- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: CAD /3D printing

by Tim Keller

As multi extruder printers and core XY printers with tool changers become more prevalent, this might be the case. Out the box 3mf can carry much more data about colors, materials, etc. Out of the box I believe that STL doesn't support that, but it's also just a text file, so I can't see why you couldn't extend the format. I just looked at Cura and Kisslicer and they both support the 3MF format. I could imagine some future where you've got a file that would fully support building a complex product that might include additive, subtractive, trace drawing, pick and place and firmware load. That would be cool. Tim. On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 7:28 PM Richard Klein via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > Somewhat off-topic for this list, but we often discuss 3D printing... > > I'm sitting in a SolidWorks user group meeting. The presenter mentioned > that Windows 10 includes a 3D paint program (or maybe it's a 3D mode in the > regular paint program). You can paint in there and import the files into > SolidWorks for further editing. > > He also mentioned that he thinks 3MF files will replace STL because they > carry more data. > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 17, 2020

Re: WLUG history

by John Stoffel

I've got old WLUG emails from 1999 in my "quick to find archives" of old email....

Jan. 17, 2020

CAD /3D printing

by Richard Klein

Somewhat off-topic for this list, but we often discuss 3D printing... I'm sitting in a SolidWorks user group meeting. The presenter mentioned that Windows 10 includes a 3D paint program (or maybe it's a 3D mode in the regular paint program). You can paint in there and import the files into SolidWorks for further editing. He also mentioned that he thinks 3MF files will replace STL because they carry more data.

Jan. 17, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Gregory Avedissian

I was asked to share this, and it seems relevant to the discussion. Video production class starts next week. I work with these people, and they are a good crew. Greg Athol-Orange Community Television ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Video Class Offered VIDEO COURSE OFFERED TO THE COMMUNITY January 21 to February 18 Tuesday Nights at 6 PM 5 Sessions Learn camera operation, editing, directing, producing, and studio work to make programs for AOTV. Classes are at AOTV Studio 163 S. Main Street, Athol Cost is $20. Discount for under 18 or over 65. Pass this along to family and friends Come and join the fun! Please call AOTV to reserve your slot at 978-249-4470 or fill out the online form at aotv13.org/forms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Athol-Orange Community Television | 163 South Main St. | Athol | MA | 01331

Jan. 16, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Tim Keller

Good point. My hope is that it might be a bit more of a live stream / rough cut that ends up getting put on youtube. I moonlight as a sysadmin for a film company and I see what goes into editing movies... Once you need to start syncing and splicing the professionals can do it "quick" but it still takes hours to get minutes of video out. I'd be happy with a camera, a lav mike and a screen cap feed into a static OBS profile dumped to disk and then uploaded to youtube with some simple trimming at each end. Tim. On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 5:08 PM Anderson, Charles R via WLUG < wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > I know from BLU that it is a TON of work to do this. Video needs to be > edited/cut together/combined with audio/etc. > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 04:44:04PM -0500, Dennis Payne via WLUG wrote: > > BLU has 2 cameras recording the presentations plus an additional audio > > recording. Granted when I gave a presentation, the stream on youtube > > cut out after 20 mins and it has never been replaced with any other > > recording so I'm not sure how helpful the additional recording are. (I > > posted a comment on the video with the presentation link but I don't > > see it now. Not sure why that is.) > > On Wed, 2020-01-15 at 16:11 -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > > > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for > > > itself. > > > > > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio > > > production is decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a > > > Sony video camera with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun > > > microphone attachment for capturing audio in front of the camera > > > instead of the surrounding area. I also have a blue yeti if you want > > > a good microphone for public speakers to use. > > > > > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a > > > screencast of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, > > > terminal output, etc, and have an omnidirectional microphone > > > listening and syncing with the screencast. > > > > > > -Josh > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 16, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Anderson, Charles R

I know from BLU that it is a TON of work to do this. Video needs to be edited/cut together/combined with audio/etc. On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 04:44:04PM -0500, Dennis Payne via WLUG wrote: > BLU has 2 cameras recording the presentations plus an additional audio > recording. Granted when I gave a presentation, the stream on youtube > cut out after 20 mins and it has never been replaced with any other > recording so I'm not sure how helpful the additional recording are. (I > posted a comment on the video with the presentation link but I don't > see it now. Not sure why that is.) > On Wed, 2020-01-15 at 16:11 -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for > > itself. > > > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio > > production is decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a > > Sony video camera with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun > > microphone attachment for capturing audio in front of the camera > > instead of the surrounding area. I also have a blue yeti if you want > > a good microphone for public speakers to use. > > > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a > > screencast of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, > > terminal output, etc, and have an omnidirectional microphone > > listening and syncing with the screencast. > > > > -Josh

Jan. 15, 2020

Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Dennis Payne

BLU has 2 cameras recording the presentations plus an additional audio recording. Granted when I gave a presentation, the stream on youtube cut out after 20 mins and it has never been replaced with any other recording so I'm not sure how helpful the additional recording are. (I posted a comment on the video with the presentation link but I don't see it now. Not sure why that is.) On Wed, 2020-01-15 at 16:11 -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for > itself. > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio > production is decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a > Sony video camera with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun > microphone attachment for capturing audio in front of the camera > instead of the surrounding area. I also have a blue yeti if you want > a good microphone for public speakers to use. > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a > screencast of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, > terminal output, etc, and have an omnidirectional microphone > listening and syncing with the screencast. > > -Josh > -- Dennis Payne dulsi(a)identicalsoftware.com https://social.freegamedev.net/channel/dulsi

Jan. 15, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Tim Keller

Chuck, It would appear great (okay, marginal) minds think alike! Tim. On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 4:19 PM Anderson, Charles R via WLUG < wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > The presenter's computer could be screencast onto the video stream by > using Open Broadcast Studio (OBS). We had a presentation on OBS awhile > back. > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 04:11:19PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for > itself. > > > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio production > is > > decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a Sony video camera > > with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun microphone attachment for > > capturing audio in front of the camera instead of the surrounding area. I > > also have a blue yeti if you want a good microphone for public speakers > to > > use. > > > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a > screencast > > of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, terminal output, > etc, > > and have an omnidirectional microphone listening and syncing with the > > screencast. > > > > -Josh > > > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020, 13:51 Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I've gotten a couple of hits about people possibly showing up for the > next > > > WLUG meeting from meetup. That's cool! > > > > > > I went looking at the Boston Linux Users Group site and it's clear to > me > > > that we're really missing the boat with putting our meetings on > youtube, > > > well at least the ones with a definite presenter. > > > > > > Would people be freaked out about being on youtube? Is this something > that > > > people would be interested in? I've got a decent DSLR we could use to > take > > > video, but I don't want people to be uncomfortable. > > > > > > Tim. > > > > > > On Sun, Jan 12, 2020 at 1:41 PM <joshua.gage.stone(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > >> Tim, > > >> > > >> Thank you very much for creating a meetup.com group for us! The UX > for > > >> finding future meetups and adding meetup dates to a calender is quite > good. > > >> Finding WLUG should also be fairly easy now when searching for "linux" > > >> within a 50 mile radius of Boston: > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=linux&radius=50&user… > > >> > > >> I've noticed that some search strings will show LUGs with overlapping > > >> interests but not WLUG. I think adding more words like "FOSS", > "Android", > > >> "Libre", "Open Source", "Ubuntu", "Fedora", "OpenSUSE", "Arch Linux", > > >> "Unix", etc, to the related topics and/or What We're About section > should > > >> improve this. > > >> > > >> I've tried setting up a community over Slack but I think the steps > need > > >> to join was what made it too intrusive for new people -- take joining > the > > >> Rust language Slack server for example: > > >> > > >> https://rust-slack.herokuapp.com/ > > >> > > >> - Send an invite link to your email > > >> - Register with a name and password > > >> - Be greeted with prompts about whether to send notifications > > >> - Open the #general channel > > >> > > >> And this has to be repeated for joining every community that has their > > >> own Slack server, or at least this has been my experience so far. I > think > > >> Slack has cemented itself as more of a means for teams to collaborate > on a > > >> project, not so much for casual users who want to jump right into a > new > > >> chat. > > >> > > >> Matrix only needs to register a username and password (email is > optional) > > >> on the server you're on, and once that's done you can join any number > of > > >> channels on that server. This is much closer to the UX of IRC, and > it's > > >> still superior in some ways because there's no fiddling with choosing > a > > >> specific authentication method like SASL and/or authenticating with > nickserv > > >> > > >> I think in general Matrix has more mindshare amongst Linux users as a > > >> modern alternative to IRC, which I think is worth considering when > > >> comparing frequency of posts on Reddit: > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/search?q=matrix&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevanc… > > >> > > >> -Josh > > >> > > >> On Sat, 2020-01-11 at 22:59 -0500, Tim Keller via WLUG wrote: > > >> > > >> This morning I went out and created a meetup group for WLUG: > > >> https://www.meetup.com/Worcester-Linux-Users-Group and paid for six > > >> months. Feel free to go and join up if you'd like. > > >> > > >> The matrix stuff is cool, I cut my teeth on IRC so I'm always partial > to > > >> the old school but I also understand that eventually we'll want a > slack > > >> channel as well maybe. > > >> > > >> Tim. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 4:07 PM Anderson, Charles R via WLUG < > > >> wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > > >> > > >> We also have an IRC channel: > > >> > > >> http://www.wlug.org/participate.html > > >> > > >> Internet Relay Chat > > >> > > >> Join the realtime chat on our IRC channel. > > >> > > >> Connect your IRC client to irc.freenode.net > > >> Join the #wlug-ma channel or join directly from this link: irc:// > > >> irc.freenode.net/#wlug-ma. > > >> See more information about Freenode and join the chat from your > web > > >> browser > > >> > > >> but maybe IRC is too old school--no one chats on it anymore. > > >> > > >> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 04:03:14PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > > >> > Hey all, > > >> > > > >> > Last night's meeting was excellent, and I'd like say thanks again to > > >> > Tim for giving me a ride home! > > >> > > > >> > Last night's discussion gave me ideas of ways we could improve > general > > >> > activity, increase attendence, and improve outreach efforts. > Hosting a > > >> > meetup.com group would be certainly improve discoverability, and > > >> > getting in touch with WPI's computer science group would be great > too. > > >> > > > >> > I think what a lot communities are doing nowadays is having a text > chat > > >> > format for users who want to communicate more easily over the > internet, > > >> > especially with mobile devices. As an example, there are Discord > > >> > servers for Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc, and they have room sizes > > >> > generally in the hundreds or even well over a thousand. Even before > > >> > Discord they'd use IRC for providing support, posting updates, etc. > > >> > > > >> > Having a text chat of our own would certainly help improve > > >> > participation -- I think Matrix would be a good option here because > it > > >> > has many nice features and has a fairly polished user experience: > > >> > > > >> > - Numerous clients available on desktop, mobile, and web ( > > >> > https://matrix.org/clients/ > > >> > - Persistent chat history > > >> > - Link previews > > >> > - Various bots to choose from for adding functionality ( > > >> > https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bots/ > > >> > - User moderation > > >> > - Server federation > > >> > - Self-hosting available, both client and server are completely FOSS > > >> > - File sharing > > >> > - Voice/video calls > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > I have a screenshot if anyone wants to see what a Matrix chat room > > >> > would look like: > > >> > > > >> > https://i.imgur.com/aVILcWB.png > > >> > > > >> > Or you can join the room I made: > > >> > > > >> > https://matrix.to/#/!EiTljkvagZDFKfQfFu:matrix.org?via=matrix.org > > >> > > > >> > Alteratively, if you have a Matrix client already: > > >> > > > >> > #wlug:matrix.org > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > Any thoughts? > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 15, 2020

Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Tim Keller

Actually my thinking was to use something like OBS (open broadcast studio, which we've done a talk about in the past) and actually do that.. Capture the output from their machine, plus the audio and a headshot. At this point, it's an idea. On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 4:11 PM Joshua Stone <joshua.gage.stone(a)gmail.com> wrote: > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for > itself. > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio production is > decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a Sony video camera > with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun microphone attachment for > capturing audio in front of the camera instead of the surrounding area. I > also have a blue yeti if you want a good microphone for public speakers to > use. > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a screencast > of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, terminal output, etc, > and have an omnidirectional microphone listening and syncing with the > screencast. > > -Josh > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020, 13:51 Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> I've gotten a couple of hits about people possibly showing up for the >> next WLUG meeting from meetup. That's cool! >> >> I went looking at the Boston Linux Users Group site and it's clear to me >> that we're really missing the boat with putting our meetings on youtube, >> well at least the ones with a definite presenter. >> >> Would people be freaked out about being on youtube? Is this something >> that people would be interested in? I've got a decent DSLR we could use to >> take video, but I don't want people to be uncomfortable. >> >> Tim. >> >> On Sun, Jan 12, 2020 at 1:41 PM <joshua.gage.stone(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Tim, >>> >>> Thank you very much for creating a meetup.com group for us! The UX for >>> finding future meetups and adding meetup dates to a calender is quite good. >>> Finding WLUG should also be fairly easy now when searching for "linux" >>> within a 50 mile radius of Boston: >>> >>> >>> https://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=linux&radius=50&user… >>> >>> I've noticed that some search strings will show LUGs with overlapping >>> interests but not WLUG. I think adding more words like "FOSS", "Android", >>> "Libre", "Open Source", "Ubuntu", "Fedora", "OpenSUSE", "Arch Linux", >>> "Unix", etc, to the related topics and/or What We're About section should >>> improve this. >>> >>> I've tried setting up a community over Slack but I think the steps need >>> to join was what made it too intrusive for new people -- take joining the >>> Rust language Slack server for example: >>> >>> https://rust-slack.herokuapp.com/ >>> >>> - Send an invite link to your email >>> - Register with a name and password >>> - Be greeted with prompts about whether to send notifications >>> - Open the #general channel >>> >>> And this has to be repeated for joining every community that has their >>> own Slack server, or at least this has been my experience so far. I think >>> Slack has cemented itself as more of a means for teams to collaborate on a >>> project, not so much for casual users who want to jump right into a new >>> chat. >>> >>> Matrix only needs to register a username and password (email is >>> optional) on the server you're on, and once that's done you can join any >>> number of channels on that server. This is much closer to the UX of IRC, >>> and it's still superior in some ways because there's no fiddling with >>> choosing a specific authentication method like SASL and/or authenticating >>> with nickserv >>> >>> I think in general Matrix has more mindshare amongst Linux users as a >>> modern alternative to IRC, which I think is worth considering when >>> comparing frequency of posts on Reddit: >>> >>> >>> https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/search?q=matrix&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevanc… >>> >>> -Josh >>> >>> On Sat, 2020-01-11 at 22:59 -0500, Tim Keller via WLUG wrote: >>> >>> This morning I went out and created a meetup group for WLUG: >>> https://www.meetup.com/Worcester-Linux-Users-Group and paid for six >>> months. Feel free to go and join up if you'd like. >>> >>> The matrix stuff is cool, I cut my teeth on IRC so I'm always partial to >>> the old school but I also understand that eventually we'll want a slack >>> channel as well maybe. >>> >>> Tim. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 4:07 PM Anderson, Charles R via WLUG < >>> wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: >>> >>> We also have an IRC channel: >>> >>> http://www.wlug.org/participate.html >>> >>> Internet Relay Chat >>> >>> Join the realtime chat on our IRC channel. >>> >>> Connect your IRC client to irc.freenode.net >>> Join the #wlug-ma channel or join directly from this link: irc:// >>> irc.freenode.net/#wlug-ma. >>> See more information about Freenode and join the chat from your web >>> browser >>> >>> but maybe IRC is too old school--no one chats on it anymore. >>> >>> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 04:03:14PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: >>> > Hey all, >>> > >>> > Last night's meeting was excellent, and I'd like say thanks again to >>> > Tim for giving me a ride home! >>> > >>> > Last night's discussion gave me ideas of ways we could improve general >>> > activity, increase attendence, and improve outreach efforts. Hosting a >>> > meetup.com group would be certainly improve discoverability, and >>> > getting in touch with WPI's computer science group would be great too. >>> > >>> > I think what a lot communities are doing nowadays is having a text chat >>> > format for users who want to communicate more easily over the internet, >>> > especially with mobile devices. As an example, there are Discord >>> > servers for Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc, and they have room sizes >>> > generally in the hundreds or even well over a thousand. Even before >>> > Discord they'd use IRC for providing support, posting updates, etc. >>> > >>> > Having a text chat of our own would certainly help improve >>> > participation -- I think Matrix would be a good option here because it >>> > has many nice features and has a fairly polished user experience: >>> > >>> > - Numerous clients available on desktop, mobile, and web ( >>> > https://matrix.org/clients/ >>> > - Persistent chat history >>> > - Link previews >>> > - Various bots to choose from for adding functionality ( >>> > https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bots/ >>> > - User moderation >>> > - Server federation >>> > - Self-hosting available, both client and server are completely FOSS >>> > - File sharing >>> > - Voice/video calls >>> > >>> > >>> > I have a screenshot if anyone wants to see what a Matrix chat room >>> > would look like: >>> > >>> > https://i.imgur.com/aVILcWB.png >>> > >>> > Or you can join the room I made: >>> > >>> > https://matrix.to/#/!EiTljkvagZDFKfQfFu:matrix.org?via=matrix.org >>> > >>> > Alteratively, if you have a Matrix client already: >>> > >>> > #wlug:matrix.org >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > Any thoughts? >>> > >>> > >>> > -Josh >>> _______________________________________________ >>> WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org >>> To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> >>> WLUG mailing list -- >>> >>> wlug(a)lists.wlug.org >>> >>> >>> To unsubscribe send an email to >>> >>> wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >>> >>> >>> >> >> -- >> I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their >> constituents as "consumers". >> > -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 15, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Anderson, Charles R

The presenter's computer could be screencast onto the video stream by using Open Broadcast Studio (OBS). We had a presentation on OBS awhile back. On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 04:11:19PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > That's excellent news! Sounds like the service is already paying for itself. > > I'm not opposed to video uploads, so long as the video/audio production is > decent and the camera isn't in people's faces. I have a Sony video camera > with native 4K and optical zoom, with a shotgun microphone attachment for > capturing audio in front of the camera instead of the surrounding area. I > also have a blue yeti if you want a good microphone for public speakers to > use. > > We could make this a bit fancier and less intrusive by having a screencast > of the speaker's computer to show slideshow material, terminal output, etc, > and have an omnidirectional microphone listening and syncing with the > screencast. > > -Josh > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020, 13:51 Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > I've gotten a couple of hits about people possibly showing up for the next > > WLUG meeting from meetup. That's cool! > > > > I went looking at the Boston Linux Users Group site and it's clear to me > > that we're really missing the boat with putting our meetings on youtube, > > well at least the ones with a definite presenter. > > > > Would people be freaked out about being on youtube? Is this something that > > people would be interested in? I've got a decent DSLR we could use to take > > video, but I don't want people to be uncomfortable. > > > > Tim. > > > > On Sun, Jan 12, 2020 at 1:41 PM <joshua.gage.stone(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> Tim, > >> > >> Thank you very much for creating a meetup.com group for us! The UX for > >> finding future meetups and adding meetup dates to a calender is quite good. > >> Finding WLUG should also be fairly easy now when searching for "linux" > >> within a 50 mile radius of Boston: > >> > >> > >> https://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=linux&radius=50&user… > >> > >> I've noticed that some search strings will show LUGs with overlapping > >> interests but not WLUG. I think adding more words like "FOSS", "Android", > >> "Libre", "Open Source", "Ubuntu", "Fedora", "OpenSUSE", "Arch Linux", > >> "Unix", etc, to the related topics and/or What We're About section should > >> improve this. > >> > >> I've tried setting up a community over Slack but I think the steps need > >> to join was what made it too intrusive for new people -- take joining the > >> Rust language Slack server for example: > >> > >> https://rust-slack.herokuapp.com/ > >> > >> - Send an invite link to your email > >> - Register with a name and password > >> - Be greeted with prompts about whether to send notifications > >> - Open the #general channel > >> > >> And this has to be repeated for joining every community that has their > >> own Slack server, or at least this has been my experience so far. I think > >> Slack has cemented itself as more of a means for teams to collaborate on a > >> project, not so much for casual users who want to jump right into a new > >> chat. > >> > >> Matrix only needs to register a username and password (email is optional) > >> on the server you're on, and once that's done you can join any number of > >> channels on that server. This is much closer to the UX of IRC, and it's > >> still superior in some ways because there's no fiddling with choosing a > >> specific authentication method like SASL and/or authenticating with nickserv > >> > >> I think in general Matrix has more mindshare amongst Linux users as a > >> modern alternative to IRC, which I think is worth considering when > >> comparing frequency of posts on Reddit: > >> > >> > >> https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/search?q=matrix&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevanc… > >> > >> -Josh > >> > >> On Sat, 2020-01-11 at 22:59 -0500, Tim Keller via WLUG wrote: > >> > >> This morning I went out and created a meetup group for WLUG: > >> https://www.meetup.com/Worcester-Linux-Users-Group and paid for six > >> months. Feel free to go and join up if you'd like. > >> > >> The matrix stuff is cool, I cut my teeth on IRC so I'm always partial to > >> the old school but I also understand that eventually we'll want a slack > >> channel as well maybe. > >> > >> Tim. > >> > >> > >> > >> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 4:07 PM Anderson, Charles R via WLUG < > >> wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > >> > >> We also have an IRC channel: > >> > >> http://www.wlug.org/participate.html > >> > >> Internet Relay Chat > >> > >> Join the realtime chat on our IRC channel. > >> > >> Connect your IRC client to irc.freenode.net > >> Join the #wlug-ma channel or join directly from this link: irc:// > >> irc.freenode.net/#wlug-ma. > >> See more information about Freenode and join the chat from your web > >> browser > >> > >> but maybe IRC is too old school--no one chats on it anymore. > >> > >> On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 04:03:14PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > >> > Hey all, > >> > > >> > Last night's meeting was excellent, and I'd like say thanks again to > >> > Tim for giving me a ride home! > >> > > >> > Last night's discussion gave me ideas of ways we could improve general > >> > activity, increase attendence, and improve outreach efforts. Hosting a > >> > meetup.com group would be certainly improve discoverability, and > >> > getting in touch with WPI's computer science group would be great too. > >> > > >> > I think what a lot communities are doing nowadays is having a text chat > >> > format for users who want to communicate more easily over the internet, > >> > especially with mobile devices. As an example, there are Discord > >> > servers for Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc, and they have room sizes > >> > generally in the hundreds or even well over a thousand. Even before > >> > Discord they'd use IRC for providing support, posting updates, etc. > >> > > >> > Having a text chat of our own would certainly help improve > >> > participation -- I think Matrix would be a good option here because it > >> > has many nice features and has a fairly polished user experience: > >> > > >> > - Numerous clients available on desktop, mobile, and web ( > >> > https://matrix.org/clients/ > >> > - Persistent chat history > >> > - Link previews > >> > - Various bots to choose from for adding functionality ( > >> > https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bots/ > >> > - User moderation > >> > - Server federation > >> > - Self-hosting available, both client and server are completely FOSS > >> > - File sharing > >> > - Voice/video calls > >> > > >> > > >> > I have a screenshot if anyone wants to see what a Matrix chat room > >> > would look like: > >> > > >> > https://i.imgur.com/aVILcWB.png > >> > > >> > Or you can join the room I made: > >> > > >> > https://matrix.to/#/!EiTljkvagZDFKfQfFu:matrix.org?via=matrix.org > >> > > >> > Alteratively, if you have a Matrix client already: > >> > > >> > #wlug:matrix.org > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > Any thoughts?

Jan. 15, 2020