[Lugcomms] [Linux-aus] Council of Australian Linux User Groups

[Donna Benjamin]

On Sun, 2008-03-16 at 17:47 +0900, Patrick Coleman wrote:
> Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote:

Hey Sridhar! :)

> > How open would the list and IRC meetings be? How would we determine who is 
> > welcome? I take it that each LUG appoints a representative, and only those 
> > reps are allowed on the mailing list and IRC channel?

These are good questions.  Once there's a few of us we should hash some
of this about.  Transparency and openness is good - but we also want to
keep the focus tight, and the number of people involved workable.

How to strike the right balance - perhaps members only to contribute -
but make IRC logs and mail list archives accessible?

> > This becomes even more important when funding a F2F meeting. Do we have 
> > representatives from all 30+ LUGs present? How do we define a LUG? Is there a 
> > requirement of membership size? Does the group have to be specifically 
> > focused on Linux and/or FOSS?
> > 
> > If I unilaterally declare a users group of one, based in my house and focused 
> > on *NIX (which _might_ include Linux), will LA pay for me to fly to $location 
> > for an F2F conf?

I think not.  I've already run through some figures on the back of an
envelope.  I'm going to propose that the face to face caters for around
30 people and that LA pays for food and beverage (breakfast, lunch and
morning and arvo teas) and one night's modest accommodation. If people
want better digs - they'd be free to pay for a better bed.
Cost for that would come in around the $5k mark.

Travel is where it gets expensive. Instead of carte blanche paying for
everyone - people should apply for travel assistance and state their
case - and I reckon lugs should be encourage to fund raise. Big lugs
should be able to do a chook raffle and raise enough for an airfare...
Smaller lugs perhaps not so much.

Suggestion: LA pays $10 per 100 km of travel

These are starting points for discussion - none of this is set in stone.
I'm working toward a full proposal - so input is very welcome.

I also reckon we might be able to seek sponsorship.

> Looking at the old thread on the LA list, it looks like the consensus
> was reached there to make it part of LCA, similar to how the BoF events
> are run. Executives of LUGs could apply for grants from LCA for
> assistance travelling if it can be shown they can't otherwise make it,
> or something.

There's also good arguments for NOT holding it at the same time as LCA.
There are significant numbers of people involved with lugs that don't go
to LCA and it would be good for LA to have a focus that isn't LCA.

Also - with some distance from the event, host cities and prospective
bid cities, might also get the opportunity to have useful dialogue.

> As far as how open it can be, I don't have an issue with making it open,
> but intended for LUG committee members or their equivalents.
> 
> IRC meetups are a great extension to the idea, though.

An IRC meetup is the critical starting point. The intention is to have
an irc session that sets the ball in motion. Hopefully meets will
continue to become a semi-regular ongoing occurrence.

- Donna

-- 
http://linux.conf.au/

linux.conf.au     Donna Benjamin  +61 418 310 414
MEL8OURNE2008     Conference Director 
28Jan - 02Feb     donna at mel8ourne.org