Vancouver Linux Users Group

VanLUG's annual Christmas Party will be held on Thursday December 13th
at Prof. Mugs, the BCIT Campus pub, at 7:30pm. Everyone, including
significant others, are welcome to attend this casual get together
over drinks and food.

As in the past, VanLUG will be picking up the cost of appetisers
however individuals will be responsible for the cost of their drinks
and food. There will be door prizes and a contest, the details of which
will follow.

So that we can let Prof. Mugs know how many people to expect we ask
that you please RSVP using the form here:
http://www.vanlug.bc.ca/members/rsvp.php

Hope to see you there!

VanLUG November 19th Meeting,
7:30-9:00pm
Telus Theatre, Building SE6, BCIT Burnaby Campus

OpenMoko is an Open Source project to create the world's first free
mobile phone operating system. It is being developed along with an open
hardware reference platform, the FIC Neo1973. The software is still at a
"developers-only" stage, but is moving toward a level of stability that
will be suitable for regular users.

At the November meeting, local software developer Mike Montour will
present his experiences as an OpenMoko early adopter and will talk about
the upcoming (and highly anticipated) "GTA02" hardware revision. The
recent open-sourcing of Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition will also be
discussed.

The main sources of information about the OpenMoko project are:

• The Wiki at http://wiki.openmoko.org
• Mailing lists and archives at http://lists.openmoko.org
• The #openmoko channel on irc.freenode.net

VanLUG meetings are free and open to all. Please pass along this
invitation to anyone you know who may be interested in learning more
about Linux and/or Open Source.

VanLUG October 15th Meeting,
7:30-9:00pm
Telus Theatre, Building SE6, BCIT Burnaby Campus

VanLUG will be hosting "Newbie Night" at our October 15th meeting. The meeting will feature a series of presentations designed to help Linux newcomers get started with Linux and understand the basics of the operating system. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and the wrap-up will include a general Q&A for topics not included in the presentations.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning about Linux this is a great opportunity to get started.

Topics covered will include:

• Command Line Basics
• File System Permissions and Basic File System Management
• Installing Applications
• Using Linux for Coursework
• How / Where to Find Help

Additional topics are being worked on and may also be included.

VanLUG meetings are free and open to all. Please pass along this invitation to anyone you know who may be interested in learning more about Linux.

Sept 17. 7:30 PM< /br>
Telus Theatre, BCIT Burnaby Campus

Rainmaker Entertainment Inc. (http://www.rainmaker.com/) will be joining us to discuss their use of Linux in the visual effects, animation, and post production aspects of film and tv making.

Rainmaker Entertainment is a leading Canadian post-production firm providing film, TV, advertising, and new media clients with such services as film processing and digital-effects creation. Credits include films The Da Vinci Code, Mission To Mars, Elf, Best in Show, and Santa Clause 2; the company has worked on such TV productions as Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, and Smallville. Rainmaker also has a facility in London, which offers visual effects and 3D animation to the UK market. In 2006 Rainmaker purchased Mainframe Entertainment, which was combined into Rainmaker's animation operations. Founded in 1994, the firm is owned by publicly traded Rainmaker Income Fund. (Description courtesy answers.com)

The annual VanLUG BBQ is coming up on Saturday August 11th at Jericho beach. We will be starting at 4:00pm and going until ~7:00. Family and friends are welcome!

VanLUG will be providing food and drinks, we ask that you please RSVP using the web site form (http://www.vanlug.bc.ca/members/rsvp.php) so that we can arrange the correct amount of food.

We are hoping to have a second BBQ to speed up the cooking process. If you have one that we could use please email me off list. Tables and chairs would also be appreciated as would any beach games.

Remember, even geeks need vitamin D (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4563336.stm)!

VanLUG Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The meeting will begin with the VanLUG Annual General Meeting (AGM), during which we will elect the Board for the coming year and review the groups finances. We are actively looking for interested people to join the VanLUG board. If you are interested in running for the board and/or volunteering to help improve the group we would greatly appreciate hearing from you prior to the meeting. You do not need to be a Linux guru to become involved. Please contact us if you would like to get involved.

Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) & K12LTSP

The AGM will be followed by a presentation by Robert Arkiletian, a computer science and physics teacher at Eric Hamber Secondary, who will be presenting on the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) and its education oriented variant K12LTSP. The following is an outline of the presentation provided by Robert:

Linux Thin Client Technology

• Linux Terminal Server Project
• How LTSP works
• Current State
• Scalability
• Security
• System requirements
• Hardware