
on booking the conference and dinner venue, and that both international
speakers, and some of the past major sponsors of the conference had
expressed a keen intereest in supporting the 2006 conference. Mr
Beattie expects the conference will be held from the 23rd until the
28th of January 2006, and that attendance will be up to 550 people.
In response to a question from Trent Lloyd, Mr Beattie noted that
travel costs were not extreme, and the phrase "No worse than Perth"
was mentioned. The chair moved that the report be accepted. The
motion was seconded by Anand Kumria, and passed without objection.

The chair tabled the proposed changes to the constitution dealing
with distribution of remaining assets in the event of dissolution
of the organisation, and stating that the organisation will act in
accordance with its status as a non-profit, and moved that they be
passed. The motion was seconded by Andrew Cowie and Anthony Towns.
Anand Kumria indicated some concern that there had been no opportunity
to vote on the proposed changes at the same time as voting for the
new committee. It was noted that under sections 37(1) and 31(1)(a)
changes to the constitution can only be made by a vote held at a
meeting of the organisation, and that three-quarters of votes
received must support the motion. Votes were called for, and the
votes were:

        In favour: 26
	Opposed: 0
        Abstained: 6
	Absent: 3

The motion was thus passed.

The chair announced the results of the election for the 2005 Managing
Committee for Linux Australia. The incoming committee is:

	President: Jonathan Oxer
	Vice President: Pia Smith
	Secretary: Anthony Towns
	Treasurer: Mark Tearle
	Ordinary Members: Andrew Cowie, Geoffrey Bennett, Stewart Smith

The chair offered her congratulations to the new committee, and noted that
it looks to be an interesting year with a great team.

All business was concluded, and the meeting closed at 2005/02/07
19:25 +1100.

The meeting notice, which includes the text of the constitutional amended,
is available at

    http://www.linux.org.au/about/notices/2005AGM.html

The President's report tabled at the meeting is available at

    http://www.linux.org.au/about/reports/2004-pres.txt

The Treasurer's report tabled at the meeting is available at

    http://www.linux.org.au/about/reports/2004-treas/statements.html

Further information on the 2005 Linux Conference is available at

    http://lca2005.linux.org.au/

Further information on the 2006 Linux Conference is available at

    http://lca2006.linux.org.au/

Minutes prepared by: Anthony Towns
This draft released on the 9th of February, 2005.