Meeting notes from Thurs, 5th April at Hotel Kurrajong. Facilitated by David Symons, presentation by Evan Leybourn of LG Solutions and Kristy Bennett.

Introductions

David welcomed all, introduced FOSSACT, explained what it's all about and trying to achieve, sponsorships and upcoming events.

News

We had a lot to get through that day, so we skipped the news, although there were open discussions after the talk.

Presentations

1. Evan Leybourn from LG Solutions talks about Data Warehousing. Evan kindly gave permission for us to record his presentation. Download the 50 minute audio on Data Warehousing.
• Download OGG audio 26MB
• Download MP3 audio 40MB
2. Kristy Bennett presenting - SWAT then what? Kristy talked about SWOT analysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT) and marketing practises using the 'P's' of marketing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing#Four_Ps

Thanks!
A big thanks to Evan and Kristy for taking the time taking out to speak to the group on the afternoon before the Easter break. Thanks!

The next FOSSACT meeting will be held next Thursday, 5th April @ 4:00pm at the Kurrajong Hotel in Barton, Canberra

Presentations:

1. Evan Leybourn from LG Solutions talks about Data Warehousing
2. Kristy Bennett presenting - SWAT then what?
   
   So many businesses have been faced with SWOT analysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT) at some point and have done it only to think - 'now what?' It then proceeds to get lost on a desk, or in the household recycling after being used as bedtime reading, or in a filing cabinet never to be looked at again. This presentation is a chance to look at your business' SWOT analysis and find some practical applications for it in your marketing practises using the 'P's' of marketing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing#Four_Ps). Most of the theoretical content is covered in the wikipedia links provided and is well worth reading before attending as is drafting a SWOT analysis. The presentation is designed to engage discussion on the practicalities of applying the P's of marketing in the free and open source industry to boost your corporate image and profit margin.

Note: The meeting will be held in the Kurrajong conference room up stairs behind the reception desk. If you get lost just ask at reception.

RSVP
It would be appreciated if you could please RSVP if you are coming to this event.

Look forward to seeing you there!

"Digital Trends WA has assisted the Western Australian Local Government Association to develop more than 65 Local Government Websites using Plone - including the Local Government Portal."

More (on WA sites): http://www.ozzope.org/WA_ploneSites/

More (on Plone and government): http://plone.org/search?SearchableText=government

And what's the most popular idea with currently over 65,000 votes?

Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot

Offer the 3 top free Linux versions for free pre-installation on all Dell PCs.

Quality free and open source software drastically lowers the cost of new PCs, and helps prevent software piracy. For example OpenOffice.org, the Microsoft Office alternative, can shave hundreds of dollars off the price of a new PC. Cast your vote for OpenOffice and other free software.

Offer easy multi-boot options with Windows Vista, Windows XP, or NO Windows (yes, Linux can entirely replace Windows!)

Offer trade-ins and Linux CDs for older model Dell PCs. Cast your vote for the mini Linux Dell PC and the Universal Education Dell PC, both utilizing free software.

More @ http://www.dellideastorm.com

And from Dell gives desktop Linux its "full attention"

[QUOTE] As for this wave of support for the Linux desktop, Pearson [Dell's vice president of corporate group communications] said that "We are immediately sharing these ideas throughout our company, so that our managers can determine what we should do and/or some of the ideas will trigger others. Later this week, we will start posting those ideas where we have or will soon take action."While "I can't speak specifically to Linux," Pearson said, "I can assure you it is getting full attention" [/QUOTE]

Meeting notes from Wed 31st January 2007 at Hotel Kurrajong. Facilitated by Justin Freeman, presentation by Pia Waugh from Waugh Partners.

Introductions

Justin welcomed ALL of the new attendees, introduced FOSSACT, explained what it's all about and trying to achieve, sponsorships and upcoming events.

Sorry for changing the date at such short notice, still we had about 15 people rock up, mainly new which was great.

News

"Keen to reduce its dependence on monopoly suppliers", the City of Amsterdam is conducting a year-long trial of Linux on the desktop. Amsterdam joins the cities of Vienna and Munich in investigating and/or deploying open source software.

 More details @ businessweek.com

The following notes are from the committee meeting held on 22nd November 2006. Committee members in attendance: Justin Freeman, David Symmons, Neil Cox and Finn Bulcher.

This provides an indication of the planned presentation and activities for 2007.

Schedule For 2007

• NO JANUARY MEETING: Everyone will be too busy.
• February: Kristy Bennett & Pia Waugh talks about Marketing and Advocacy.
• March: Evan Leybourn from LG Solutions talks about Data Warehousing.
• April: An Introduction to Web Content Management Systems - Plone and Drupal. Justin Freeman & David Symmons to instruct.
• May: Business Accounting using Open Source Software. Neill Cox to present SQL Ledgers, GNU Cash and others.
• June: Virtualisation in the Enterprise using VMWare & Xen. Speaker TBA.

Future 2007 Presentations & Activities

• Attached network storage: ISCSI, Sans etc.
• Present to an Association, HIA, ACS, Chamber of Commerce
• Why hardware / software certification is important
• What FOSS software is important for small to medium businesses

Why Not Join The Committee?

As always, there is an open invitation for any FOSSACT member to join the Committee and provide input into the direction of this user group.

Meeting notes from 1st December 2006. Facilitated by Justin Freeman, presentation by Luie Matthee from Red Hat.

Introductions

Justin introduced FOSSACT, the committee members in attendance, sponsorships and upcoming events. There will be no January 2007 meeting. Next meeting is 2nd February 2007.

Everyone seemed to like the later start time, which also enabled people to hang around more after the presentation, relax and chat. It was good :)

Presentation - XEN Virtualisation & JBoss

Luie Matthee presented and demonstrated XEN Virtualisation on Red Hat Fedora Core 6 running Windows XP & Office.

There was an extensive discussion about the difference between para-virtualisation (XEN) and full virtualisation (VMWare).

Following this there was a very brief overview of JBoss Application Server, which for many was a first time introduction into this technology.

There is a great Web Cast and other information on Xen Virtualisation on the Red Hat website.

Next Meeting

• Please see next meeting schedule.

Thanks for your support!

A big thanks goes out to Red Hat & Novell who provided the hot food and drinks for the last FOSSACT meeting of 2006.

See you all for the next meeting in February 2007!

From the Ubuntu Weekly News Mailing List

South Australian Family First MLC, Hon. Dennis Hood, made submissions in the South Australian Legislative Council on 6th Dec calling for schools and libraries to embrace Ubuntu. He noted that Ubuntu "has significant advantages over proprietary software. With developers all over the world freely and constantly improving the software, it is little wonder that many Open Source solutions are now outpacing Microsoft solutions". He also gave out Ubuntu CDs to all South Australian parliamentarians.

Read more at ComputerWorld

The wait is over. The final version 10.2 of the popular openSUSE Linux distribution is officially here and available for download:
http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version

There's an interesting conversation @
http://digg.com/linux_unix/openSUSE_Linux_10_2_officially_released

For those new to Linux, there's a quick review of openSUSE 10.2 available with screenshots: http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT5310810296.html

"good-bye XP, hello openSUSE 10.2!"

If you want a DVD of OpenSUSE 10.2 then just let us know and I'll bring some along to the next FOSSACT.