[clug] Response to "SCO case: Australian LUGs sais it's a storm in a teacup"

[Michael Still]

Mike,

I got your name from a phonecall to f2 networks. I write to express my
concern about the article written by Sam Varghese regarding Australian LUG
reaction to the SCO case.

At the end of the article, Sam comments that the Canberra, Sydney, and
Adelaide LUGs "did not bother to respond". As a member of the Canberra
LUG, I write to comment on the fact that Sam wrote a single email to Dr
Andrew Tridgell (one of the _several_ people listed on our website), and
did not attend to chase Dr Tridgell before writing such a strong comment.

It should also be noted that Dr Tridgell gets 1,000's of emails a day,
speaks at many conferences, and has previously been the subject of a full
page article in the AFR. He is also a full time researcher at IBM, as well
as working on one of the most popular open source packages available.
Clearly, as stated on his website, he might not notice every email message
he receives. It should also be pointed out that his phone number is
listed on his website (home, work, mobile _and_ fax), and his physical
mail address is listed as well.

I have also seen commentary from both Adelaide and Sydney that they have
no record of requests for comment being made to them.

Obviously it is not the policy of Fairfax to attempt to misrepresent the
LUG community in this way, and is not up to the normal standard of
journalism from Fairfax. I also assume that Fairfax did not seek to make
it harder to get responses from LUGs in the future by alienating them now.

I have emailled Sam, and he appears to be unable to understand why LUG
members might be upset with the strength of his statement.

I have never dealt with the press before, and must stress I cannot claim
to represent CLUG, as there is no formal structure to represent (just a
monthly meeting of like minded individuals). What possible action can be
taken to minimise the impact this statement might have between the Fairfax
and the LUG community.

I may be contacted via email, or on 0414 382 568 for further comment. I
have cc'ed this email to the CLUG mailling list, as well as the relevant
Linux Australia mailling list.

Thanks for your time,
Michael

-- 

Michael Still (mikal at stillhq.com) | Stage 1: Steal underpants
http://www.stillhq.com            | Stage 2: ????
UTC + 10                          | Stage 3: Profit