🚀 go-pugleaf

Howdy People,

Below is a small frequently asked question file about my recently formed
usergroup, MLUG. It's bound to answer a few questions people have been
thinking...

                       Melbourne Linux Users Group
            F R E Q U E N T L Y   A S K E D   Q U E S T I O N S 
                     Last Updated 8th November 1997

	+ What is MLUG
	 + What are MLUG's Goals
	 + How do I join MLUG
	+ How do I behave on the list
	 + How do I behave at meetings
	+ How do I help MLUG
	+ How do I construct my Talk
	+ Where are MLUG's Pages
	+ Contacting MLUG
	 + With Thanks to

! What is MLUG !

MLUG or Melbourne Linux Users Group is a Linux User Group based in
Melbourne, Australia. We hope to cooperate with all usergroups in
Melbourne or Australia at large.

We aim for a slightly more professional aspect of Linux than LUV. The
people who we want to join MLUG are people who are:

	= Not Abusive, don't call out during meetings, 
          don't flame every message they get sent.
	= People who are professionals in the Linux
	  arena, or other level headed people that
	  understand the rules.
	= Newbies, as long as they conform to the terms
	  of conditions, don't post incorrectly, or
	  aren't abusive.
	= Your general Linux hobbyist that knows his
	  stuff. Somebody's who capabile of doing a 
	  talk on some aspect of Linux.

! What are MLUG's Goals !

Firstly, we want to /get on/ with the other LUGs, of course, in the same
free spirit of Linux. We also want to provide a solid support base, either
mailing list based or meetings, where people can ask questions and get
answers.

! How do I join MLUG !

If you think MLUG is for you, you're quite welcome to join. Open up your
favourite e-mail program, and send a message to mlug-request@croftj.net,
with the subject 'subscribe'.

You should now be on our mailing list. The next thing you should do is
e-mail a "Hello" message to our mailing list, just to let people know that
you've joined the list, and a little bit about yourself.

For example, included below for your own amusement, he're is mine, just to
show you how the thing is layed out.

--
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 12:54:20 +1100 (EST)
From: Michael Strates <mstrates@minkirri.apana.org.au>
To: mlug@croftj.net
Subject: About Me

Howdy,

I'm Michael Strates, and I live in Rosanna, in the city of Melbourne,
Australia.

I've been using Linux since late 1994, and loving every minute of it. I am
a member of APANA, LUV :-) and am totally against SPAM. I connect to the
Internet through a site called minkirri.

I'm currently studying at Viewbank College in Rosanna, and will hopefully
be some sort of systems administrator when I finally graduate. 

Any questions?? Ask me!

--

Also, this isn't compulsory as yet, but if you like (you'd do us a hand),
e-mail your address/phone number/etc to mstrates@croftj.net for us to add
to our databases.

Congratulations! You're now a member of MLUG.

! How do I behave on the list !

You should:

	= Change the subject on any threads which have strayed off-topic, 
	  in our standard way, ie: "Microsoft Debacle" becomes
	  "Linux Kernel (was: Microsoft Debacle)". If the subject line	
	  exceeds 60 characters after doing this, shorten it by using
	  "Linux Kernel Released on Monday (was: Micro..)". I'd
	  appreciate if people could change the subjects in that
	  standard way, just to get a mainstream look and feel about
	  the mailing list.
	= Remember that other people have different opinions than you,
	  so please type carefully before prodding something like an
	  OS war, Editor War (my Emacs is better than your Pico), 
	  or anything that will cause flames or emotions to be 
	  exchanged either on the list or in private mail.
	= Try and keep the subject line at or less than 50 characters,
	  this isn't compolsury, although a 70 character limit is
	  totally maximum (as it inteferes with some text based
	  mail programs).
	= Try to be a good participant, attempt to answer threads, 
	  respond to newbie postings, roll around like a pig in mud
	  really, but just don't overdo it, responding each post
	  with a one line "I agree!" or "I don't agree!"

You shouldn't:

	= Make racial/sexist remarks on the list. Alot of people have
	  strong beleifs in these areas, and toying with them will just
	  increase your chances of getting flames in e-mail.
	= Flame onto the list. If you have a quirk about someone,
	  direct it to them in private mail, please.
	= Flame! If you have a bone to pick with somebody, direct it
	  to them, but "Your momma wears a bra" kind of postings
	  aren't exactly the kind of stuff you should be posting with.
	  Address your problem to them in a plain, polite manner.
	= Send any file attachments onto the list. People have to
	  pay for bandwidth, so don't do this. If people want something,
	  sent it to them in private mail. This applies to uuencodes
	  bigger than 5K too.
	
! How do I behave at meetings !

At the MLUG meetings (when we can find a suitable location), there is a
certain code of conduct that you /must/ follow. Basically, it boils down
to these points...

You should:

	= Be courteous to the person(s) doing the talk. They're there
	to provide you with information about something, not for you
	to complain about /at the meeting/.
	= Remember that newbies do go and do talks. You should respect
	the newbies even more than the professionals, because they 
	are taking a big chance to themselves, standing up and 
	talking about something they don't know the technical 
	details of.
	= Never make crude/abusive/flaming/putting down type 
	remarks out loud, in an audible mutter, or on the list
	after or at the meeting. If you do, and somebody complains,
	I /will/ remove you from the mailing list, as this behaviour
	isn't the kind we like.
	= Never do any sound effects, raspberries, etc.. These just
	make a fool of yourself, and distract the person(s) doing,
	or the people listening to the talk.

! How do I help MLUG !

Help to MLUG can be done in a number of ways, by participating on the
mailing list, answering newbie questions, submitting suggestions, getting
freebies, collecting information for meetings, doing talks, financial
donations, services at meetings, and much more.

Any suggestions or offerings for help should be sent to
mstrates@croftj.net.

! How do I Construct my Talk !

Constructing a talk for MLUG couldn't be easier, simply announce what you
want to do it about into the mailing list, and create your talk overheads
in either Netscape or KDEHelp (HTML), and display at the meeting.

The overheads should then be sent to mstrates@croftj.net and I'll include
them in the web pages.

! Where is MLUG's Pages !

We don't have a web page yet. In a week or so, expect to see
http://mlug.home.ml.org/, then in a few weeks, you should expect to see a
fully DNS registered domain, probably http://www.mlug.org.au/

This FAQ will be changed, and the new website announced to the mailing
list when this is completed.

! Contacting MLUG !

Michael Strates
MLUG Secretary
mstrates@croftj.net

MLUG's Mailing List
mlug@croftj.net

! With Thanks to !

LUV -> for starting all the Linux business in Melbourne
AUUG -> for starting one of the first UNIX user groups in Melbourne
LinuxSA -> for their support of MLUG

	    Additions/Removals/Critisisims? mstrates@croftj.net

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