Notes from our (re)Kickoff Meeting

[Heather Morris]

Hi Folks, 

I'm going to do my best to quickly summarize the first LUG meeting of 2012 (Wednesday, 9/26)!  In attendance were Michelle, myself, Ryan, Seth, Frank, Dave and Darrick.  

First and foremost, the date of our next meeting is Thursday, October 25th at 6:30PM - 8:00PM in the Small Meeting Room at the Missoula Public Library. 

We spent a little time going around the room to find out how we're all using Linux -- distros we're currently running or have some experience with.  We chatted about what the group had done in the past, what we as individuals would like to get out of the group and some ideas for keeping it going in the future.   Some of the ideas we tossed out were:

Demos/Presentations

* Raspberry Pie

* Arduino

* Using Linux to Monitor Windows-based network (Cacti, Nagios)

Group Projects

* Build a Gentoo box

* Build a Media/Streaming/DVR box/system (XBMC, MythTV)

Guest Speakers

* Seth knows folks around the state that would be willing to come to a meeting to speak on a variety of topics. 

This year, I attended DEFCON, so I'm in possession of one of these cool badges. The badge itself came with some additional parts (2 PS/2 and 1 VGA port) so we decided that for the next meeting, I'll bring the badge, additional parts, a soldering iron and we'll hack it!   (Again, that meeting will be Thursday, October 25th at 6:30PM - 8:00PM in the Small Meeting Room at the Missoula Public Library.)

We also learned the Missoula has it's own Makerspace! If you're into hardware hacking, they should be right up your alley. Maybe we want to think about having the next meeting there instead of at the library?  I'm not sure how much physical space there is, but if there's interest in meeting there, and someone wants to contact them to see if it's ok for a group of us to show up at once, then I'm game.

For now, we'll meet monthly, and Thursdays actually works real good for a number of us so maybe/hopefully that will work better for some of the folks that weren't able to come tonight.  I hope that doesn't mess anyone up. :/ Also, some people were headed to Sean Kelly's after the meetup tonight so an after-get-together is always possible and something that could be planned in the future!

So, that's all I wrote down. :)   Comments/additions are welcome.  

~h

--
Sometimes to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.

[Jason Lindsay]

Heather,

Thanks for compiling this! I was bummed that I couldn't make it up tonight, but I hope to be at the next meeting. 

I am definitely interested in each of the topics listed there and look forward to each of them.

Have a great evening!

Jason

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[Richard Werst]

I like the list as well, and would suggest that using VirtualBox to run
other operating systems (on top of the basic Linux system), in both a
headless, and a standard graphical environment might be an interesting
topic for discussion...in addition, through the Alberton Community
Foundation I have access to a digital projector which can be used for
presentations...and, should a larger space, for longer meeting be
desired schedule/reserve our community center...

RBW

[Ryan Snow]

Kyle,

We just had a linux users group meeting tonight, and there was some talk about maybe having our next meeting at the Makerspace. One of our members, Heather, was at DefCon recently, and the DefCon badge is a multi-level hacking challenge, but first of all you need to solder on a ps/2 connector. So I was wondering if you could get us a little bit of a group discount (for maybe 7-8 people) and maybe a little demonstration on soldering, since we're more used to software than hardware. We're planning to meet Thurs. Oct. 25., 6:30-8:00pm.

There is also some interest in the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi, so maybe you could show off what you have there and some of your other equipment while you're at it.

I'm forwarding you an email summary of the meeting, so you can get an idea too. Thanks, and looking forward to Friday's meetup. Later.

Ryan

[Ryan Snow]

Below is the response from Kyle at the Makerspace. He's ready to have us if we decide to meet there next time. He didn't respond about a possible discount, so maybe we should make him an offer. His normal rate is $10 per day, so probably $5 per person would be pretty reasonable, for our group, for the limited time. Any thoughts? Should I set it up? Can we get RSVP's for a headcount? The proposed mtg. date is Thu. Oct. 25, 6:30-8pm.

Heather, do you need any other parts? Do you have a mouse and keyboard with ps/2 ports? Anything else you need?

Ryan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kyle Swanson <repl...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: [MLUG] Notes from our (re)Kickoff Meeting
To: Ryan Snow <rjs...@gmail.com>


Hey Ryan,

It's great to hear about your Linux group.  I've got a couple dual-boot PCs going.  Linux also runs my CNC machine.  

We've got about 400 sq ft of office space right now.  We're moving around November 1st to a bigger shop space.  I can fit about 7 people in the office and there is a conference room with a projector I can use to seat another 8. 

The makerspace has an SMD station with digital temperature readout.  This is what I use to solder most of my stuff now.  Has several different sizes and shapes of soldering tip.  I also have a "helping hands" that holds the piece you're trying to solder.
If you want, I could set up some something so everyone could get a couple practice solders in.  We also have a regular soldering iron and a desoldering iron and braid.

We have lots of Arduino boards, shields, sensors, and breakouts.  Almost all of the Arduino stuff is listed in the forums on meetup.com/replik8tr.

Our member Paul lent us a Raspberry Pi.  I have not had the chance to play with it yet.

Thurs. Oct. 25., 6:30-8:00pm. works for me.  Let me know when you decide and I'll put it on my calendar.

We've got lot's of new equipment coming in.  Member meeting is tomorrow (Friday from 7-9PM).

Thanks,

Kyle

[arthur gamboa]

I was unable to attend this months meet up. Hopefully I can make it to the next one. Its awesome to see more people from the area attending Defcon! I have two Defcon 20 badges and no soldering skills what so ever. I had no idea Missoula had a makerspace. 

If any of you are interested in computer/network security there is a monthly Missoula infosec group. We try to meet on a monthly basis usually on a Tuesday afternoon at one of the banks in the area. If any of you are interested shoot a email to Mi...@farmersebank.com.

Arthur

On Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 8:49 PM, Heather Morris <heather....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Heather Morris]

Thanks for looking into this Ryan! I like the idea of having our next meet at Makerspace on Thursday, October 25 from 6:30PM - 8PM and $5 per person seems reasonable to me, considering we'll just be there for < 2 hours.  Everyone else on board so Ryan can confirm with Kyle? 

I'm headed out of town tomorrow morning, returning on Sunday so I'll check my garage on my return to see what parts I have on hand (i.e., keyboard, mouse) and let you know if we need anything else.

I'm sort of amped to get more local folks involved.  Do you all approve of me making a Facebook page for the groupso we can publicize there?

Thanks!

~h

[Seth McClain]

Facebook page sounds good.  I'm not sure I'm in favor of having a meeting that costs money at this early point though .. it might turn away potentially interested parties.

[Jonathan Neff]

I think the facepage sounds good, too.

I think $5 for a specific type of meeting in a unique location is fine
-- it's not like it's dues. I'l like to make it on the 25th -- it
sounds like fun, but already have something else going on that
evening.

-Jonathan

[Michelle R Powell]

Some of us are very tight on money.
As I suggested before. A free consistent meeting place is a good thing for long term stability.
If you want to go somewhere afterwards that's fine.

[Heather Morris]

You make a good point Seth.  Anyone else have thoughts about this?  I think we need some more input from the group before making a decision about where to hold our next meeting (Makerspace vs. MSLA Library).  

One nice thing about having at Makerspace is that they'd likely have every possible tool we'd need.  On the other hand, I think the project is really simple and all we'll need is a soldering iron (and of course, external peripherals). 

Personally, I don't have a preference either way so I'm no help. :)

~h

On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 12:35 PM, Seth McClain <psy...@gmail.com> wrote:

Facebook page sounds good.  I'm not sure I'm in favor of having a meeting that costs money at this early point though .. it might turn away potentially interested parties.

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[Jason Lindsay]

Although I couldn't make the first meeting, I plan on making the next... A $5 entry fee would be something that would keep me from attending if it were a regular thing as Im also driving up from the Bitterroot and dropping at least that much on gas as well...

I like the idea of keeping it free. Also, I can help with peripherals if needed.

Jason

Sent from my iPhone

[Heather Morris]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

FYI -- I just received a $20 donation from an anonymous donor as a "scholarship" for the group to use for this upcoming meeting if that helps us to make a decision for this next meeting.  

• Ryan, would you mind reaching out to Kyle again and seeing if you can get a solid number he'd charge the group?  If it's $20 or less, then we'd be all set with this scholarship!

~h  

[Darrick Bova]

I don't mind $5 for a one-off meeting at Makerspace.  Heck, I might bring something that I need soldering along with me.

Thanks,

Darrick

[Seth McClain]

Oh right, I also want to say that I'm fine with the $5 for a one off meeting at a new and neat location :)  Didn't mean to imply that I wasn't.

[Ryan Snow]

Thanks much to whoever made the donation for the meeting!

This is definitely a one-time thing, and we will meet regularly at the library, which is free. The Makerspace meeting is just to get started on our project with Heather's DefCon badge. A couple of his stations there are also linux machines, one of which runs a CNC, so it would be cool to see that while we're there too.

Kyle is willing to negotiate on the price, so I think he'll accept $20 for the whole group. I'll run that by him today and get back soon.

Thanks again to Anonymous (not the hackers) for making this possible.

Ryan

On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 8:48 AM, Seth McClain <psy...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh right, I also want to say that I'm fine with the $5 for a one off meeting at a new and neat location :)  Didn't mean to imply that I wasn't.

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