Regarding a message from our friend in New York

["Robert G. Brown" <bob@xxxxxxx>]

Some of you may have read a message from Brian Cook, a mailing list member 
from Wappingers Falls, New York. If you are interested in sharing my 
impressions regarding this message, please read on; I do use some of Brian's 
comments as an opportunity to discuss a few issues that IMO are of concern to 
the group, if you're not interested in these issues, you are welcome to skip
the rest of this message.

I've swapped a few messages with Brian in the past, and perhaps I presumed that 
he could deal with a direct statement that what he was claiming was just wrong. 
If he's offended, I'm sorry for that.. I had no desire to blow him off or "make 
fun" of anyone. I have sent messages on a number of topics (both publicly and 
privately), in which I offered assistance to people with specific technical 
problems; I can offer a record of such messages in case Brian does not 
recognize any of those efforts.

As a matter of fact, I find it interesting that my remarks to Brian on this 
question (which were sent to him privately) have now been sent to the group
as a whole. You see, I didn't make any public statement in response to Brian's 
question, for a number of reasons; my posting to him was made in confidence.  
Brian himself made it public. There was another posting to this mailing list, 
which stated in so many words that the statement Brian made was simply 
incorrect, and quoted a source correcting the error.

Where I come from, posting a privately sent message without seeking the authors'
permission is pretty rude; if Brian had asked me, I wouldn't have minded,  but
I might have asked him just what all the fuss was about, with a chance that
we could handle this misunderstanding without involving 100 other people.
This has happened often enough that it doesn't really bother me, but I would 
prefer that people understand and practice some customs about handling 
information.

It is to some degree a failure of our group that Brian has such a low 
opinion of our meetings. We are not writing meeting minutes on a regular 
basis, so it is hard for someone who does not attend to build up a good 
picture of what's going there. Actually, our meeting attendance has not 
been bad, running pretty consistently between 12-18 over the last couple of 
months (Bruce Smith alluded to this earlier today). What we have seen is that
Tuesday evenings is a bad time for many people who are actually able to attend 
meetings. On our latest survey, we invited people to tell us what time was
more convenient, and we're going over that information now with the goal of 
acting on it soon.

I have written about the vacancy in the position of recording secretary, 
and the fact that no one has stepped forward to fill this position is one
cause of this problem. I do not expect people who have volunteered for other
positions to "fill in" to perform this task as well; that's a great way to
burn people out.

Brian's remarks about my own attitude are simply impossible assertions. I
have already apologized if I've offended anyone by a somewhat flip 
(and private) response, but I offer my own experience and knowledge (as do 
others) to anyone who asks. Yes, it's my experience, whose experience ought I 
share, if not my own? There are a lot of topics brought up on the mailing list
in which I have no interest or knowledge; I don't comment on those. There
are others with more experience in several areas, and I learn from them, too.
If I point out my own experience from time to time, its only by way of assuring 
the reader that I have seen something work with my very own eyes; the infor-
mation is not hearsay or third-hand.

I agree with Brian that what I've done is not the point, but that is the 
point of view I have to offer, and if it's not useful the reader is free to 
leave it and move on. I would not take the time to share anything at all
if all I cared about was getting my own tasks done, and I also wouldn't 
have volunteered to do anything for this group either, much less serve as
the chairman. I don't get a charge out of "bragging" about these things,
but I do admit to getting satisfaction out of sharing knowledge and 
experience with others, and I hope my work with this group and others
reflects this.

Open Source Software is an intensely political movement which introduces 
economic changes into how software is constructed. The work that surrounds
building a strong group such as KLUG also has political and organizational 
components. Interest in Open Source does lead several people to pass along 
links, and write about, the economics, marketing, and politics of the compu-
ter industry. Part of my duty as chairman requires me to write about the 
progress of our group, our strengths and weaknesses, and our goals. Members
are certainly free to respond to what I write, disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and even organize active opposition. Accusing me of doing these things out of 
some assumption about what gratifies me personally is quite inappropriate. I 
cannot (do not, and would not) make any such assertions about Brian.

If the membership of KLUG doesn't want a chairman that writes from some
experience and political issues from time to time (or for some other reason), 
any member is free to step forward and run in the next election. If I run (and
I have not decided this yet), that person is free to make this (or anything 
else) an issue, and may defeat me. The real issue is in choosing people who 
will do the work, recruit new people, and contribute to the growth and health 
of KLUG. If for some reason I'm not effective in that role, then not running 
again (maybe finding some other role), or being defeated in election awaits me.

The central purpose of this mailing list, and of this group, is improved 
support and counsel for people using this wonderful tool. I expect to get my 
SCSI card and scanner working, but I may run into trouble getting things 
going. In that case, I know of someplace to turn, and I'll use that resource 
once I've exhausted several other possibilities, such as commonly available 
documentation and numerous attempts to configure the software I have in hand 
and on the Internet. If that happens, I'm sure the people here who know more 
than I will be helpful and supportive, and everyone will gain from that 
effort.

                                                             Regards,
                                                              ---> RGB <---