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Photo Frames
by John Stoffel Oct. 23, 2019

Oct. 23, 2019

Hi all, I'm looking for a photo frame for the family. I *hate* the model where you have to email/upload photos to some site so they can curate them. I do like the idea of a touch screen, so you can scroll back if you see a photo you like. I'd like a nice display, with subtle cropping if needed of images. I've looked on Aamzon.com, but got lost in the weeds, and I've also looked at "The Wirecutter" but the review is a bit old and not really too useful. But maybe I'm too harsh on the upload model, but how many times have I seen companies get bought out and shutdown? Especially for something like this which will probably be around for ages. So my vague requirements: 1. local photo storage 2. touch screen control 3. automatic dimming/brightening and ideally power off when no one is around. 4. 10" in size approx. 5. IPS display for the widest possible angles and best colors. 6. High Resolution display. 7. If it has Wifi for remote photo adding, I want them to download to the frame, so that if the Wifi goes out, it's not a problem. And I really hate small remotes that get lost. I'm torn though, because I'd like to give one to my Dad who doesn't live near me so I can easily send pictures... but I hate the idea of remote sites which can and do go away without warning. But what really gets me is the controls on the back, useless! I'd like it to look like a photo frame, but *some* controles so I can swipe through photos easily. Sorta like a big cell phone. I've looked at the reviews on: tomsguide.com reviewlab.com thewirecutter.com I'm really tepted by the "PhotoSpring 10-inch Digital Frame" for the touchscreen options, but strongly dislike that there's no local storage, you have to upload to the cloud. "Nix Advance 8-Inch Digital Photo Frame" doesn't have Wifi, and uses a remote. So I like that it's not cloud based... but for remote family members it won't work as well. And probably a bit small. Totally annoying, but I'm sure I'll just have to settle for something. THanks, John

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Reminder! Meeting Tomorrow Thursday, Oct 10th, 2019: Topic: CAD on linux!
by Tim Keller Oct. 10, 2019

Oct. 10, 2019

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting tomorrow!!! Date & Time: Oct 10th, 2019 at 7PM Location: WPI Rec Center Room Rom 412 (Class of '61 conference room) Topic: Round table on CAD software for linux. This month we're going to talk about the plethora of FOSS and otherwise options for doing Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) on linux. Logan Brown has offered to speak about OpenSCAD Frank Sweetser will be talking about TinkerCAD I will be talking about FreeCAD We'll also gloss over LeoCAD and a few other cad products as well. This is a round table, so if you have a piece of cad software on linux you love feel free to speak up! Refreshments and Snacks will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner. Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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WLUG Meeting: Oct 10th 2019 Topic: CAD on linux!
by Tim Keller Oct. 4, 2019

Oct. 4, 2019

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting next week! Date & Time: Oct 10th, 2019 at 7PM Location: WPI Rec Center Room Rom 412 (Class of '61 conference room) Topic: Round table on CAD software for linux. This month we're going to talk about the plethora of FOSS and otherwise options for doing Computer Aided Drafting on linux. Logan Brown has offered to speak about OpenSCAD Frank Sweetser will be talking about TinkerCAD I will be talking about FreeCAD We'll also gloss over LeoCAD and a few other cad products as well. This is a round table, so if you have a piece of cad software on linux you love feel free to speak up! Refreshments and Snacks will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner. Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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Linux in the wild
by Richard Klein Sept. 26, 2019

Sept. 26, 2019

Seen on Nextdoor (lost cat): https://nextdoor.com/post/125096592?init_source=copy_link_share -- Rich

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Thanks for a great meeting last night!
by Tim Keller Sept. 26, 2019

Sept. 26, 2019

As usual at WLUG, we went off on a tangent and it was amazing.. What started out as a side conversation about storage technologies turned into 1.5 hour conversation about LVM / ZFS on Linux / Ceph / GlusterFS / Synology / FreeNAS / NetAPP and the general philosophies around managing scalable storage at home and in the enterprise! This conversation continued at the Boynton and was great fun! Next meeting is the 10th of October! Later, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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Becoming a brick-and-mortar Linux vendor
by Joshua Stone Sept. 25, 2019

Sept. 25, 2019

Hey everyone, I'm sure we all know how successful Linux is across different markets today, but I've been wondering about with Linux as a desktop platform if one were to run a business around selling machines that're built with it in mind. The market for online retailers selling devices shipping Linux already seems diverse enough, but I don't know of any successful brick-and- mortar stores selling these devices. I think there could be some advantages to this, including: - Spreading awareness about Linux and the FOSS community - Providing on-site troubleshooting and consultation - Demonstrating different form factors such as Raspberry Pi, Steam OS machines, workstation etc - Providing a physical location for workshops, LUGs, and other meetups - Having a one-stop shop for hardware that's already known to work on Linux such as USB DACs, wifi adapters, etc - Generally act as a community center for computer enthusiasts - Partnering with pre-existing online vendors so customers can test their hardware in-store Jumping into a business such as this does sound risky though, seeing as the Linux crowd is generally very hands-on about computers they purchase and are willing to fix problems on their own. There are also many hurdles that the ecosystem has to catch up on in order to be competitive with applications found only on Windows and/or macOS. That being said, I think I'm still curious to see how much interest there would be in selling a platform around desktop Linux in a brick-and- mortar store with an experience similar to Microsoft and Apple stores. It would certainly help for attracting new users with a more integrated approach that we've come to expect from other platforms, and I think we're in a pretty good position these days for seeing growth. I'd also like to say that I have no experience in marketing, so I wouldn't know where to start with doing anything like market research or studies, so I'm eager to hear any suggestions for how to gauge the potential for a business idea such as this. More than happy to hear what everyone else thinks! Sincerely, -Josh

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September WLUG Meeting Announcement!
by Tim Keller Sept. 5, 2019

Sept. 5, 2019

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting next week! Date: September 12, 2019 Time: 7pm Location: WPI Campus Center Mid-Century Room (rm 331) aka. the usual haunt Topic: Tinkercad codeblocks and more! I know that a few of us have tinkered with and enjoy using OpenSCAD. However, for many users the learning curve is REALLY steep and this steep learning curve has kept many users away from programmatic shape generation for 3d modeling. Basically writing code to generate a shape. At our last meeting Frank Sweetser showed off something really cool, which is that Tinkercad has now integrated a "scratch" like language into Tinkercad. At this meeting someone will be giving a demo of this. I think we would be remiss if we didn't talk about exFAT and Microsoft's decision to open the patents on it. It *sounds* like we may have exFAT becoming a first class citizen on linux. Is this Microsoft playing some long game of embrace, extend, extinguish or are we moving towards some wild convergence point? In that is the interesting conversation where we think linux will be in another ten years and for that matter Microsoft. As usual, snacks and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner and fall deeper down the rabbit hole! Later, Tim. WLUG President -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

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Sr Linux Software Engineer opening
by John Spencer Sept. 3, 2019

Sept. 3, 2019

Connected Systems has a client with a perm/direct hire opening for the following: As a Senior Linux Software Engineer with this group on Cape Cod, you will be working on the embedded software and firmware development and enhancements of a new IoT system platform. Please note our client will consider candidates who can work on-site 1-2 days/week. We're seeking candidates that have the ability to modify kernels and drivers on Linux based systems. A candidate will also ideally have some form of wireless, wifi or Bluetooth product experience. 10+ years of Linux programming with C++/C coding for Firmware development Strong experience with Linux systems, Linux Kernels, Linux Drivers and security programming Experience with Wireless, Wifi, or Bluetooth (BLE) based technology Bonus points for candidates experienced in Yocto Linux or Systems Architecture Please Note : All candidates must be US Citizens or US Greencards. Our client cannot sponsor visas. Salary up to $150K will be considered. Please send your resume and any questions to me directly. Regards, John Spencer Connected Systems Partners Office: (978) 455-5550 x208 Cell: (978) 621-9743 jspencer(a)connectedsp.com www.connectedsp.com GET CONNECTED! All information in this email, unless indicated otherwise in the body of the email, is considered confidential and intended for the view and use of the recipient(s) only.

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August WLUG meeting reminder!!
by Tim Keller Aug. 15, 2019

Aug. 15, 2019

Hey fellow WLUG'ers! We've got a meeting this Thursday August 15th! Space and time: WPI student center mid century room (rm 331) aka "the usual haunt" at 7pm. Topic: general discussion / using linux to drive a Curio die cut machine. San is and refreshments will be provided and afterwards we'll head off for dinner to continue the conversation. See ya there! Tim Keller WLUG President

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Comparing distro packages
by Dennis Payne Aug. 13, 2019

Aug. 13, 2019

I wanted to know if OpenAlchemist is included in Debian. During my searching I found distrowatch has the ability to compare packages from distributions. I pull up Fedora and Debian. https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=compare-packages&firstlist=fedor… Fedora's list of packages doesn't include OpenAlchemist. Nor does it include shippy, ostrichriders, and btbuilder. Clearly this isn't a complete list. Am I doing something wrong on distrowatch? Is there a different way to do the same thing?

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