- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by joshua.gage.stone＠gmail.com

I think IRC would've been a great choice about a decade ago, but it seems to have fallen out of favor as newer chat services have been added. It's less that IRC is old per se, rather virtually nothing has been done to improve the UX. IRC has some very unique problems where you have to actively configure something as simple as the port number to connect with and whether to enable TLS while other services have standardized on this long ago so users don't have to think about that. I remember when IRC was very popular among the communities I frequented years ago, but outside of FOSS projects many of these channels are now dead because people have moved onto Discord, Matrix, Telegram, etc. I think part of this can also be attributed to the advent of mobile, as IRC clients are usually painful on a phone where you have to type commands on a touchscreen. I also have found IRC to be blocked on some networks, while Matrix served over HTTPS is very firewall-friendly. As of 2020, there are still many features that're missing because IRC essentially pushes implementation onto the client and/or need a bouncer to get features you'd get for free in other services. You practically need a personal cloud if you want to be able to have persistent chat history and/or avoid flooding a channel with disconnect messages especially if you're on a mobile device that can't maintain an active connection at all times. You also need a bot if you want any kind of features like link previews. -Josh On Fri, 2020-01-10 at 21:07 +0000, Anderson, Charles R via WLUG 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

Jan. 10, 2020

Re: [EXT] The future of WLUG

by Anderson, Charles R

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

Jan. 10, 2020

The future of WLUG

by Joshua Stone

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

Jan. 10, 2020

Re: [EXT] Re: Reminder! We've got a meeting tonight! (January 9th 2019) at 7PM. WPI Campus Center Rm 331

by Anderson, Charles R

I'll be a few minutes late (already am in fact). On Thu, Jan 09, 2020 at 07:03:52PM -0500, Joshua Stone via WLUG wrote: > Looking forward to seeing everyone! > > -Josh > > On Thu, Jan 9, 2020, 16:15 Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > > > Hey Everybody, > > > > We've got a meeting tonight. I'll be in our usual haunt (WPI Campus Center > > Mid Century Room (rm 331)) at 7PM. > > > > As this was a short notice meeting, I suspect the attendance might be > > sparse. > > Josh, why don't we plan for February so you're not on the spot and I can > > get the word out a bit better. > > I'm thinking tonight might be a bit freeform which is always fun! We can > > also talk about things that we might all find interesting for up coming > > topics. > > > > As usual snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll > > head off for dinner. > > > > See you there! > > Tim. > > > > -- > > I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their > > constituents as "consumers". > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 -- Charles R. Anderson, JNCIE-SP cra(a)wpi.edu Network Architect (508) 831-6110 Network Operations - Morgan Hall (508) 831-6666 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Fax (508) 831-6669

Jan. 10, 2020

Re: Reminder! We've got a meeting tonight! (January 9th 2019) at 7PM. WPI Campus Center Rm 331

by Joshua Stone

Looking forward to seeing everyone! -Josh On Thu, Jan 9, 2020, 16:15 Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > Hey Everybody, > > We've got a meeting tonight. I'll be in our usual haunt (WPI Campus Center > Mid Century Room (rm 331)) at 7PM. > > As this was a short notice meeting, I suspect the attendance might be > sparse. > Josh, why don't we plan for February so you're not on the spot and I can > get the word out a bit better. > I'm thinking tonight might be a bit freeform which is always fun! We can > also talk about things that we might all find interesting for up coming > topics. > > As usual snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll > head off for dinner. > > See you there! > Tim. > > -- > I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their > constituents as "consumers". > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >

Jan. 10, 2020

Reminder! We've got a meeting tonight! (January 9th 2019) at 7PM. WPI Campus Center Rm 331

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting tonight. I'll be in our usual haunt (WPI Campus Center Mid Century Room (rm 331)) at 7PM. As this was a short notice meeting, I suspect the attendance might be sparse. Josh, why don't we plan for February so you're not on the spot and I can get the word out a bit better. I'm thinking tonight might be a bit freeform which is always fun! We can also talk about things that we might all find interesting for up coming topics. As usual snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner. See you there! Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 9, 2020

Re: Greetings Programs!

by Tim Keller

Lexi, I've heard of Tiny, but I've never seen it in action. That sounds really cool! Feel free to bring along the laptop to show it off! That in itself sounds like a great idea for a talk! Later, Tim. On Wed, Jan 8, 2020 at 5:16 PM Lexi Haley via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > Hi, I'm Lexi! > > I've not been to a WLUG meeting since ... since a long time .... I > remember a Blender talk, and a Maddog talk - and these look like circa > 2003/2004.... So, absent a long time! > > Anyways. I am trying to find the time to come again. > > I've been a casual Linux user since 1998, when I installed Debian from a > pile of floppies (( or should I say, my friend installed it for me, and my > learning journey began )) .... and for a long time I was an exclusive user > .... and at heart I think I am still - even as I flog along a 10 year old > iMac. > > But for a couple years now, on my laptop I've been running 'Tiny Core > Linux' , which if you're unfamiliar with it, it is based on the Linux From > Scratch work, with an emphasis on a 'tiny' footprint. Needed additional > software are mounted into ram from squashfs archives, on the fly. It is > quirky, but I like it. I wondered if anyone else has used it (or uses it). > > I didn't feel right just asking blindly, without a vague reintroduction of > myself. > > So - question: Anyone else use, now or previously, the Tiny Core Linux > Distribution? [*] > > Thanks, > Lexi Haley (WPI CS 2002) > > [*] a search on the email archives yielded no hits ... > > _______________________________________________ > 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. 9, 2020

Greetings Programs!

by Lexi Haley

Hi, I'm Lexi! I've not been to a WLUG meeting since ... since a long time .... I remember a Blender talk, and a Maddog talk - and these look like circa 2003/2004.... So, absent a long time! Anyways. I am trying to find the time to come again. I've been a casual Linux user since 1998, when I installed Debian from a pile of floppies (( or should I say, my friend installed it for me, and my learning journey began )) .... and for a long time I was an exclusive user .... and at heart I think I am still - even as I flog along a 10 year old iMac. But for a couple years now, on my laptop I've been running 'Tiny Core Linux' , which if you're unfamiliar with it, it is based on the Linux From Scratch work, with an emphasis on a 'tiny' footprint. Needed additional software are mounted into ram from squashfs archives, on the fly. It is quirky, but I like it. I wondered if anyone else has used it (or uses it). I didn't feel right just asking blindly, without a vague reintroduction of myself. So - question: Anyone else use, now or previously, the Tiny Core Linux Distribution? [*] Thanks, Lexi Haley (WPI CS 2002) [*] a search on the email archives yielded no hits ...

Jan. 8, 2020

Re: We've got a Meeting on January 9th! Usual Spot, Topic: Possibly TBD

by Joshua Stone

Hey all, I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays! I certainly did! I'm also happy to hear that the presentation was so well received (easily the longest talk I've held so far!) and there is interest in doing it again! I know that some couldn't attend the December meeting, and I recall we had to cut the meeting short before we could do a demo of drawing on a Wacom drawing tablet with Krita. If there are enough people interested in seeing my presentation again I could see if I can attend tomorrow, otherwise I could plan for February instead which will give me time to refine my material as well as give more people a chance to attend. -Josh On Tue, Jan 7, 2020, 22:23 Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > Hey Gang, > > I hope you all had a great holidays and a happy new year! We've got a > meeting on Thursday, the 9th! > > Location: WPI Campus Center Mid Century Room Rm 331 (our usual haunt) > Date / Time: January 9th, 2020 at 7PM > Topic: TBD! Let me know if you'll be attending we'll see what we might > want to do. > If more people are going to show up we could do a redo of Joshua's talk, > it was fantastic. > Another option might be to have a round table for topics people might want > to hear this year. > Obviously, if people have ideas feel free to post them to the list as well! > > As usual snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll > head off for dinner to continue the conversation. > > Hope to see you there > Tim Keller > WLUG President > > -- > I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their > constituents as "consumers". > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >

Jan. 8, 2020

We've got a Meeting on January 9th! Usual Spot, Topic: Possibly TBD

by Tim Keller

Hey Gang, I hope you all had a great holidays and a happy new year! We've got a meeting on Thursday, the 9th! Location: WPI Campus Center Mid Century Room Rm 331 (our usual haunt) Date / Time: January 9th, 2020 at 7PM Topic: TBD! Let me know if you'll be attending we'll see what we might want to do. If more people are going to show up we could do a redo of Joshua's talk, it was fantastic. Another option might be to have a round table for topics people might want to hear this year. Obviously, if people have ideas feel free to post them to the list as well! As usual snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner to continue the conversation. Hope to see you there Tim Keller WLUG President -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 8, 2020