KLUG Meeting Notes - 04/18/2000 (fwd)
Mark Szidik - Michigan Library Consortium
szidikm@mlc.lib.mi.us
Thu, 20 Apr 2000 10:05:38 -0400 (EDT)
I like to forward these to our list once in a while to let us know what
the other LUG's are doing, and maybe get some ideas for us.
-Mark
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 04:47:55 -0400
From: magoo <magoo@voyager.net>
Reply-To: members@kalamazoolinux.org
To: members@kalamazoolinux.org
Subject: KLUG Meeting Notes - 04/18/2000
Resent-Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 04:50:52 -0400
Resent-From: members@kalamazoolinux.org
KALAMAZOO LINUX USER'S GROUP
MEMBERS AND GUESTS - COME JOIN US FOR A MEETING!!!
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings
WE MEET WEEKLY, EACH TUESDAY AT 7:00PM.
Our meeting site is Room 4202 of Dunbar Hall on
the campus of Western Michigan University.
Tuesday April 18, 2000 7:00PM
KLUG Meeting Notes - Summary
I. PROJECT REPORTS
II. GENERAL KLUG ANNOUNCEMENTS
III. PRESENTATION RECAP
IV. A LOCAL LINUX NEWS ADDENDUM
Chairperson: Robert G. Brown
I. PROJECT REPORTS
LINUX OR KLUG RELATED PROJECT REPORTS -
KLUG SHIRTS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!!! You can NOW wear
your KLUG affiliation and commitment to Linux!
YES! Kalamazoo Linux Users Group polo shirts are
now available for purchase. Thanks to our program
director - Brenda Williams, you can be the first on
your block to own a sporty and original KLUG shirt.
WAY TO GO BRENDA!!! THE SHIRTS LOOK REALLY GREAT!
Go to the "KLUGwear" link now for pricing & details:
http://kalamazoolinux.org/clothing/ <HERE NOW!>
THE LINUX VIDEO OUTREACH PROJECT - Finalizing that post
production phase at the Community Access Center. Sounds
like this video will be 20 minutes in length, including the
intro and the KLUG infomercial! "The Internet Demystified"
is the title of this video. Joe Freeman is preparing a
20 second 3D animation of the KLUG logo for the Linux
& the internet video intro. It won't be long before this
Linux outreach video will be airing on the public access
channels. Contact "Joe Freeman" <imago@imago3d.com> for info.
LINUX CLUSTERING PROJECT - High Availability (HA)
We are looking forward to an update from Dirk about this
Turbo Linux installation. Someone mentioned another
distribution might be tested in addition. This project
explores the technology that will allow Linux to maintain
services and function despite the unavoidable failure of
hardware. We should all be interested in HA. Contact the
project coordinator for more info "Dirk Bartley"
<bartleyd2@net-link.net>
See also SECTION IV: A LOCAL LINUX NEWS ADDENDUM -
BOOGIE CYBER CAFE - A public commercial Linux implementation.
Check out - http://www.boogies.com/ Site by Matt Crampton!
OPERATING SYSTEM REMAINS STABLE. The workstations are now
being secured inside protective enclosures to prevent users
from removing cables or even "Turning Off the Power." The
Linux OS remains calm and in control! This successful public
demonstration of the flexibility and suitability of Linux
in a commercial environment provides great exposure. This
project provides a share of the profits for KLUG use. The
last three boxes should be finished this week. Wood boxes
with locks and a slot for the 3.5" floppy drives. YIKES!
We need more GAMES on these boxes... contact Matt or Bob.
WEST MICHIGAN POLIO NETWORK WEB SITE - A project leader
is still being sought to begin this project. Several people
have looked at this volunteer web site development outreach.
Shelved for a few months, but not forgotten. Are there
any project leaders willing to help out with this? They
asked us to assist them in getting their info published for
public use and good. Contact <bob@acm.org> for more info.
******** UPGRADE YOUR SYSTEM NOW WITH REDHAT v6.2 *********
BETTER THAN EVER! GREAT NEW FEATURES IN REDHAT LINUX!
This Linux distribution now comes on two (2) CD-ROM's.
THANKS BRUCE!!! See http://kalamazoolinux.org/bsware/
E-mail him in advance about your needs and pick up your
CD's at the next meeting. <bruce@armintl.com>
YOU HAVE IDEAS FOR A KLUG PRESENTATION or know of a good
speaker, we want to hear about it! Make contact with
our KLUG Program Director, Brenda Williams!
<nixb@iserv.net>
NOTE -
* Must come to three meetings to qualify as full member.
II. GENERAL KLUG ANNOUNCEMENTS
THE BEGINNER'S MEETING is the first Tuesday of each month.
Linux basics and distribution installs are the lessons of
these evenings. If you do want KLUG's FREE help installing
Linux on your computer at one of these meetings, see this URL:
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installform.html
Contact the KLUG Installmasters for more information:
installmaster@kalamazoolinux.org
IF YOU KNOW OF ADDITIONAL LINKS that should be included
in the KLUG LINKS page... please e-mail Richard
Zimmerman at <ke4rit@earthlink.net> so the LINKS team
can review the content of the site.
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/links
REDHAT LINUX CERTIFICATION information is available
from a KLUG officer. See the club listserv for more
info or check certifications on the Links page.
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/links/certification.html
VOLUNTEER CLUB POSITIONS AVAILABLE:
LISTmaster - maintain multiple KLUG mailing lists
See http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/organize/list-mast.html
Project Coordinators - West MI Polio Networks Project
Contact <bob@acm.org> for more info.
J O I N & S U P P O R T K L U G !!!
Be a KLUG Supporting Member! $25 annually *
($.50 per meeting)
THE SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE -
GREAT MEETING PRESENTATIONS. Your opportunity
to share your Linux experiences and see what
other people are doing. Come enjoy a meeting!
If you have an IDEA FOR A KLUG PRESENTATION or know
of a good speaker, we want to hear about it! Make
contact with our KLUG Program Director, Brenda
Williams! <nixb@iserv.net>
NON-COMMERCIAL OR PERSONAL WEB SITE HOSTED on the
KLUG server. Single page .html files can be sent to
Matt Crampton KLUG webmaster@kalamazoolinux.org for
posting. These are intended to be low traffic web
sites displaying appropriate content.
BORROW BOOKS & DISTRIBUTIONS from KLUG library
Contact Adam for more info on library holdings.
We have Debian, SuSE, Mandrake, and WinLinux
distribution packages available in our library
along with several others. <awilliam@whitemice.org>
Ask about the *non-Linux* distribution additions!
********** REDHAT v6.2 HAS BEEN RELEASED ************
This Linux distribution now comes on two (2) CD's.
Supporting Member Discount on BSware is $3 or 60% off!
Bruce distributes a non-commercial version of Redhat!
Notice - BSware prices are $5 per CD. A great deal!!!
Thanks Bruce!!! See http://kalamazoolinux.org/bsware/
NEW 50 Mb CREDIT CARD SIZED LINUX CD-ROM'S ARE HERE!
Contact Bruce to find out what Linux distributions and
application software he has available. E-mail him in
advance about your needs and pick up your CD's at the
next meeting. bruce@armintl.com
MAKE SURE YOU ARE SIGNED UP for the KLUG mailing list!
Diversified mailing lists can be found on our web site.
http://kalamazoolinux.org/listserv/
Currently Available KLUG Lists:
- Common List (All Members)
- Assistance for New Linux Users
- Merits/Weaknesses of different Operating Systems
TAX DEDUCTIBLE STATUS - The 501c3 application was sent
to the IRS in December. We have received notice that
they are proceeding with the processing of our request.
We hope to hear from them soon with notice of our charitable
deductibility. Charitable and tax-exemption status is
routinely granted to educational not-for-profit organizations.
This should help us attain our financial goals. We need
working capital for increased Linux promotional activities.
WEST MICHIGAN SEARCH & RESCUE - Website is done.
Go there and see this KLUG public service project!
The site is ready for the next phase of development.
Contact Brenda Williams with questions or comments.
<nixb@iserv.net> Web site http://www.wmsar.org
NOTE -
* Must come to three meetings to qualify as full member.
III. PRESENTATION RECAP
TONIGHT'S KLUG PRESENTATION:
*****************************************************
Star Office v5.1 from Sun Microsystems
- presented by Brian Ritz, Intranet Content
Manager with Morrison Industries
Brian showed us everything we really needed to know
about Star Office to start enjoying it right now.
He told us about the license exclusion for operating
airplanes, air traffic control, or nuclear facilities.
He followed with "What IS Included" (see below),
supported file formats, install - single and network,
printer install, general options, creating a mail
account, getting that addressbook configured, and a
glimpse of the cool "Review Document Mode" feature!
The best advice of the night might have been to get a
good manual like the one Brian lugged in to display. It
weighed in at about 20 pounds. Que's Special Edition -
"Using Star Office" $WOW but worth it to support the
full strength of this very well regarded office suite
of applications. You can buy an enhanced $29 version
directly from Sun and v5.2 freeware will be out soon
with some needed refinements. GREAT FOR LINUX USERS!!!
BRIAN RECOMMENDS YOU GET IT HERE FREE...
http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/get.cgi
BSWARE is $5! Bruce is kindly donating his CDR services.
E-mail him in advance about your needs and pick up your
CD's at the next meeting. <bruce@armintl.com>
YOU MUST COME TO THE MEETING TO PICK UP THIS SOFTWARE!
Supporting Member Discount on BSware is $3 or 60% off!
Tell all your friends to check out this info on the
KLUG "Past Presentations" Page when they ask if they
can abandon that 'troublesome platform.' WHY NOT?
Linux has lots of great free applications available.
Many good choices in every area of application software
except of course... OCR, give it time, it too will be.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN SUN MICROSYSTEM'S STAR OFFICE v5.1:
(cost = FREE) {{previously about $400}}
Word Processor - great ratings
Spreadsheet - great ratings
Presentation Manager - great ratings
Graphics Package - not bad
Mail Client - ?
Schedule/Project Manager - unknown
Integrated File & Web Browser - ?
ODBC & LDAP Support - cool extra
Help Files - similar to that "big software company" <erase>
((OK, OK! - did you notice this too??? NO SQL DATABASE?))
When are we having a presentation on Linux databases?
Any web databases? Any DBA out there want to do this?
--------------------------------------------------------
COME TO A MEETING TO GET THE REAL GOOD STUFF!!! YUMMY!
There were nutritious chocolate chip cookies and M&M cookies
with fortifying vitamin enriched milk served after the meeting!
VERY NICE!!! T H A N K S BRENDA & BOB!!! Wow! :))
---------------------------------------------------------
IV. A LOCAL LINUX NEWS ADDENDUM - KALAMAZOO LINUX CLUSTERING!
Hey KLUG list members! This shouldn't have missed the
listserv. That was my error. Isn't this a great edge
technology project to be aware of? It doesn't get too
much more exciting than this!!! An amazing KLUG member
education opportunity!
mag00> Hey Dirk... 4/13/2000
mag00>
mag00> LINUX CLUSTERS
mag00>
mag00> I have heard that a grad student at WMU has
mag00> received a grant to explore Linux Clustering
mag00> for parallel processing applications. Rodger
mag00> is a YAKKO member & Linux promoter!
mag00>
mag00> They are connecting 16 machines to a control
mag00> workstation. They are doing this on top of
mag00> the Redhat v6.x Linux OS.
mag00>
mag00> I don't really grasp the nature of his project.
mag00> I told Rodger about the KLUG HA project, clustering
mag00> with Turbo Linux. He was interested although he
mag00> pointed out that these projects are somewhat
mag00> pointed in different directions... there might be
mag00> some union! A combo of HA & parallel processing???
mag00> Sounds like a future fancy to me...
mag00>
mag00> Maybe Rodger could present to KLUG about this
mag00> project. It might be nice to get a before and
mag00> after peek at it!
Dirk> Yes, it would be great to see it working
Dirk> and to get an explanation of what it takes
Dirk> to get the nodes working in a computer cluster.
Dirk> We have 5 machines here working as a high
Dirk> availability cluster performing failover
Dirk> using TurboLinux's TurboCluster. Roger, if
Dirk> your interested, feel free to contact me. I'd
Dirk> be happy to show you what is going on here.
Dirk> I'm also interested in attempting a compute
Dirk> cluster. Are you using Beowulf?
Rodger> I would be interested in seeing how your
Rodger> HA project is doing. Our focus is not on
Rodger> high-availability, but on research and
Rodger> application specific parallel techniques
Rodger> for usage on a compute cluster.
Rodger>
Rodger> Also, there are some extensions to some
Rodger> software we are using that allow for
Rodger> multiple clusters to be linked up to
Rodger> work together; it would be interesting
Rodger> to see if this could work.
Rodger>
Rodger> I would be happy to do a presentation.
Rodger> Honestly, I'm a bit weak in the hardware
Rodger> & networking areas, but know a lot about
Rodger> the software and applications involved,
Rodger> and some of the history and current large
Rodger> projects involving Beowulf.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Rodger R. Zanny Doctoral Student / Teaching Assistant
4421 Friedman Hall Email: rrzanny@cs.wmich.edu
Computer Science Dept zrodger@yakko.cs.wmich.edu
Western Michigan Univ http://www.net-link.net/~zrodger
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
REFERENCE LINKS - <<not a KLUG endorsement>>
TurboLinux TurboCluster v4.0
http://www.turbolinux.com/
Beowulf Underground - Extreme Linux - Beowulf FAQ
http://www.beowulf.org
************************************************************
* ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION
* **************************************************
* * N E W K L U G D O M A I N N A M E *
* **************************************************
*
* We have a new web address!!!
*
* http://kalamazoolinux.org
*
* Make sure you change your bookmarks and links.
* Report any links you find that point to the old
* address - http://klug.armintl.com The old DNS
* is NO LONGER ACTIVE. Help make this identity
* transition go smoothly. Report the old links
* you find to our linkmaster, Richard Zimmerman
* <ke4rit@earthlink.net>.
*
************************************************************
NOTE -
* Must come to three meetings to qualify as full member.
WHAT IS KLUG? -
KLUG is a volunteer group formed by and for LINUX
system users in the Kalamazoo Michigan area. We
support, promote, and develop activities related
to the use, study, and application of LINUX in the
local community.
><<< send corrections, additions, flames to the KLUG Scribe >>><
mag00@voyager.net
THANKS to MORRISON INDUSTRIES, INC. for providing their
VGA Projector to support KLUG and Linux presentations.
THANKS to ARMSTRONG INTERNATIONAL, INC. for providing their
much appreciated IT Resources to support KLUG and Linux.