[Linux-aus] AUUG to close? Will there be a rush of new members to Linux Australia?

[Michael Davies]

On 12/18/07, David Newall <david at davidnewall.com> wrote:
> AUUG is Linux Australia with a different name.

I'm really trying not to add wood to the fire - I agree with the
general sentiments expressed, but not with this statement.

I posted the following less than 2 years ago to the LinuxSA list,
listing the aims/charters of the various organisations.

> Looking at http://linux.org.au/about/charter, Linux Australia's Vision is :
>
> "To facilitate enthusiasms within the Linux Community to flourish"
>
> "Linux Australia exists to serve and promote the community. The
> organisation aims to do this best by taking enthusiasms within the
> community, such as FOSS issues, projects, education, advocacy just to name
> a few, and help them flourish, to succeed. The lifeblood of this
> organisation is the people in the community, and Linux Australia strives
> to be both relevant and useful to the community. "
>
> Looking at http://www.osia.net.au/, OSIA aims to :
>
> "OSIA is the national industry body for Open Source within Australia. We
> exist to further the cause of both Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in
> Australia and to help our members to improve their business success in
> this growing sector of the global Information and Communication Technology
> (ICT) market."
>
> Looking at http://auug.org.au/info/, AUUG's aims are :
>
> "To promote knowledge and understanding of Open Systems including but not
> restricted to the UNIX system, networking, graphics, user interfaces and
> programming and development environments, and related standards."

AUUG is about open standards, whereas LA and OSIA are about freedom.
There's a difference - and that difference is one of the reasons why
all of AUUG, OSIA and LA exist.

AUUG, OSIA and LA are all valuable, but in different ways.  OSIA and
LA split across "business"/"community" grounds whereas AUUG and
OSIA/LA split across freedom boundaries (AUUG including free/open
source as well as proprietary, whereas OSIA/LA only including the bits
with freedom).

Freedom is something OSIA and LA members generally greatly value
(IMHO), and hence would be the biggest hurdle towards any
amalgamation.
-- 
Michael Davies           "Do what you think is interesting, do somthing that
michael at the-davies.net    you think is fun and worthwhile, because otherwise
http://michaeldavies.org  you won't do it well anyway." -- Brian Kernighan