[ale] ALE-NW dying

[JD]

Chuck Payne has stepped up to take over ALE-NW.  We are working the transition
now.  A meeting is still planned for next week. The only thing not known is the
exact room, but it will be in the same building as normal. Plan on that.

SPSU is onboard with a venue for the next semester and I don't have any reason
to think this will change in the next few years.

Linux has become much easier to install, use, run than ever before. There are 50
other specialized groups which historically would have been service by the LUG.
 This fractures the core ALE.

Heck, Redhat has a specialize meeting for their customers (not open to us Debian
folks for some reason) which further splits us.

I remember learning about Python, Perl, Asterisk, Email, apache, DevOps, Hadoop,
OpenStack ...  at LUG meetings - each of those (well, not the email) have their
own specialized groups now.

There is still a need for general Linux knowledge.  Sadly, the average linux
admin seems to get it working and forget it. This is seem by all the wordpress
hacks around the web. There are professional linux admins, but with the cloud
more and more noob-ish software weenies think they have the necessary skills and
experience to run a server (they do not, generally, IMHO). I was a software
weenie, BTW and thought I knew better than simple-minded admins.

Administration of Linux is as hard as it has ever been, even with all the
new-fangled tools like ssh-copy-id and APT.

At ALE-NW, we've attempted to cover "server security" and "desktop security" a
few times. Most of the attendees seem to want a button that says "Secure Server
(Y/n)" that can be checked and done forever. We know that isn't how this works
and that years of knowledge, training, experience are needed to secure a server
properly and it all begins with versioned, automatic, backups.

Then there is the issue of securing apache, which is different from securing
apache running php webapps, which is different from securing apache running a
mod_perl tool, etc.   There isn't any 1-click "secure it" answer, so folks get
overwhelmed.  If all we covered was securing X server every month, where X was a
different webapp, we'd have topics for 20 yrs without a repeat.

I've always avoided the "secure apache" topic, because there isn't any way 1
person could possibly know how to do that.  Only a someone really new would
think they could.

Sorry for the rant. I stepped aside so others with fresher ideas have a chance
to make things better and more relevant to current and future members.  I think
Chuck can make it happen for ALE-NW, especially if we all support him.



On 01/02/2015 09:51 AM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> +1M  :-(
> 
> On Jan 2, 2015 9:39 AM, "Brian MacLeod" <nym.bnm at gmail.com
> <mailto:nym.bnm at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     I’m going to be a little harsher, and probably overstep, but…
> 
>     ALE-NW isn’t dying.  ALE is dying.
> 
>     I presented in December for Central, and there were 3-4 people other than
>     me.  When I asked Jim Kinney if this was just a holiday thing, he said no —
>     that’s been the attendance for ALE Central for months now, and if that
>     continues, there’s not much point in having a venue anymore and I agreed.
> 
>     It is a trend I hear is occurring with many face to face groups — one hiccup
>     here, one miscommunication there, and a whole group dies because people
>     don’t want to bother in a day and age where telecommute applications are
>     becoming a norm.  People in general aren’t looking at face-to-face meetings
>     as being important anymore.
>     Someone mentioned at that meeting that the AUUG is suffering from lower
>     numbers every month.
> 
>     There will be some who will put the blame on certain people and certina
>     behaviors on the mailing list.  I doubt that, I think that was mere
>     coincidence.  I know there were people I used to be able to count on being
>     at Central who I’ve not seen in over a year, and some of these were folks
>     who I would also go to an after meeting and have beers with.  A lot of those
>     old-timers have other things to do, and the new kids don’t see much value in
>     travelling to a meeting when there are vast resources available to learn
>     from online.
> 
>     And that’s before we even talk about leadership and venue issues.
> 
>     So now that I’ve pooped on the parade, I think we need to open up a
>     conversation of what ALE is, because I don’t think ALE is returning as much
>     value as it once did.  Maybe it’ll still be a good “post an email and get a
>     response” group.  The face to face stuff, I think, may be done unless 1)
>     someone has a really good idea of a good value add for meetings, and 2) is
>     willing to champion it.
> 
>     I admittedly don’t even have #1.
> 
>     And even if someone steps up to help lead ALE-NW, if a venue change is also
>     occurring, I would have my doubts of continuing the level of participation. 
>     Suddenly, there something for people to figure out (where am I going, where
>     do I park now) and that’s when they decide it isn’t worth the little extra
>     effort.  The timing of Central’s drop seems to be roughly correlated to that
>     last move, though JIm and I can attest to the number falling even before that.
> 
>     I don’t want to see it die, because frankly, ALE has become less a place for
>     me to get help on technical issues and more a place where I can work on some
>     of my social issues and work on my presenting skills when I have interesting
>     topics for folks, and occasionally help someone else out.
> 
>     Brian
> 
> 
> 
>     On Dec 31, 2014, at 10:55 AM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com
>     <mailto:jdp at algoloma.com>> wrote:
> 
>     > Someone needs to step up and take over leadership of ALE-NW.  I will do what I
>     > can to transfer everything over. There isn't much involved, mainly just
>     contacts
>     > for the school and potential speakers.
>     >
>     > Don't let your ALE-NW die.
>     >