[clug] Declining attendance?

[Nemo Maelstrom Thorx]

On 10 Oct (a Wednesday in 2012) around 0913 hours, Arjen Lentz did utter:
> 
> I don't know what other groups are active in Canberra, but if you want
> to position CLUG as an umbrella, see what is of interest to people
> now. Linux is fairly mainstream with those who know about it. It's
> a tool just like a toaster, not a goal in itself these days. Not for
> most, anyway.  Consequently, things are much less geeky and much more
> practical.
> 
> Be really welcoming to that more practical crowd that doesn't care
> about kernels, and possible doesn't care about the intricacies of Free
> as in Freedom during their initial explorations of what Open Source
> software can do for them. They may just like that Inkscape and GIMP
> work really well, but would really enjoy a good tutorial. "Advertise"
> this outside the usual channels, gain new crowd (attract more women
> and kids, while you're at it).
> 

My feel is that this rather nails it. Linux is peaked in as far as being
the cool-new-thing-on-the-horizon, and is now a 'just works'. Sure, it
still cuts some edges, but it's not forging paths and exciting young
minds like it was in 1995... 

The impression I get is that, nowadays, the Maker community is the new
'forging paths to the horizon' hobbyist endeavour. Homebrew 3D, etc.

I still love linux - hell, it's my job and has been for years, but I've
not made it to a HUMBUG since I moved to Brisbane over 3 years ago, and
I think it was a few years before that that I'd been along to a CLUG
meet too. 

My thoughts from a distance is that the umbrella group is a great idea,
and after all, CLUG has never been pedantic about "must be Linux. must
be open source" etc. (I still recall my very first CLUG visit - the
night was dominated by someone bringing a BeOS machine. (not a bebox,
just the recently Intelised OS :)   ...so the way I see it, CLUG has
always been about the cool tech. It shouldn't abandon Linux ever, but
broading is good... :)


btw, I do love this list. It's a fantastic resource and why I stay
subscribed still :)

.../Nemo
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                                                    earth native