April 2003 Meeting in Bakewell - Derbyshire
 Kevin sorts out his computer  Alec sorts out his computer while Shrida and Bob Holland sort out some difficult GNU/Linux issues  |
On the 12th of April 2003 we gathered together for yet another historic Sheffield Linux User's Group meeting in a venue that we hadn't used or been to before. Nobody was quite sure what was going to happen but something like ten people arrived from places like Dinnington, Sheffield and Buxton. Much talk and practical help was found to be available. The Country Bookshop which is run by Shrida opened its doors to the local GNU/Linux people to allow us to experience the sunny delights of Derbyshire and Bakewell in the early part of 2003. An excellent venue for such a gathering. The rain died away and the sun and the bird song came along to welcome us to Hassop near Bakewell and the sound of original 1970s MG motor cars arriving in the car park. SuSE 8.2 had just been released the week before and so Alec Melling and myself compared notes over the table about the latest release and what's right or wrong with it. Not least of the good bits was the inclusion of applications like Digikam and K3B on the desktop. Excellent desktop software that is not only easy to use - user friendly - but also covered by the GNU General Public Licence thus making it freely available for many years to come. Kevin Ferguson came along once again although on previous ocassions he was a bit worried about what to say to us. This time around he just waded in to the meeting and asked for help whilst sampling some of the local food from the Country Bookshop. His main problem was understanding some of the administrational details of how and what to do with a RedHat 9.0 system. Most other people who were with us expressed the same problems with RedHat which hasn't been doing so well just lately. Not the least of their problems is the spiralling cost of their expensive "free" software. The rest of us enjoy free software as it is in the shape of the Mandrake, Debian GNU/Linux and Slackware distributions without all of the problems that RedHat have introduced. The net connection that was provided by the bookshop was a real bonus to us. I was able to use it to solve some of the problems that Kevin was suffering from. We were hoping to see some more Mandrake and Debian GNU/Linux systems. Both have which have some excellent desktops as well as the latest KDE 3.1 desktop. Mandrake 9.1 was released some weeks ago and the latest Debian GNU/Linux software as well. Both of them provide for superb desktop and server software at no cost. The Debian GNU/Linux system is just now in the process of receiving a GUI based installation system to bring it up to date with all of the other versions of GNU/Linux. Should be good when it's finished. Won't be too long now. Lack of hardware was made up for by the discussion around the table about Mandrake versus Debian versus the rest. This is the kind of thing that you can't get hold of for any amount of money and it's not to be missed. The stuff of all good LUG meetings. Other people that cane along were Jan White from Sheffield University, Peter from Buxton and even Shrida gave up part of his afternoon to join in with the rest of us. Unfortunately both James Mears and Craig Andrews were hit by domestic circumstances. Hopefully they will return at a later date. |
Outside the Country Bookshop
  Inside the Country Bookshop |
How
did the meeting go in general ? Well, everyone said that they
really liked the new venue and they would like to go back there again.
The combination of easy access by bus and by car as well as a
friendly and helpful atmosphere made everyone think just that bit more
effectively and much Linux talk and configuration of systems and the
finding bugs and technical issues that need to be resolved was just the
kind of thing that everyone wanted. As well as the tasty food and
snacks provided by the local cafe of course. Hope we see you
there next time. Keep you eye on the meetings page for updates on further meetings.
Richard
www.sheflug.co.uk
Richard
www.sheflug.co.uk