Re: Those IT guys are loony

On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 12:53:58PM -0900, jonr@destar.net <jonr@destar.net> wrote:
>
> So this brings up a good question: What is AKLUGs focus?

As I see it, AKLUG doesn't need to have a particular focus. The group
is called the Alaska Linux Users Group -- a group of users in Alaska
who use Linux. There's no restriction on how members can or should
use Linux.

I was squeezed out of a user's group once when my personal focus fell
out of favor with the group. I would hate for that to happen here.

People use Linux for different reasons. Some people here are admins,
focused on providing a solid service to end users. But not everyone.
Linux started as a hobbyist system, and many people, including myself,
still use it in that capacity. In fact, I'm sure it would be safe to
say that most people who use Linux don't work as admins.

When people with a focus other than mine post on the list, I read the
messages anyway. It may educate me about something I'll be using in
the future. Sometimes, I can even use my knowledge to help someone
who's using Linux in a different way than I do. At worst, if a person's
message doesn't interest me at all, I can simply ignore it.

The crowd of folks using Linux continues to grow, and those new users
will need support learning what most of us here already know. I agree
with Mike B. that we should try to recruit and support new users. A
new user of Linux should be able to contact AKLUG -- or any LUG -- and
find a helpful, friendly community of like-minded enthusiasts.

Being a Linux user doesn't mean being a hacker, being an admin, being
an office worker, compiling from source, or stressing about uptime,
and it *certainly* doesn't mean excluding people who don't use it the
same way you do.

To everyone here, and anyone who wishes to join, I say "welcome".

--
Bryan Medsker
bryanm@acsalaska.net
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