[Prev][Next][Index]

Meeting summary.



Finally, the meeting summary...

The meeting formally started at 9:00AM. However, people were still coming
in and talking between themselves so the meeting actually began at about
9:30AM. There were about 15-20 people in the meeting.

First, everyone was asked to say their name and what they do with Linux.
This took about 30 minutes, and after that the lectures were started.

The first lecture was given by Shay Rojansky about "Making Linux
User-Friendly using Tcl/Tk. Shay talked about the difficulties of
doing things in Unix that are seemingly trivial to gurus, but can be
very hard if not impossible for someone who has never used Unix before.
Therefore, Shay purposed creating graphical user interfaces using
Tcl/Tk (for its ease-of-use, portability and expandibility), which
would together form an array of tools for system control. The two
demonstrations developed by Shay were a graphical user interface to
fully configure a script that would call, login and establish a PPP
connection (pppd and chat), and an interface to the user database.
- For more information, contact Shay Rojansky at roji@cs.huji.ac.il

The second lecture was given by Amoss Shapira on the subject of Perl 5.
Perl is a very powerful scripting language for Unix that threatens to
replace C, awk and sed in many aspects. It is used for many tasks,
including the manipulation of text, files and processes, and IPC
and TCP/IP applications. Amoss's lecture was mainly an introduction
to the syntax of Perl. It included information about variables, general
language syntax, etc. The lecture itself was cut short since Amoss had
enough information to last for a lot more than the meeting was scheduled
for.
- For more information, contact Amoss Shapira at amoss@cs.huji.ac.il

The third lecture was given by Ariel Nowersztern on the subject of
CGI and Perl. CGI, or Common Gateway Interface, is widely used today
in World Wide Web applications as a gateway between a WWW server and
more complicated applications. It is used today for databases, information 
manipulation, etc. Ariel's lecture was mostly on what CGI is, and it's
relationship with Perl, which is frequently used to perform the task
itself.
- For more information, contact Ariel Nowersztern at reln@cs.huji.ac.il

At this point, lectures were completed, and the group focused on
possible participation of shows. This part was handled by Erez Strauss.
For more information contact him at strauss@actcom.co.il
Information:

There are two shows being held in the near future Linux-IL might have
an interest in:
------------------------------------------------
FIS, organized by The Shtir Group. 
Dates: 28/10 - 1/11
1220$ for a 4-meter booth.

This show has a  focus on the office, including both computers and 
furniture.
------------------------------------------------
InfoTech, organized by Anashim Ve'Machshevim 
Dates: 23/10 - 24/10
1300$ for a 5-meter booth.

This show is focused on advanced computing, including the Internet
and platforms.
------------------------------------------------

It was generally agreed that it would not be possible to collect all
the money from Linux-IL members like in Computax, since the financial strain
would be too much. Therefore, it was offered that we find sponsors by
offering the following services:

1. A listing in the papers
2. A support sign in the booth
3. Demonstration of software (perhaps even on a dedicated computers)
4. Hardware (i.e. the logos of a hardware company on the computers).

Sponsors would also financially enable Linux-IL to be in both shows.
Several people volunteered to talk with companies, including Erez,
Sergei, Eli Marmor, and others.

Next if was discussed what we would display at the shows and how we
would display it. It was generally agreed that we should adapt two
different attitudes - as an office solution, and as a Unix machine.
It was agreed that this time it would be necessary to show solutions,
not just things that can be done for fun. A few subjects listed were:

Replacing Novell/WFW/DOS         As a Unix machine
----------------------------------------------------------------
SMB, NFS                         Replacement for an X-Terminal
DosEMU, Wine                     Networking
Spreadsheets                     Routing (even router replacement)
SCO WordPerfect                  Hebrew
Khoros                           Internet server (WWW, FTP...)

It was also mentioned that this time Linux-IL should have products to
offer, unlike in Computax. These should include:

1. A very cheap but useful one-disc Linux Slackware distributions (LUG/nut).
2. A much wider and resource-oriented package, such as the Infomagic
   4-CD set of the Walnut Creek distribution.
3. Linux Journals.
4. Linux documentation from Yggdrasil and O'Reilley, such as the Linux
   Bible.
5. Linux Souvenirs (T-Shirts, mugs...)

After that Shay Rojansky explained about the Organiation for
Unix and Open Systems in Israel, AMIX. Shay was in the directorship
meeting at AMIX, to hear their comments, to explain about Linux-IL
and to discuss possible cooperation. A representative from AMIX,
Eli Marmor, was present in the meeting.

Shay discussed what it is like to be a part of ILA, like AMIX is.
It was generally decided that there isn't any need to join ILA, since
currently legal status and advice isn't needed, and a more organized
structure might destroy the spirit of Linux-IL. However, a possible
cooperationg between AMIX and Linux-IL might be useful - the money
for shows going through AMIX for possible substraction of taxes.

It was decided that Eli Marmor and Shay Rojansky draw up a base document
of cooperation between AMIX and Linux-IL.

With this, the meeting concluded.

Shay Rojansky

PS For all archive keepers, post this as the official summary.

--
Shay Rojansky, roji@cs.huji.ac.il                 Finger for PGP public key
Keyboard not found - Press <F1> to continue.
NSA spook of the day: Khaddafi terrorist Mossad Legion of Doom cryptographic