[GLLUG] more Penguicon thoughts

[Charles Ulrich]

On Monday 23 April 2007 13:46, Marshal Newrock wrote:
> On a related subject, does anyone know of anything like the load
> monitor in gkrellm, except multi-column, so we can have nice large
> graphs of load for each CPU?  If we'd had that, we could have
> displayed that on the projector.  After all, the terminal server has
> 8 logical CPU's.

Caleb might be able to set up a Conky configuration for us. If we wanted 
nice looking line graphs, KSysGuard does an okay job and there are 
probably other apps like it that do better.

> 2) Terminals and related hardware.  More is better.  I'd like a 10%
> surplus for next year.  If need be, extras can be stored in rooms.  I
> also wouldn't mind seeing better cabling.  A few seconds tying cables
> to shorten them would prevent the rat's nest that was at the center
> of every quad.  It would also make it easier to quickly remove
> terminals to make room for other machines during installfest if need
> be.

Agreed on all counts. The only reason we had enough monitors last year 
was because we tore apart the Ideal Solution office for hardware. We 
tried to avoid that this year and suffered only on the monitor front.

> 3) Burn Unit.  Largely successful.  The biggest area it fell down in,
> though, was that there's only one.  Somehow, next year, we need to be
> able to burn several discs at once, whether it's with multiple
> machines or a single machine.  There's also UI and admin improvements
> that can be made.  If Clay is agreeable, I think this could become a
> GLLUG project.

I understand that DVD burning is almost ready, it just needs the proper 
applications installed and testing. We could make it a GLLUG project 
except that I think Clay is the only one with any significant knowledge 
of both C and GTK. Not that interested parties couldn't learn, however.
 
> 4) Printing Station.  Once configured to be on the network and talk
> to the printer, it was pretty good, except that the printer in
> question does not do network at all well.  Next year, we need to
> remember to bring parallel printer cables if it's the same printer.

Actually, we should bring another printer. Or two. The parallel cable 
for the printer is some proprietary thing (looks like an external SCSI 
connector) that we'll probably never be able to find. A couple of 
people offered to loan us their laser printers, but I foolishly turned 
them down, forgetting what a hassle that color laser was.

> 5) Gaming Station.  There was only one computer there, and it tended
> to be a babysitting machine.  I'd like to suggest that next year, if
> we do anything with computer gaming, it's not in the computer lounge.
> Instead, we could probably get an empty panel room late at night,
> similar to what Ars Technica got.  If we have 3 or 4 gaming machines,
> possibly with scheduled games and/or talks on gaming on Linux (both
> commercial with and without wine, and open-source), I think this
> would work out a lot better.  Computer gaming would have to be
> staffed during the entire time that it's open, of course.

I dunno, I think computer gaming could have a place in the lounge, it's 
just that it hasn't yet been done right.

> We could use the space that would be otherwise taken up by Computer
> Gaming to have more terminals or more "bring your own computer"
> space.

And also, we should discourage people from setting up their own 
computers on the terminal tables before we have a chance to set up 
terminals on it. :P

> One thing we may want to do next year is have a stash of snacks and
> drinks available for techs, and to have the front desk be manned by a
> tech, with as much rotation as possible.  Running around like a
> chicken with your head cut off is exhausting.

I thought Chick had provided for gophers to fill this role, but maybe 
that got axed when it looked like we'd be too low on volunteers.

> 8) Staffing.  This is going to be a perpetual problem, and I don't
> have any quick solutions for this.  Chick did his best, but there was
> insufficient resources (aka people) and too many random factors (aka
> too much fun to be had at the con, and subsequent mental crispiness).
> This will likely be a topic for several Penguicon meetings.  I think
> we should start asking for volunteers through Penguicon at large.

Yes, and I seem to recall that the Penguin Wrangler said that they could 
forward volunteers to us if we asked. Next year, we could try to get 
other LUGS involved as well. Which was something that was planned for 
this year, but didn't quite happen.

-- 
Charles Ulrich
Ideal Solution, LLC -- http://www.idealso.com