[tlug] Re: Why the shirts? Why TLUG?

["Shannon Jacobs" <shannon.jacobs@example.com>]

And a special tip of the hat to Attila in Switzerland (unless you've
wandered elsewhere).

There have been a number of thoughtful responses provided, and I'm not
sure how to address the topic in a substantive and cohesive manner.
Yes, I could provide plenty of detailed responses with inline cutting
and pasting, but I feel like that would mostly be confrontational and
argumentative, and I really don't like to argue about things. However,
I can clarify a couple of specific points from the discussion.

Yes, there are a few rosy statements on the website about the
objectives, but I've been assessing TLUG mostly by the members'
behavior. Mostly the beer-drinking behavior?

The comment about 'quality over quantity' actually came from one of
the earlier responses in this mailing list to a comment I made about
involving more people in Linux. Some people like to feel they are
special and elite. I don't, but rather I prefer to focus on our
essential similarities. However, as it applies more concretely to
Linux, I think it's a critical mass question. I think Ubuntu Linux is
*NOW* ready for the computer needs of a large number of people. If
such a large number of people started using Linux, I think that it
would be a good thing, and perhaps even disrupt Microsoft's
anti-freedom, anti-democracy, and anti-competition policies,
Microsoft's obscene profits notwithstanding. In the long run I believe
it doesn't matter, but I am living here in the short run, and I want
to do what I can to make the world a better place.

For my level of participation in TLUG, Japanese would be about as good
as English. Drinking beer is language-independent, and my Linux
questions to date have been rather rudimentary and mostly within the
scope of my limited Japanese. Therefore Japanese organizations are of
equal interest to me.

I am quite familiar with Macs, and even taught classes with them for
some years. I think Apple's philosophy is basically similar to
Microsoft's, but they've simply been less successful in implementing
it. Ergo, Apple's main influence has been in steering Microsoft. Most
importantly, the closed-box mentality adopted in Windows 95 (and all
later Windows) was adopted from the Mac OS closed-box philosophy (in
stark contrast to the relatively open-box philosophy of the Apple II
and its multiple OSes).

I'll probably attend the next technical meeting, but I'm increasingly
averse to saying much in public. I'm even more averse to the idea of
running for any office in any political sense. Yes, I do have a number
of opinions and beliefs, and many of them are strongly held. There are
times when it is necessary to fight for one's beliefs, but I much
prefer to seek the smooth and easy path. ("Is this the path to Tao?"
"Sorry, but you can't get there from here." Abstracted from a longer
philosophic joke.)