[AUUG-Talk]: RE: Don't close AUUG down!

[Philip McCrea]

Hi all.  Speaking as an ex AUUG President from 91-95, it is indeed sad
to see AUUG close to demise.  But that is reality.  We rode the crest of
the wave when UNIX was new, sexy, and anti-Microsoft!  Unix is now very
establishment - some might say "legacy".  The excitement has gone.  I
have a bit to do with SLUG, and the excitement we experienced with AUUG
in the 1980s  is akin to the SLUG ambience at present.

I agree that AUUG should be wound up as a financial entity, and that its
financial assets be donated to either the John Lions chair or perhaps to
a Linux cause.  The AUUG community may well continue informally - purely
to relive the past.  We may ask UNSW, as part of the John Lions chair
arrangement, to arrange for AUUG archives to be properly maintained -
both physical and electronic.  I have, for instance, a range of
conference T shirts from the early 90s that I am happy to donate to the
cause...

Phil McCrea

> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
> auug-announce-bounces+philip.mccrea=ac3.com.au at auug.org.au 
> [mailto:auug-announce-bounces+philip.mccrea=ac3.com.au at auug.or
> g.au] On Behalf Of Peter Chubb
> Sent: Tuesday, 11 December 2007 10:05
> To: talk at auug.org.au
> Cc: AUUG Announcements List
> Subject: Re: Don't close AUUG down!
> 
> >>>>> "Greg" == Greg Lehey <Greg> writes:
> 
> >> You know, of course, that I've been suggesting dissolution for some
> >> time, at a time when people didn't want to admit it.  But now that
> >> the time has come, far from saying "I told you so", I'm having
> >> second thoughts.  I think we should donate all AUUG's assets to the
> >> Lions Chair and then carry on as a non-financial institution.  No
> >> membership fees, no money to look after; in principle, just the
> >> name, the web site and the mailing lists.  I suggest the John Lions
> >> chair because it seems to be the most obvious, but that's certainly
> >> a matter for discussion.
> 
> 
> This seems to me to be a *really* *good* *idea*.
> 
> The main problem with AUUG is that it's become almost irrelevant.
> Unix is mainstream now; the kind of buzz that was associated with Unix
> in the 70s and 80s is now with Linux.  AUUG missed its chance to
> transform itself into essentially what is now Linux Australia; we've
> never had the numbers or resources to become another Usenix; and it's
> unclear what role AUUG could have in the future.
> 
> I really value the friends I've made through AUUG; but I can't get
> funding to attend AUUG events any more (AUUG conferences are seen as
> very second rate), and I can't afford to fund myself --- so
> transforming into what would essecntially be a social network sounds
> like a good plan.
> 
> --
> Dr Peter Chubb  http://www.gelato.unsw.edu.au  peterc AT 
> gelato.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.ertos.nicta.com.au           ERTOS within National 
> ICT Australia
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