From chair at hobart.lca2017.org  Tue Nov  1 09:30:31 2016
From: chair at hobart.lca2017.org (Christopher Neugebauer (linux.conf.au 2017))
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2016 09:30:31 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] linux.conf.au 2017 keynote -- Dan Callahan explores
	designing for failure
Message-ID: <CABRwemmmQAgCModMxiU1Gp5x9mGnXhD+QForZ4L6+15ddrWdPw@mail.gmail.com>

How can the future of Open Source build upon the failures of the past?
linux.conf.au 2017 is turning to former Mozilla Persona developer, Dan
Callahan to help us understand.

One of the great frontiers of Open Source is in public infrastructure:
Open standards built around Open Source code should, in theory, allow
developers to select infrastructure without fear of vendor lock-in.

But who deploys that infrastructure? And what happens when major
deployers of that infrastructure go away?

We're delighted to welcome Dan Callahan to linux.conf.au 2017's
keynote stage, to share important lessons from such a piece of Open
Source infrastructure. linux.conf.au is being held in Hobart, Tasmania
from Monday 16 January 2017 until Friday 20 January 2017. Tickets are
now on sale: you can find out more about our ticket options from
https://linux.conf.au/attend

Dan works as a Software Engineer in Developer Relations at Mozilla,
whom he joined five years ago to work on Persona, a decentralised
browser-based identity and authentication system, which aimed to
replace passwords on the web with stronger cryptographic approaches.

Persona has been covered previously at linux.conf.au, including in
2013, where presenter Fran?ois Marier underscored the importance of
open source identity projects for the security and privacy of users,
stating that:

    "Identity is a very significant piece of Internet infrastructure,
    and so it is critical that the solution that gets widely adopted
    be free-as-in-freedom, cross-browser, distributed and ruthlessly
    focused on making it easy for developers and end-users."

Despite noble goals and clear needs, development on Persona was halted
three years ago, and Mozilla plan to shut down the servers for Persona
by the end of 2016.

Dan's keynote, _Designing for Failure_, is a retrospective of the
technical and human factors encountered during the shutdown of
Persona: Why didn't Persona succeed? How did the shutdown affect the
organisations that depended upon Persona? And why, despite being a
protocol with an open specification, didn't a community-backed
replacement for Persona emerge?

We'll get the answers to these questions and more, but Dan asks a
deeper question: How can we design software and services robust enough
to not just gracefully degrade, but to gracefully die?

Come and learn from the past, so that we can better build the robust,
decentralised Open Source infrastructure of the future.


=== About linux.conf.au 2017 ===

linux.conf.au is a community-driven conference about the Linux
operating system and the vibrant ecosystem of Free and Open Source
Software that has grown up around it. Run in a different Australian or
New Zealand city each year by local volunteers, LCA invites more than
500 people to learn from the people who shape the future of Open
Source.

In 2017, linux.conf.au is welcoming you to Hobart, Tasmania, on Monday
16 through to Friday 20 January. Ticket are now open -- for more
information, see https://linux.conf.au/attend. We thank our Emperor
Penguin Sponsors, IBM and Hewlett Packard Enterprise for their
generous contribution to the conference. For more information, please
visit https://linux.conf.au

-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer <chair at hobart.lca2017.org>

Conference Director - linux.conf.au - January 2017 - Hobart
Tickets on sale now! https://linux.conf.au/attend

From president at linux.org.au  Fri Nov  4 15:00:32 2016
From: president at linux.org.au (Hugh Blemings)
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2016 15:00:32 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Upcoming Council Elections
Message-ID: <88118cb4-6543-00f5-eb94-3a6f76d52f57@linux.org.au>

Dear All,

As we enter the last couple of months of 2016 our thoughts, naturally, 
turn to the Linux Australia AGM and the associated election of Council 
members for the coming year.

At this stage it looks likely that we will have a number of current 
Council members not re-standing for the coming year including at least 
one office bearer role.  No great controversy or drama, simply other 
commitments and priorities in life - the natural progression of things :)

This year has not been without its challenges for a number of members of 
Council, myself included.  This meant that for much of the year the bulk 
of the day to day work fell to a varying subset of the council overall, 
a subset that changed as individuals availability waxed and waned 
throughout the year.

It is not my desire to cause embarrassment by omission or on the other 
hand by recognition, but I would be remiss not to publicly thank Kathy 
and Sae Ra for their almost unceasing efforts to keep things moving when 
these dips in availability occurred.  Thank you.

So to you, our members: Next year will I believe prove an inflection 
point for LA as we seek to consciously map out the future direction for 
the organisation. More on this to follow as the election process 
commences, but it can broadly be summarised as "Sustain" or "Grow"

For now then I'd urge you to consider the following;

* Am I interested in being involved in the running of Linux Australia ?
* Do I have the time available to do so ?
* Do I have the requisite skills ?
* What are my motivations for putting my hand up ?

Clearly the first two are an all but entirely personal decision. If you 
are unsure on either of these first two then, frankly, this probably 
isn't the year for you :)

Assuming you think yes though;

To the third - skills:  Yes, yes you do.  There are often the most minor 
of tasks that "just need doing" - if you brought nothing else to the 
table but a willingness to accomplish these that would be helpful.

We have striven over the years, with reasonable success I think, to 
mentor and help people acquire skills to do more than just the basics. 
So, yes, on the job training as well.

The fourth - Motivation:  Don't do this for the glory, for the title, 
for the money.  There is little to literally none of any of these, as my 
greying hair and odd sleepless night can attest :)

Volunteer because you think Linux Australia's part in Free and Open 
Source Software/Hardware is something worth contributing to; Volunteer 
because you have a willingness and time available to do so; Volunteer 
because you have skin thick enough to brush off the occasional bit of 
noise, but thin enough to be sensitive and contribute to this great 
commons to which we all contribute.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kind Regards,
Hugh


-- 

President
Linux Australia

From arjen at lentz.com.au  Thu Nov 10 10:57:50 2016
From: arjen at lentz.com.au (Arjen Lentz)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:57:50 +1000 (EST)
Subject: [Linux-aus] Wanted: HTML5 video support for BigBlueButton (A
 shout-out to all HTML5 and video wizards!)
Message-ID: <1164910796.10701.1478735870724.JavaMail.zimbra@lentz.com.au>

Hi all

A shout-out to all HTML5 and video wizards!

BigBlueButton is an online learning system, roughly an Open Source competitor to Blackboard Collaborate/Eluminate.

It works really well, but historically it's had a nasty Flash dependency to do its audio/video.
There is an HTML5 client that now has the audio sorted in clean HTML5 fashion.
However, the camera/video is not yet done.

http://docs.bigbluebutton.org/html/html5-overview.html

https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/tree/master/bigbluebutton-html5

Surely it can't be that hard?


>From my end, I have a working BBB installation and am happy to let you test html5 client stuff on it.

Regards,
Arjen.

From kathy at kathyreid.id.au  Fri Nov 11 10:42:17 2016
From: kathy at kathyreid.id.au (Kathy Reid)
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 10:42:17 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Wanted: HTML5 video support for BigBlueButton (A
 shout-out to all HTML5 and video wizards!)
In-Reply-To: <1164910796.10701.1478735870724.JavaMail.zimbra@lentz.com.au>
References: <1164910796.10701.1478735870724.JavaMail.zimbra@lentz.com.au>
Message-ID: <95e416e3-2e18-7d4a-07c5-0795bcb8e8ab@kathyreid.id.au>

Hi Arjen,
Does BigBlueButton have a dev roadmap or onboarding process at all? How 
is their development managed?
It might be useful to know for anyone keen on assisting.
Kind regards, Kathy

On 10/11/2016 10:57 AM, Arjen Lentz wrote:
> Hi all
>
> A shout-out to all HTML5 and video wizards!
>
> BigBlueButton is an online learning system, roughly an Open Source competitor to Blackboard Collaborate/Eluminate.
>
> It works really well, but historically it's had a nasty Flash dependency to do its audio/video.
> There is an HTML5 client that now has the audio sorted in clean HTML5 fashion.
> However, the camera/video is not yet done.
>
> http://docs.bigbluebutton.org/html/html5-overview.html
>
> https://github.com/bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton/tree/master/bigbluebutton-html5
>
> Surely it can't be that hard?
>
>
>  From my end, I have a working BBB installation and am happy to let you test html5 client stuff on it.
>
> Regards,
> Arjen.
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus


-- 
Kathy Reid
Independent digital consultant
        email: kathy at kathyreid.id.au
       mobile: 0418 130 636
      twitter: @kathyreid
        video: https://zoom.us/j/3384470933
         blog: http://blog.kathyreid.id.au
     linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/kathyreid
     calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=www.kathyreid.id.au%40gmail.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney
            ?: bitcoin:14pXC2GzccgqcWBnWhDZnu6KNopS824kPE


From linux-aus at ewen.mcneill.gen.nz  Mon Nov 14 09:45:52 2016
From: linux-aus at ewen.mcneill.gen.nz (Ewen McNeill)
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2016 11:45:52 +1300
Subject: [Linux-aus] LCA2017: Sysadmin Miniconf: Call for Presentations
In-Reply-To: <0ca51e1c-d0e6-7ea7-e31d-c34118b5e717@mcneill.gen.nz>
References: <0ca51e1c-d0e6-7ea7-e31d-c34118b5e717@mcneill.gen.nz>
Message-ID: <5e360f96-f537-fd12-7a1d-7a44fe4b9769@mcneill.gen.nz>

On 27/09/16 10:05, Ewen McNeill wrote:
> The organisers of the Systems Administration Miniconf would like
> to invite proposals for presentations to be delivered at the Miniconf:
>
> https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp17.html

The first batch of accepted (early) presentations has now been posted to 
the Sysadmin Miniconf website:

https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/presentations17.html

We already have a few more to consider later this month, but there's 
potentially room for some more.  If you were considering submitting a 
presentation for the Sysadmin Miniconf please get your proposal in by 
next Monday (2016-11-21), following the instructions in the CFP:

https://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp17.html
https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/1/

If you have any questions please feel free to email the organisers at:

lca2017 @ sysadmin.miniconf.org

Ewen McNeill and Simon Lyall
LCA2017 Sysadmin Miniconf Conveners

From andrew at donnellan.id.au  Mon Nov 14 10:43:15 2016
From: andrew at donnellan.id.au (Andrew Donnellan)
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2016 10:43:15 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] linux.conf.au 2017 - Kernel Miniconf CFP
In-Reply-To: <CALn+=JryYkV7Jd2a1GzaySS-tw5+hcSoiThn3Ewqymr8o05tVA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALn+=JryYkV7Jd2a1GzaySS-tw5+hcSoiThn3Ewqymr8o05tVA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALn+=JpcE3Ycsc+fcvV2cs7i7BA6zh1sf6RLB=k4u0UHW9SPjA@mail.gmail.com>

On 4 October 2016 at 21:35, Andrew Donnellan <andrew at donnellan.id.au> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> *****
>
> TL;DR
>     - LCA Kernel Miniconf, Hobart, Australia, {16,17} Jan 2017
>
>     - Submissions by 23:59, 21 November (Anywhere on Earth)
>
>     - Wanted: anything interesting to kernel hackers! Speakers from
>       diverse backgrounds encouraged!
>
>     - Read below for the details!
>
> *****

Only just over a week left to get your talks in! Details below, ping
me if you have any questions.


- Andrew


>
> Less TL;DR version:
>
> linux.conf.au[0], the World's Greatest Free Software Conference(tm),
> is back in Hobart, Tasmania for 2017!
>
> I'm very pleased to announce that the Kernel Miniconf[1] is also
> returning, and that our CFP is now open!
>
>
> What is the Kernel Miniconf?
> ----------------------------
>
> LCA's miniconfs are one-day special interest streams that allow in
> depth discussion of particular topics.
>
> The Kernel Miniconf will focus on a variety of kernel-related topics -
> technical presentations on up-and-coming kernel developments, the
> future direction of the kernel (in keeping with this year?s LCA
> theme!), and kernel development community and process matters.
> Basically, anything of interest to kernel hackers. Past Kernel
> Miniconfs have included talks on RCU, scheduling, filesystems, memory
> management, and so on.
>
> As with previous Kernel Miniconfs, the day will consist of a mixture
> of scheduled talks and "unconference" discussions/lightning talks. It
> is anticipated that talks will be mainly aimed at existing kernel
> developers, though don't let that stop you from coming if you?re less
> experienced! Interesting contributions relating to BSD and other Free
> Software operating systems will also be considered, though the focus
> will be primarily on Linux.
>
>
> Who can attend?
> ---------------
>
> Anyone with an LCA ticket can attend. There may be a limited number of
> miniconf-only tickets available.
>
>
> Who can speak?
> --------------
>
> Anyone with something interesting and kernel-related to say! You will
> need to have an LCA ticket though - unfortunately miniconf speakers
> don't qualify for speakers' tickets.
>
> We strongly encourage both first-time and seasoned speakers from all
> backgrounds, ages, genders, nationalities, ethnicities, religions and
> abilities. Like the main LCA conference itself, we respect and
> encourage diversity at our miniconf. If you would like any assistance
> with creating a proposal, don't hesitate to ask!
>
>
> Submission process
> ------------------
>
> This year, we're handling miniconf submissions through LCA's main
> submission system.
>
> To submit a talk:
>
> * Create an account on the LCA website (if you haven't already)[2]
>
> * Create a speaker profile[3]
>
> * Submit a talk![4]
>
> Talks should be between 20 and 40 minutes (including any questions).
> Please indicate your preferred timeslot length in your submission.
>
> Unconference topics will be decided on the day, but if you want to
> give me a heads up on something you'd like to discuss, shoot me an
> email.
>
>
> Dates and deadlines
> -------------------
>
> * Right Now - CFP opens
>
> * 21 November 2016, 23:59 (Anywhere on Earth) - CFP closes
>
> * by 30 November 2016 - Confirmation
>
> * 16-20 January 2017 - LCA!
>
> Please indicate in your submission if you require early confirmation
> to assist in arranging travel/funding.
>
>
> Questions?
> ----------
>
> If you've got any other questions about the Kernel Miniconf that I
> haven't covered here, ping me at andrew.donnellan at au1.ibm.com.
>
> For general LCA questions, ask team at hobart.lca2017.org or @linuxconfau
> on Twitter.
>
>
> - Andrew
>
> -----
>
> [0] https://linux.conf.au, obviously!
>
>       (Literally the only .conf.au domain name still in existence - the
>        Australian Linux community somehow managed to end up with an
>        entire 2LD to itself...)
>
> [1] https://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/6/
>
> [2] https://linux.conf.au/account/signup/
>
> [3] https://linux.conf.au/speaker/create/
>
> [4] https://linux.conf.au/proposals/submit/kernel-miniconf/
>
>
> --
> Andrew Donnellan              OzLabs, ADL Canberra
> andrew.donnellan at au1.ibm.com  IBM Australia Limited



-- 
Andrew Donnellan
http://andrew.donnellan.id.au         andrew at donnellan.id.au

From chair at hobart.lca2017.org  Fri Nov 18 09:30:19 2016
From: chair at hobart.lca2017.org (Christopher Neugebauer (linux.conf.au 2017))
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 09:30:19 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] linux.conf.au 2017 assistance grants are now available,
 with thanks to GitHub
Message-ID: <CABRwemknS2grLB0B7DBVMDYqK2JKmaJEViwzYBMpNZx1Hs92Qw@mail.gmail.com>

linux.conf.au is a conference about the Future of Open Source. It?s
being held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia from Monday 16 January to
Friday 20 January 2017. If you need help to attend, look no further!
With the help of GitHub, we?re offering grants to help with ticket
costs, travel, accommodation, and other accessibility expenses for
linux.conf.au in Hobart.

- Applications Close: Friday 2 December (anywhere on earth)
- Recipients Notified: Friday 9 December
- Apply: https://linux.conf.au/attend/grants/apply

These grants form a key part of our outreach and inclusion efforts at
linux.conf.au. We want to make sure that as many people as possible
can attend the event, regardless of financial ability or their
background.

Grants may be for full or partial travel expenses, accommodation at
one of our preferred accommodation providers, a ticket to the
conference, or other assistance that helps overcome barriers to your
attendance.

The grant application process is open to everyone who needs financial
assistance, but our budget is limited, so we will give priority to
applicants with a clear vision for what they want to achieve by
attending linux.conf.au 2017.

For reference, the form includes the following two questions, which
require 1-2 paragraphs to answer:

- Why do you want to attend linux.conf.au? What experience do you have
that you want to build on at linux.conf.au?
- How would you and the communities you're a part of benefit from your
attendance at linux.conf.au?

Because travel to Australia can be expensive, we may only be able to
provide limited travel assistance to applicants outside the Australia
and New Zealand region.

Applications open on Thursday 17 November. Applications close on
Friday 2 December. We will award our first grants on Friday 9
December.

To apply, please fill out our application form at
https://linux.conf.au/attend/grants/apply

If you have any questions, please e-mail team at hobart.lca2017.org

-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer <chair at hobart.lca2017.org>

Conference Director - linux.conf.au - January 2017 - Hobart
Tickets on sale now! https://linux.conf.au/attend

From kathy at kathyreid.id.au  Fri Nov 18 12:25:17 2016
From: kathy at kathyreid.id.au (Kathy Reid)
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 12:25:17 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Processing foundation scholarships
Message-ID: <bc97e2fd-4fdf-5238-e39f-2bc73c2519b5@kathyreid.id.au>

This may be of interest to data viz peeps who use Processing.

https://processingfoundation.org/fellowships

Best, Kathy


From secretary at linux.org.au  Tue Nov 22 21:28:04 2016
From: secretary at linux.org.au (Linux Australia Secretary)
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2016 21:28:04 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Declaration of Council Election and call for Nominations
Message-ID: <1361b892-b004-9579-5c3b-d2c1d97f7124@linux.org.au>

**

*Dear Linux Australia Community,Pursuant to clause (15) of the Linux 
Australia constitution [1] we hereby declare an election open and call 
for nominations to the Linux Australia Council for the term January 2017 
to January 2018.All office bearer and ordinary committee member 
positions are open for election.  * Nominations will open from 22 
November 2016 until 20 December 2016  * Voting will open 21 December 
2016 until 15 January 2017  * Results will be announced at the AGM in 
Hobart at linux.conf.au on orafter 16 January 2016The election can be 
viewed 
here:https://linux.org.au/membership/index.php?page=view-election&id=23*What 
do I need to do?*First of all, make sure your details are correct in 
MemberDB [2]If you wish to nominate, identify the positions you wish to 
nominate for and get an understanding of what they involve. Think about 
what you might bring to the role and prepare a short pitch. Then, accept 
the nomination you've been given by clicking the 'Accept nomination' 
link.If you wish to nominate another person for a position, you may wish 
to contact them first and have a chat to make sure they're happy being 
nominated. Then follow the 'Nominate' link to nominate them.Once voting 
is open, you will be able to vote for candidates. Results will be 
announced at the AGM at linux.conf.au in Hobart in January 2017. *Why 
should I nominate?*Being a member of Linux Australia Council is a fun 
way to meet new people, work on exciting projects and expand your skill 
base. It gives you excellent transferable skills to help build your 
career, and allows you to grow your professional network. It looks great 
on a CV, and is also a chance to give back to the vibrant Linux and open 
source ecosystem in Australia and globally. If you're passionate about 
Linux and open source, it's a great opportunity to help drive and steer 
Australia's contribution in this field.*

*

If you are contemplating nominating for a role on Council, in addition 
to referring to the Position Descriptions provided [3], you are strongly 
encouraged to approach current and former council members for their 
perspective.  You will find them, to a person, willing to discuss the 
roles and responsibilities in a more informal manner.The roles do 
require a time commitment so please consider this with your nomination. 
Each role has been documented for you as a position 
description[1]http://www.linux.org.au/constitution[2]http://www.linux.org.au/membership

[3]https://github.com/linuxaustralia/position-descriptionsAs always, 
your feedback and questions are warmly welcomed. If you'd like to have a 
chat with anyone on Council around what it involves, please do make 
contact. With kind regards,


Sae Ra

*
-- 

Sae Ra Germaine
Secretary
Linux Australia

secretary at linux.org.au
http://linux.org.au

Linux Australia Inc
GPO Box 4788
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia

ABN 56 987 117 479

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From hugh at blemings.org  Wed Nov 23 11:39:23 2016
From: hugh at blemings.org (Hugh Blemings)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 11:39:23 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
	Council Member
Message-ID: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>

Hi,

I write offering to continue to serve the membership of Linux Australia
and the broader Free and Open Source Software/Hardware communities in
one of two capacities, President or Ordinary Council Member (OCM).
However there is something of a ?twist?...

Before coming to the ?twist? - a few thoughts on the year nearly past
for context.

2016 proved, frankly, a difficult year for the Council of Linux
Australia.  A number of Council members, myself included were unable to
devote the time we might have liked to Council activities.  For my part
I knew this prior to being elected and identified it as such - I was not
able to commit a much time to LA until early April when some other
personal matters were concluded.

Other Council members found themselves unable to contribute for
legitimate reasons that could not have reasonably been anticipated.
They are, to a person, capable and high-judgement individuals, so this
is not a case of a whimsical ?I don?t want to? but of a genuine
incapacity, at times unexpected, to be involved.  Out of respect for
privacy of all concerned I will not expand further on this and would ask
you to likewise respect confidences.

Thus all considered we found ourselves somewhat short staffed for much
of the Council term with the lion's share of day to day operations
falling to three or four members of Council.

Add to this some unexpected but astonishingly time consuming matters 
that required Councils attention and there was not a great deal of time 
and energy left for doing much more than keeping the basics going for 
the year.

I will note that what -was- accomplished was still worthwhile and did in
the main advance the libre commons, but some of the more visible
examples of this (excellent conferences, well considered submissions to
the Federal Government among them) were largely the product of folk
outside the Council who devoted considerable amounts of their own time
and energy into making these things happen.  Again my thanks to those
involved.

To the twist then...

A vote for me as President is saying two things; that you are happy for
me to continue as President and to lead Linux Australia as an
organisation that will largely adopt a course of steady as it goes for
2017 - sustain/maintain rather than grow.  Personally I?m of the view
that this is an entirely satisfactory outcome, not in any way an
admission of defeat or the beginning of the end of LA (or I probably
wouldn?t be putting my hand up eh ? :)

As an organisation, well resourced with a wide volunteer base and
enthusiasm to match we can I think do more than this, but I fear I lack
the vision and energy to lead us to more ambitious plans.  This is not
me being self effacing, just an objective observation that I?m not a big
ideas/visionary sort of person.  I am however very good at keeping
things ticking along or helping someone else attain -their- vision.

Which neatly brings me to our current Vice President and candidate for
President of Linux Australia, Kathy Reid.

Kathy -is- a visionary sort of person, scarily well organised too come
to that.  As she will be putting forward in her Candidacy Support
statement, she has a vision for taking Linux Australia to more ambitious
places - grow rather than sustain/maintain.  I think what she has in
mind can be accomplished but it will take a committed Council -and-
Membership to accomplish it.

I would be more than happy, were I so elected, to be an OCM in this
circumstance and aid Kathy and Linux Australia towards this more
ambitious, but attainable outcome.

So to be clear: Kathy and I are consciously giving the Membership an
opportunity to clearly demonstrate where -you- think we should take
Linux Australia.  We?re not even vaguely at odds, we respect each
other?s views and think this is a reasonable way of getting a clear
mandate from the Membership on both the direction we go as well as who
leads us there.

But wait, there?s more!

It may well be we have other candidates for President who see
alternative directions for Linux Australia.  That?s totally fine,
excellent actually, I respectfully and wholeheartedly invite them to lay
out what direction they see the organisation heading and for the
membership to vote accordingly.  Were they successful in their candidacy
and I elected to OCM I would respect their mandate.

In terms of who I am and what I do, I suspect by now I would be known to
many of you.  If you?d like further background in that regard, the
candidacy statement I wrote last year [1] is still pretty much accurate.

In closing thank you for giving my candidacy, and more importantly the
future direction for Linux Australia your consideration.

I welcome any questions you may have.

Kind Regards,
Hugh

[1] http://lists.linux.org.au/pipermail/linux-aus/2016-January/022433.html

From kathy at kathyreid.id.au  Wed Nov 23 11:45:59 2016
From: kathy at kathyreid.id.au (Kathy Reid)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 11:45:59 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy support statement - Kathy - President or OCM
Message-ID: <4ccc0722-f630-854c-8557-56537592147b@kathyreid.id.au>

Hi everyone,


Firstly, I?d like to echo Hugh?s words, and strongly underline our
joint, united, and well considered approach into this election. We both
care deeply about the ideas and fundamentals of free and opensource
hardware, software, data and communities - as evidenced by our
commitment to LA over the past many years.

The choice we present you with is deliberately designed to elicit a
mandate on how you would like us to steer Linux Australia in the coming
years.

I see three paths for Linux Australia?s future, the foundations and
drivers of which were covered in ?Inflection Point - a white paper on
LA?s future to 2020? in late 2015 - an attempt to gather broad thoughts
on a long term strategy for the organisation. https://goo.gl/08fGqr.
This document did not have the outcome I was hoping for - some sort of
consensus agreement on a future for Linux Australia, however it did
start to spur discussion and reflection on where we want our
organisation to go.

To be clear, I am advocating for Scenario 2 below - Linux Australia
makes key investments in a number of areas, offloading activities from
an overloaded Council and volunteer base, allowing Council to focus
efforts on stronger governance, advocacy and strengthening our
membership base. We cannot undertake these efforts while we carry the
load of ?business as usual? activities for Linux Australia. If we think
of LA?s activities in terms of MoSCoW - must do, should do, could do,
won?t do - we are currently struggling in terms of capacity to do the
things that must be legally done as an incorporated association. This
leaves no capacity for the things we should be doing, or would even like
to be doing.

Should I not be elected to the President role - and I strongly encourage
others to nominate for this role if they have a strong vision and desire
to do so - then I would seek to serve as OCM to provide organisational
continuity to Council 2017, and allow others with a strong vision to lead.

In terms of professional background, I bring to the table a strong
technical background in web development, applications development, root
cause analysis, videoconferencing and digital. I?ve held management and
team leadership roles for nearly 15 years, have served 3 terms on
Council in office-bearer roles (Secretary and VP), and was 2IC of
linux.conf.au 2016 Geelong - LCA By the Bay - under David Bell?s
excellent leadership. I also serve as Treasurer of Creative Geelong,
Inc. I?m known for strong organisational skills and solid,
well-structured governance documents.

I ask not that you vote for me specifically - but give consideration and
reflection to the direction you would like Linux Australia to take, and
vote accordingly.


With kind regards,
Kathy


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Scenario 1 - continue on current course


Under this scenario, LA continues pretty much on its current course.


The 7-member Council continues to be a volunteer force, and while
passionate and dedicated, is overloaded by the demands of running an
incorporated association that has a significant annual turnover and
large stable of open source events.


Without investment in a membership platform to communicate with members,
member engagement continues to be suboptimal, centred on social media
and mailing lists. Efforts to activate a membership pipeline focussed on
younger and newer community members are not undertaken, and so the
membership continues to 'age out', both due to other commitments
(children, career, care of elderly relatives), lack of interest and so on.


In order to reduce Council and volunteer burnout, activities of the
organisation are pared back to ?minimum viable LA?, and decisions on
whether to auspice events are made in this light - that is, are there
sufficient volunteer hours to provide effective event oversight, or will
auspicing this event mean that we don?t have bandwidth to do something else?


Eventually this could lead to the key events of Linux Australia
incorporating under their own brands / associations, removing the need
for the oversight / administration role played by LA. Some of the events
may not have the strength to form their own independent group and so may
cease to run, or may be auspiced by local organisations. LUGs could
continue to dwindle as the need for them - aside from being a technical
community - is diminished by the internet, and the wide availability of
information. The role of advocating for free and open technologies will
likely fall to other groups, such as Electronic Frontiers Australia,
Open Knowledge Foundation and the Open Australia Foundation.


    Scenario 2 - middle road course with investment in key areas


This is the scenario I?m advocating for.


Under this scenario, LA makes some key strategic investments in areas
such as;


  *

    Membership platform- investment is made in CiviCRM or similar,
    making membership onboarding, communication and renewal much easier.

  *

    Hired help, such as through contractors - investment is made in
    offloading administrative and financial tasks to contractors to ease
    the 'doing' workload of Council and Subcommittees, reducing overload

  *

    Digital presence- investment is made in refreshing the website and
    social media of Linux Australia, better serving as a promotion and
    pipeline mechanism


These actions help to reduce the load on Council and Subcommittees, and
help to build a pipeline of newer members for the organisation. The
events auspiced by Linux Australia remain so, now that additional
capacity and competencies are available to ensure their effective
running. The passion and will of Members is better able to be harnessed
through the Membership platform, so the risk of burnout and overload is
reduced (but not eliminated).


Because assistance is available for the day to day running of the
organisation, Council and Members are better positioned to take on
additional activities such as whitepapers and submissions to government,
furthering the objectives and values of the organisation.


      As you can see, these three options exist on a continuum from
      purely grass-roots to heavily commercialised. However, if we go
      too far down the commercialisation spectrum, then we might become
      something I don?t think we want to be - Scenario 3:


    Scenario 3 - more commercially focussed organisation


Under this scenario, Linux Australia evolves into a fully commercial
operation, with paid staff to undertake key functions of the
organisation, and paid leaders. Staff would work on Linux Australia
events and projects on a part time or full time basis, and undertake
work which furthers the objectives and values of the organisation - like
many of the items on our ?it would be nice to do X? list.


Linux Australia events under this scenario would no longer be purely
grassroots-organised. This is a double edged sword. The events would
generally have a more commercial flavour, and ticket prices would
increase to cover the labour costs of staff. This would necessitate
legal changes to transition from an incorporated association to a
company structure.


To reiterate the point I make above, this isn?t something I think we
want to be.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


-- 
--
Kathy Reid
Independent digital consultant

       email: kathy at kathyreid.id.au
      mobile: 0418 130 636
     twitter: @kathyreid
        blog: http://blog.kathyreid.id.au
    linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/kathyreid


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From russell at coker.com.au  Wed Nov 23 14:07:52 2016
From: russell at coker.com.au (Russell Coker)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:07:52 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
	Council Member
In-Reply-To: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
Message-ID: <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>

On Wednesday, 23 November 2016 11:39:23 AM AEDT Hugh Blemings wrote:
> I write offering to continue to serve the membership of Linux Australia
> and the broader Free and Open Source Software/Hardware communities in
> one of two capacities, President or Ordinary Council Member (OCM).
> However there is something of a ?twist?...

Why are there so many struck-out words in the message?  Is there some special 
meaning to that or was it just a mistake when editing?

-- 
My Main Blog         http://etbe.coker.com.au/
My Documents Blog    http://doc.coker.com.au/


From andrew at sericyb.com.au  Wed Nov 23 14:10:59 2016
From: andrew at sericyb.com.au (Andrew Pam)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:10:59 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
Message-ID: <9698e459-7a43-434d-ce68-dac9ad518a3a@sericyb.com.au>

On 23/11/16 14:07, Russell Coker wrote:
> Why are there so many struck-out words in the message? Is there some  > special meaning to that or was it just a mistake when editing?
I don't see any struck out words at all - it may be your email client 
being too clever.  Sometimes things between -dashes- are interpreted as 
struck out.

Cheers,
     Andrew

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From chrisjrn at chrisjrn.com  Wed Nov 23 14:10:49 2016
From: chrisjrn at chrisjrn.com (Christopher Neugebauer)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:10:49 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
Message-ID: <CABRwem=DwJxReG21EgzatGdC=+k2ja_66Sp_jgw0RVJGCa=ejw@mail.gmail.com>

On 23 November 2016 at 14:07, Russell Coker <russell at coker.com.au> wrote:
> On Wednesday, 23 November 2016 11:39:23 AM AEDT Hugh Blemings wrote:
>> I write offering to continue to serve the membership of Linux Australia
>> and the broader Free and Open Source Software/Hardware communities in
>> one of two capacities, President or Ordinary Council Member (OCM).
>> However there is something of a ?twist?...
>
> Why are there so many struck-out words in the message?  Is there some special
> meaning to that or was it just a mistake when editing?

It looks like it was intended as emphasis, not strikeout.

--Chris

-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer

Jabber: chrisjrn at gmail.com -- IRC: chrisjrn on irc.freenode.net --
WWW: http://chrisjrn.com -- Twitter: @chrisjrn

From hugh at blemings.org  Wed Nov 23 14:16:17 2016
From: hugh at blemings.org (Hugh Blemings)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:16:17 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
Message-ID: <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>

On 23/11/2016 14:07, Russell Coker wrote:
> On Wednesday, 23 November 2016 11:39:23 AM AEDT Hugh Blemings wrote:
>> I write offering to continue to serve the membership of Linux Australia
>> and the broader Free and Open Source Software/Hardware communities in
>> one of two capacities, President or Ordinary Council Member (OCM).
>> However there is something of a ?twist?...
>
> Why are there so many struck-out words in the message?  Is there some special
> meaning to that or was it just a mistake when editing?

No, I think a quirk in my editing, or perhaps as Chris suggested just 
now, it may be that I had some words written with dashes either side for 
emphasis and that's been interpreted as strike-through.

Now I think about it, that is a a markdown - style idiom, so perhaps 
that's what's done it.

Sorry for any confusion!

Cheers,
Hugh




From chair at hobart.lca2017.org  Fri Nov 25 10:08:36 2016
From: chair at hobart.lca2017.org (Christopher Neugebauer (linux.conf.au 2017))
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2016 10:08:36 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] linux.conf.au 2017 is looking for volunteers
Message-ID: <CABRwemnSYThuy4bK07oV1iuv-XnW3UgbNGHmK6axqNFA2ZXEng@mail.gmail.com>

Hello there!

We?re looking for volunteers to help make linux.conf.au 2017 a huge success!

If you?ve volunteered before and just want to apply, all the details
are at https://linux.conf.au/attend/volunteer -- for everyone else,
read on!

We?re just over 50 days from the start of the conference, but we can?t
run the conference on our own. We need help to check attendees in when
they arrive, to operate AV equipment such as audio gear and cameras,
to direct people around the venue, ensuring our rooms run to schedule,
as well as setting up and packing down the conference.

Anyone who has been a volunteer before will tell you that it?s an
extremely busy but worthwhile time. It?s rewarding to know that you?ve
helped everybody at the conference to get the most out of it. There's
nothing quite like knowing that you've made a difference.

You don't just get to meet the delegates and speakers, you get to know
many of them while helping them as well. You get a unique opportunity
to get behind the scenes and close to the action. You can forge new
relationships with amazing, interesting, wonderful people you might
not ever get the chance to meet any other way.

In return for your help we'll provide you with morning and afternoon
tea, lunch, and a clean t-shirt each day, and if you ask nicely we
might even write you a letter of reference at the end of the week.
Depending on the number of volunteers and workload, we'll also try our
best to schedule things to let volunteers go to their favourite talks.

For more information, please visit
https://linux.conf.au/attend/volunteer -- we have full details of what
we need from our volunteers. We review and approve applications
regularly.

-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer <chair at hobart.lca2017.org>

Conference Director - linux.conf.au - January 2017 - Hobart
Tickets on sale now! https://linux.conf.au/attend

From craige at mcwhirter.com.au  Sat Nov 26 11:48:50 2016
From: craige at mcwhirter.com.au (Craige McWhirter)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:48:50 +1000
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
 <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
Message-ID: <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>

On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 14:16:17 +1100, Hugh Blemings wrote:
>
> Now I think about it, that is a a markdown - style idiom, so perhaps that's
> what's done it.

Hugh's email rendered perfectly in Mutt, so I'd concur with Chris and Hugh
that Russell's KMail client is attempting to interpret the text as something
other than plain text.

--
Craige McWhirter
M: +61 4685 91819
W: https://mcwhirter.com.au/
GNUSocial: https://social.mcwhirter.io/craige
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From donna at kattekrab.net  Sat Nov 26 13:40:54 2016
From: donna at kattekrab.net (Donna Benjamin)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 13:40:54 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
	Council Member
In-Reply-To: <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
 <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
 <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>
Message-ID: <419632AF-6AEE-4042-A389-53C1EE382988@kattekrab.net>

And yet again, we are talking more about style, and ignoring the substance. 

Kathy, Hugh - thank you for this deeply considered approach to leading our organisation. 

It is indeed an inflexion point. 

I'm, as yet, somewhat on the fence. 

Sustain and maintain is compelling. Simply because LA provides a critical service supporting open source events. 

Growth is compelling, LA has barely scratched the surface of its potential. 
But this also puts the onus on future committees to do more in order to sustain and maintain.  

I'd like to hear more on how you foresee resourcing those efforts. 

- Donna. 

Via mobile. 

> On 26 Nov. 2016, at 11:48, Craige McWhirter <craige at mcwhirter.com.au> wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 14:16:17 +1100, Hugh Blemings wrote:
>> 
>> Now I think about it, that is a a markdown - style idiom, so perhaps that's
>> what's done it.
> 
> Hugh's email rendered perfectly in Mutt, so I'd concur with Chris and Hugh
> that Russell's KMail client is attempting to interpret the text as something
> other than plain text.
> 
> --
> Craige McWhirter
> M: +61 4685 91819
> W: https://mcwhirter.com.au/
> GNUSocial: https://social.mcwhirter.io/craige
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus


From kathy at kathyreid.id.au  Sat Nov 26 14:45:10 2016
From: kathy at kathyreid.id.au (Kathy Reid)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 14:45:10 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <419632AF-6AEE-4042-A389-53C1EE382988@kattekrab.net>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
 <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
 <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>
 <419632AF-6AEE-4042-A389-53C1EE382988@kattekrab.net>
Message-ID: <dabf37e8-027b-725f-116e-d80242497573@kathyreid.id.au>

Thank *you* for a well considered question, Donna!

Firstly I think there's a bit more nuance to the positions Hugh and I
hold - and again I want to underline how much we respect each other's
positions - and how willing we are to work again together next year. Our
positions are not so much 'Sustain and maintain' vs 'Grow' as 'Pare back
what we do maintain' vs 'Invest in things that help us sustain'.

As an incorporated association, there's a lot of administrivia we have
to do simply to maintain compliance with Fair Trading NSW - the
regulatory body under which we are incorporated. This includes keeping
accurate books, accurate register of members, handling insurances, doing
annual reports, keeping minutes etc. Think of this as the bare minimum
we have to do - without doing these tasks we aren't legally allowed to
operate. Because of the size of the events we run now, and volume of
events, this work is in itself high volume.

Couple this with some systems that, while once useful, and well
intentioned by all, are now past their useful life - MemberDB, our
website needs a refresh and so on - and we have a situation where it's
harder to do the bare minimum. For example, to effect member renewal
from our recent process, we need to manually execute SQL against
MemberDB to expire members who didn't explicitly renew their membership.
This is a several hour process for something that should be automated -
less yak shaving is a good thing. Additionally, it's difficult to
communicate with our members. We have lists and MemberDB, and people who
are on lists who are not Members, and we have few ways - short of
resorting to Mail Chimp - of reaching some people - as the 2013 Member
survey [1] identified. So, we need to reduce the overhead in managing
and communicating with members. We also maintain manual records of
things like Event Leaders, Treasurers etc, but having a more accurate
record of volunteer hours and input would be useful to identify items
like who are our superstars, or where could we do better targeted comms
- such as "send this key piece of information to all Treasurers of
current events", or "send this useful open source program to people only
in the North Queensland region".

Response #1: Transition from MemberDB to CiviCRM at a cost of approx
$23k AUD, with ongoing opex of around $2.5k AUD annually and have a
custom voting module developed to facilitate Elections (cost not yet
estimated).

As also identified in the 2013 Member Survey, we don't have a pipeline
of newer members, enthusiastic to volunteer their time to further our
values [2]. While some events we auspice promote the values and brand of
Linux Australia, for attendees of some events, LA is just a link in a
footer. To continue to strengthen the organisation we need to encourage
new membership - and to do that we need to focus on younger members,
such as high school students and University students. Students generally
get *fantastic* pricing to LA events - as we're investing in their
future. But for us to invest in their future, they need to know about us!

Response #2: Develop and execute a formal recruitment program aimed at
younger potential members, using an outsourcing model (cost not yet
estimated, but likely low $AUD thousands)

A related issue is the ongoing engagement of existing members, and
regularly communicating both with existing members, other partners,
stakeholders and like-minded organisations through social media,
newsletters, briefing papers, white papers and so on. At the moment our
social media presence is minimal, largely because the Media and Comms
Team is quite small and overlaps significantly with Council. There is
opportunity here to engage communications professionals to assist with
work that is not necessarily our key strength, but which has the
potential to be valuable for the organisation as a whole. Similarly, our
website, which has served us well for several years, is in need of an
update, and restructuring to help further the organisation's values and
objectives, and to help us partner effectively with organisations who
share our values on projects or campaigns of mutual benefit.
Additionally, with special thanks to Josh Stewart and Kimberlee
Weatherall, LA has had a stronger voice in issues like the TPP and
Copyright reform, and it would be ideal to continue these efforts
without over-burdening the same people. We need to avoid burnout for the
long term good of the organisation.

Response #3: Evaluate the cost/benefit/risk profile of outsourcing
communication and engagement work to a paid professional (cost not yet
estimated)

Response #4: Refresh linux.org.au (likely at same time as move from
MemberDB to CiviCRM)

In terms of managing finances and risk, we've recently implemented the
Treasury and Finance Committee - big shout out to Tony Breeds, Sae Ra
Germaine, Russell Stuart, David Bell, Ritesh Kapoor and Jan Bryson for
all your excellent efforts so far - and this will help to ensure
additional oversight of LA and event budgets, better identification and
management of risk via our Risk Register, and better 'pipeline' of
members with knowledge of the organisation's finances and treasury
operations, providing better Council succession planning. There may be a
need here (less pressing than the above) to engage business advisory
professionals in areas of risk management, project management and
accountancy to provide guidance or templated responses to issues and
risks we have - such as forecasting event cashflow throughout the year
(current event budgets provide and overall profit and loss, but not
projected cashflow, which is not usually a risk other than when two
large events with large expenditures are run close together - such as
Pycon AU and GovHack).

Response #5: Evaluate the need to engage business advisory services
(cost of services not yet estimated).


As always, we really, really appreciate this feedback, and such useful
questions and probing - they help us shape, guide and steer the
organisation in alignment with our members' wishes.

with kind regards,

K.


[1] https://linux.org.au/news/news/linux-australia-member-survey-2013

[2] https://linux.org.au/values




On 26/11/16 13:40, Donna Benjamin wrote:
> And yet again, we are talking more about style, and ignoring the substance. 
>
> Kathy, Hugh - thank you for this deeply considered approach to leading our organisation. 
>
> It is indeed an inflexion point. 
>
> I'm, as yet, somewhat on the fence. 
>
> Sustain and maintain is compelling. Simply because LA provides a critical service supporting open source events. 
>
> Growth is compelling, LA has barely scratched the surface of its potential. 
> But this also puts the onus on future committees to do more in order to sustain and maintain.  
>
> I'd like to hear more on how you foresee resourcing those efforts. 
>
> - Donna. 
>
> Via mobile. 
>
>> On 26 Nov. 2016, at 11:48, Craige McWhirter <craige at mcwhirter.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 14:16:17 +1100, Hugh Blemings wrote:
>>>
>>> Now I think about it, that is a a markdown - style idiom, so perhaps that's
>>> what's done it.
>> Hugh's email rendered perfectly in Mutt, so I'd concur with Chris and Hugh
>> that Russell's KMail client is attempting to interpret the text as something
>> other than plain text.
>>
>> --
>> Craige McWhirter
>> M: +61 4685 91819
>> W: https://mcwhirter.com.au/
>> GNUSocial: https://social.mcwhirter.io/craige
>> _______________________________________________
>> linux-aus mailing list
>> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
>> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus



From donna at kattekrab.net  Sat Nov 26 16:20:09 2016
From: donna at kattekrab.net (Donna Benjamin)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 16:20:09 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
	Council Member
In-Reply-To: <dabf37e8-027b-725f-116e-d80242497573@kathyreid.id.au>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
 <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
 <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>
 <419632AF-6AEE-4042-A389-53C1EE382988@kattekrab.net>
 <dabf37e8-027b-725f-116e-d80242497573@kathyreid.id.au>
Message-ID: <15C929DE-6A7D-468A-BEB5-01A7E6A96C46@kattekrab.net>

That's a great list of actions. No question we need much of that to happen. 

But where will the revenue come from to pay for this? 

Via mobile. 

> On 26 Nov. 2016, at 14:45, Kathy Reid <kathy at kathyreid.id.au> wrote:
> 
> Thank *you* for a well considered question, Donna!
> 
> Firstly I think there's a bit more nuance to the positions Hugh and I
> hold - and again I want to underline how much we respect each other's
> positions - and how willing we are to work again together next year. Our
> positions are not so much 'Sustain and maintain' vs 'Grow' as 'Pare back
> what we do maintain' vs 'Invest in things that help us sustain'.
> 
> As an incorporated association, there's a lot of administrivia we have
> to do simply to maintain compliance with Fair Trading NSW - the
> regulatory body under which we are incorporated. This includes keeping
> accurate books, accurate register of members, handling insurances, doing
> annual reports, keeping minutes etc. Think of this as the bare minimum
> we have to do - without doing these tasks we aren't legally allowed to
> operate. Because of the size of the events we run now, and volume of
> events, this work is in itself high volume.
> 
> Couple this with some systems that, while once useful, and well
> intentioned by all, are now past their useful life - MemberDB, our
> website needs a refresh and so on - and we have a situation where it's
> harder to do the bare minimum. For example, to effect member renewal
> from our recent process, we need to manually execute SQL against
> MemberDB to expire members who didn't explicitly renew their membership.
> This is a several hour process for something that should be automated -
> less yak shaving is a good thing. Additionally, it's difficult to
> communicate with our members. We have lists and MemberDB, and people who
> are on lists who are not Members, and we have few ways - short of
> resorting to Mail Chimp - of reaching some people - as the 2013 Member
> survey [1] identified. So, we need to reduce the overhead in managing
> and communicating with members. We also maintain manual records of
> things like Event Leaders, Treasurers etc, but having a more accurate
> record of volunteer hours and input would be useful to identify items
> like who are our superstars, or where could we do better targeted comms
> - such as "send this key piece of information to all Treasurers of
> current events", or "send this useful open source program to people only
> in the North Queensland region".
> 
> Response #1: Transition from MemberDB to CiviCRM at a cost of approx
> $23k AUD, with ongoing opex of around $2.5k AUD annually and have a
> custom voting module developed to facilitate Elections (cost not yet
> estimated).
> 
> As also identified in the 2013 Member Survey, we don't have a pipeline
> of newer members, enthusiastic to volunteer their time to further our
> values [2]. While some events we auspice promote the values and brand of
> Linux Australia, for attendees of some events, LA is just a link in a
> footer. To continue to strengthen the organisation we need to encourage
> new membership - and to do that we need to focus on younger members,
> such as high school students and University students. Students generally
> get *fantastic* pricing to LA events - as we're investing in their
> future. But for us to invest in their future, they need to know about us!
> 
> Response #2: Develop and execute a formal recruitment program aimed at
> younger potential members, using an outsourcing model (cost not yet
> estimated, but likely low $AUD thousands)
> 
> A related issue is the ongoing engagement of existing members, and
> regularly communicating both with existing members, other partners,
> stakeholders and like-minded organisations through social media,
> newsletters, briefing papers, white papers and so on. At the moment our
> social media presence is minimal, largely because the Media and Comms
> Team is quite small and overlaps significantly with Council. There is
> opportunity here to engage communications professionals to assist with
> work that is not necessarily our key strength, but which has the
> potential to be valuable for the organisation as a whole. Similarly, our
> website, which has served us well for several years, is in need of an
> update, and restructuring to help further the organisation's values and
> objectives, and to help us partner effectively with organisations who
> share our values on projects or campaigns of mutual benefit.
> Additionally, with special thanks to Josh Stewart and Kimberlee
> Weatherall, LA has had a stronger voice in issues like the TPP and
> Copyright reform, and it would be ideal to continue these efforts
> without over-burdening the same people. We need to avoid burnout for the
> long term good of the organisation.
> 
> Response #3: Evaluate the cost/benefit/risk profile of outsourcing
> communication and engagement work to a paid professional (cost not yet
> estimated)
> 
> Response #4: Refresh linux.org.au (likely at same time as move from
> MemberDB to CiviCRM)
> 
> In terms of managing finances and risk, we've recently implemented the
> Treasury and Finance Committee - big shout out to Tony Breeds, Sae Ra
> Germaine, Russell Stuart, David Bell, Ritesh Kapoor and Jan Bryson for
> all your excellent efforts so far - and this will help to ensure
> additional oversight of LA and event budgets, better identification and
> management of risk via our Risk Register, and better 'pipeline' of
> members with knowledge of the organisation's finances and treasury
> operations, providing better Council succession planning. There may be a
> need here (less pressing than the above) to engage business advisory
> professionals in areas of risk management, project management and
> accountancy to provide guidance or templated responses to issues and
> risks we have - such as forecasting event cashflow throughout the year
> (current event budgets provide and overall profit and loss, but not
> projected cashflow, which is not usually a risk other than when two
> large events with large expenditures are run close together - such as
> Pycon AU and GovHack).
> 
> Response #5: Evaluate the need to engage business advisory services
> (cost of services not yet estimated).
> 
> 
> As always, we really, really appreciate this feedback, and such useful
> questions and probing - they help us shape, guide and steer the
> organisation in alignment with our members' wishes.
> 
> with kind regards,
> 
> K.
> 
> 
> [1] https://linux.org.au/news/news/linux-australia-member-survey-2013
> 
> [2] https://linux.org.au/values
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On 26/11/16 13:40, Donna Benjamin wrote:
>> And yet again, we are talking more about style, and ignoring the substance. 
>> 
>> Kathy, Hugh - thank you for this deeply considered approach to leading our organisation. 
>> 
>> It is indeed an inflexion point. 
>> 
>> I'm, as yet, somewhat on the fence. 
>> 
>> Sustain and maintain is compelling. Simply because LA provides a critical service supporting open source events. 
>> 
>> Growth is compelling, LA has barely scratched the surface of its potential. 
>> But this also puts the onus on future committees to do more in order to sustain and maintain.  
>> 
>> I'd like to hear more on how you foresee resourcing those efforts. 
>> 
>> - Donna. 
>> 
>> Via mobile. 
>> 
>>>> On 26 Nov. 2016, at 11:48, Craige McWhirter <craige at mcwhirter.com.au> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> On Wed, Nov 23, 2016 at 14:16:17 +1100, Hugh Blemings wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Now I think about it, that is a a markdown - style idiom, so perhaps that's
>>>> what's done it.
>>> Hugh's email rendered perfectly in Mutt, so I'd concur with Chris and Hugh
>>> that Russell's KMail client is attempting to interpret the text as something
>>> other than plain text.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Craige McWhirter
>>> M: +61 4685 91819
>>> W: https://mcwhirter.com.au/
>>> GNUSocial: https://social.mcwhirter.io/craige
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> linux-aus mailing list
>>> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
>>> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
>> _______________________________________________
>> linux-aus mailing list
>> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
>> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus


From kathy at kathyreid.id.au  Sat Nov 26 16:57:18 2016
From: kathy at kathyreid.id.au (Kathy Reid)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 16:57:18 +1100
Subject: [Linux-aus] Candidacy Support Statement - President or Ordinary
 Council Member
In-Reply-To: <15C929DE-6A7D-468A-BEB5-01A7E6A96C46@kattekrab.net>
References: <61fdb7bc-acd6-8aef-cb75-ed3ef8abd8fe@blemings.org>
 <56943164.Q4V1e50MZU@russell.coker.com.au>
 <87008d0b-256a-c085-969c-f810da2d98bf@blemings.org>
 <20161126004850.eckmuplc23mjkmob@archer.mcwhirter.io>
 <419632AF-6AEE-4042-A389-53C1EE382988@kattekrab.net>
 <dabf37e8-027b-725f-116e-d80242497573@kathyreid.id.au>
 <15C929DE-6A7D-468A-BEB5-01A7E6A96C46@kattekrab.net>
Message-ID: <6c4dc4c1-df85-5203-1552-52f5258d60ad@kathyreid.id.au>

Again, good question.

Linux Australia, bar one exception, has made a profit every year for the
last 6-7 years. While there are costs to keeping the organisation
running (insurance, auditors' fees, subscriptions to cloud services such
as Xero and GitHub, bank fees, costs of Council having a face to face
meeting once a year, teleconference facilities and so on), there has
generally been a surplus available. We're still in the process of
finalising our books for the 2015-2016 financial year, which ended
September 30 2016, but it's likely that LA as an organisation will again
return a profit above what it needs to run each year (which is about
$30k a year).

So, what I'm saying is that we have some cash reserves - and while we
want to maintain enough to say, run an LCA with no sponsorship if we
have to, there are sufficient funds to invest in some 'organisational
infrastructure'.

Linux Australia's entire revenue model, apart from some fractional
amount of revenue that comes from a term deposit, is generated from
event ticket sales.

So, we need to strike a balance between delivering excellent delegate
experiences at events (the extreme version of which is events run at a
loss, returning nothing to LA), and generating profits for LA (the
extreme version of which is events run at a huge profit but don't
deliver a great delegate experience). The 'optimum' point here is trying
to find the best balance / overlap between those two endpoints.

And of course, if we invest some of those profits in infrastructure - it
makes it easier to encourage membership of LA, grow the pipeline of
people who want to run open source events, and be better able to reach
those interested in attending open source events, reduce overhead on the
volunteers running events and so on.

We've had discussions in the past about other revenue sources - from say
Membership fees - but levying a fee on Members both discourages new
Members, as well as increasing expectations of what LA can provide for
Members, while at the same time generating very little revenue. For
instance let's say we had 1000 Members and they paid $20 a year in
Membership fees. That's $20k revenue, but would we have to spend more
than $20k on services and 'things' to help people feel that they were
getting value for money?  Is suspect we probably would.

I feel though that I still might not be answering your question - is
this the sort of information you were after?

Best, K.



On 26/11/16 16:20, Donna Benjamin wrote:
> That's a great list of actions. No question we need much of that to happen. 
>
> But where will the revenue come from to pay for this? 
>
> Via mobile. 


From james at jamespurser.com.au  Mon Nov 28 02:12:06 2016
From: james at jamespurser.com.au (James Purser)
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 18:12:06 +0300
Subject: [Linux-aus] =?utf-8?q?what_an_amazing_surprise?=
Message-ID: <000096221973$b2eb5ad8$272b0fe4$@jamespurser.com.au>

Greetings, 

I've got  an  amazing surprise foryou, you're  gonna love  it! Just  take a  look here  <http://benefit.premiereap.com/e7bh/94>

Bests, James Purser
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From jamesrpurser at gmail.com  Mon Nov 28 07:47:28 2016
From: jamesrpurser at gmail.com (James Purser)
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 20:47:28 +0000
Subject: [Linux-aus] what an amazing surprise
In-Reply-To: <000096221973$b2eb5ad8$272b0fe4$@jamespurser.com.au>
References: <000096221973$b2eb5ad8$272b0fe4$@jamespurser.com.au>
Message-ID: <CACd9AG9CtHsBdtTtqx0_3c64BWTsGsPfNTw5aCZSYzwWNv1YpQ@mail.gmail.com>

Gah this isn't ne

On Mon., 28 Nov. 2016, 6:39 am James Purser, <james at jamespurser.com.au>
wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>
>
> I've got an amazing surprise foryou, you're gonna love it! Just take a
> look here http://benefit.premiereap.com/e7bh/94
>
>
>
> Bests, James Purser
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
>
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From lists at ebourne.me.uk  Wed Nov 30 13:03:21 2016
From: lists at ebourne.me.uk (lists at ebourne.me.uk)
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2016 12:03:21 +1000
Subject: [Linux-aus] Fwd: expanding Europe's Linux Presentation Day to
	Australia
Message-ID: <1480471401.27278.2@panicin.ebourne.me.uk>

linux-aus,

Likely some of you are already aware but I haven't seen any discussion 
on here. Seems like something Linux Australia might want to get behind?

Cheers,
Martin

---------- Forwarded message ----------

 From: Hauke Laging <hauke.laging at linux-presentation-day.org>
Subject: [free-software-melb] expanding Europe's Linux Presentation Day 
to Australia
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2016 02:04:15 +0100
To: free-software-melb at lists.softwarefreedom.com.au

Hello,

in May 2015 Berlin's Linux user group (BeLUG) has started a new type of 
event
which has spread quickly all over Europe: the Linux Presentation Day 
(LPD)

2015.1: Berlin only
2015.2: 72 cities in three countries
2016.1: 110 cities in 10 countries
2016.2: 150+ cities in 14 countries (on October, 22nd)

I contact you because we intend to expand the LPD beyond Europe next 
year and
you are obviously interested in Linux and probably in a larger 
propagation of
Linux, too.

The aim of the LPD towards the general public is to provide biannual and
comprehensive information events about Linux for private users who 
would like
to get a first impression of Linux.

The aim towards the media is to make the event so big (both nationally 
and
internationally) that the nationwide non-IT media cover it regularly.

The aim towards the Linux community is that an LPD event can be so 
small and
easy to organize (even without costs) that really everyone can try to 
organize
an event with good chances of success. The local organizers decide on 
their
own what their event shall be like; we just make suggestions and offer
support.


You can find a longer description of the concept here:

http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/idea/


Are you interested in participating in the LPD somehow i.e. organize an 
event
or help us find other organizers?


Best regards,

(Mr.) Hauke Laging
-- 
http://www.linux-presentation-day.org/

International phone contact for the Linux Presentation Day:
     tel:+49-30-55579620 (13:00?23:00, German and English)

XMPP (Chat with OTR): linux-presentation-day at jabber.ccc.de
   OTR: 91626899 1C06F2BD 75EC2441 35C696CE 38F75997


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