CUUG 2008/2009 Board of Directors

Dick was CUUG Vice President last year.

I like having monthly meetings where we can eat pizza and drink pop while listening to and discussing things with interesting speakers. I like having a place where I can have my own web page without going to the trouble and expense of registering a domain and finding a hosting service. I like being able to ftp files to and from my own secure location. I like being able to login to a UNIX server to try out commands and programming. As CUUG members, let's maintain our membership numbers, so that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of membership such as those listed above.

John is volunteering for the Board of Directors for the first time this year.

Mark first joined the Board of Directors in 1998, and has served as Chairman in the past.

I first discovered UNIX about the same time as its greater and cruftier progenitor MULTICS many years ago in university while studying physics and astronomy. I liked its combination of simplicity and power in a fairly smooth design that aided rather than hindered its users and developers.

Many years later both myself and UNIX are still around, though both are not what they used to be. Unfortunately UNIX has had the worst of what the years bring and now challenges and even exceeds MULTICS in some places for byzantine layered legacy design. I have also acquired many layers and like UNIX could bear to shed a few. Now my profession is mostly hardware as a field service technician, but my work does sometimes involve using and fixing UNIX computers and their distant kin like CISCO routers.

I have followed the Free and Open Software Revolution through GNU, Minix, Linux, and now Debian. I am glad computing is returning to its roots of sharing information in the tradition of the scientific and engineering professions, as building on what others have done and peer review is critical to correct, rigorous, and proper progress.

I strongly support CUUG's dedication to promoting and advancing UNIX, as UNIX even with its layers of somewhat dubious additions is still the best operating system we have. It is still a powerful tool, and many are working to backfile its lesser parts with better redesign, and develop new polished refinements to add to its power.

I have served on CUUG's Board of Directors from 1998 Jan to Jun, and as Board Chairman from 2000 Jun to 2003. I am also deeply involved with keeping the Computer Resource Centre running and working towards improving it for CUUG's members. I would be proud to serve on our Board for the next year.

Kent was CUUG Secretary last year.

I am new to the Linux/Unix world and am learning new things every time I boot up the operating system. I was introduced to the Knoppix 3.9 live CD about two years ago. I thought it was a great idea to have a whole operating system on a single CD, and beneficial since I use an XP laptop mostly. I used the Knoppix CD during my first year of engineering, mostly to ssh into the university Sci Linux system and complete my programing assignments from home. Later I downloaded and burned the Knoppix 4.0.2 DVD which has many improvements. Soon after I got some help installing Debian on a home desktop machine.

Recently, I repartitioned my laptop as a dual boot Debian / XP machine. I had a "hiccup" during this process and the Knoppix CD let me access the XP partition and backup my documents and this gave me a sense of security before fixing the problem. You may remember I asked the general discussion list for suggestions on trying to fix the partitions.

Linux has helped me as a student. CUUG helped me when I had problems. This fall in third year engineering, some of my classmates may see what I'm doing and want a similar setup for themselves. I now know how to 90% help them.

That's several very good reasons why I to want CUUG to thrive.

Peter was CUUG Treasurer last year.

I am CUUG's resident anachronism and have been around CUUG since the early 90's when I worked for a company integrating PC's and UNIX systems. I started programming in machine code and assembler in the late 60's with a subsidiary of Texas Instruments while on a foreign assignment in Beirut, Lebanon. For learning there was only one hardware manual plus existing code on the 4K of memory 18 bit asynchronous mainframe seismic processing computer, so I wrote a lot of basic stuff, "inventing" a bubble sort etc. only to discover later when I returned to the real world that they had existed for years. IT is cruel; speaking of which, accounting was never really high on my list of favourites. But perhaps I will discover that I am in fact a closet accountant and as I take on the Treasurer role this year I may end up imposing a harsh and rigid fiscal discipline on the club. I am sure my fellow directors will have a quiet word with me if I get too carried away. Incidentally to underline the historical changes in computing the picture shows me holding in my left hand a state of the art (till 1986) 50.2 mb IBM 3851 Mass Storage cartridge while in the other is today's USB external drive holding 500gb.

Christopher was CUUG President from 1998 to 2000, and from 2006 to 2008.

I believe that it is again time for me to put something extra back into the club. CUUG still has a future and I want to help. What CUUG offers that a FAQ, manual or web site doesn't is human interaction, networking and friendliness. The "stuff" isn't really that important. Involvement and participation are what make CUUG work.

The *nix world has changed radically and as we take on the task of evolving CUUG to its next form, our greatest challenge will be to increase the basic "clubbiness" and friendliness in our meetings and activities while decreasing the demands on key volunteers.

Our club works only because of volunteers. Dues never cover the cost of services provided by the club. We clearly need to get more members involved.

Among members, there is good agreement on current problems and future goals but more diversity on solutions. Renewing the spirit of CUUG is more important (to me) than mere fiscal survival.

The grand challenge for the CUUG 2008-9 board will be to "make it so".

Mike has served on the Board of Directors for a number of years in the past, including as President from 2000 to 2002.

I've been active in the Calgary Unix Users Group since 1995. It helps satisfy my geekly urges. You may find some useful tools on my CUUG web page.

I'm a bit of a Jolt Cola addict (I once wanted to get Jolt as a CUUG sponsor). I'm also a BSD bigot. My home network hides behind an OpenBSD firewall and contains a Mac G5 tower and an ancient "frankenmac" (OS X is a BSD derivative running on a Mach microkernel).... nevertheless I believe that linux, and even windoze have their place.

Roy is a CUUG Life Member. He first joined the Board of Directors in 1998, and has served in a number off executive roles in the past, including President. He is an Engineer and former I.T. manager for the City of Calgary Waterworks.

Mark is volunteering for the Board of Directors for the first time this year.

Yves first served on the Board of Directors in 1998, and was President in 2004/2005.

I have been a contractor with SollerS, specialising in UNIX, in varied positions such as tech support, programmer, and sysadmin since 1993.

I joined CUUG in 1995 when I came to Calgary and served as a director in 1998, and for the past two years.

In a time where a lot of communities are becoming virtual and geographically spread out, I would like to see CUUG focusing on UNIX in Calgary, and helping to strengthen our local community of users, hobbyists, vendors, and professionals.

Christian is volunteering for the Board of Directors for the first time this year.

For me it's all about the best tool for the job. I grew up as the personal computer was emerging and was lucky enough to realize the power that it was bringing with it. In my early teens I started loading various UNIX based operating systems onto various machines and soon realized that this was just a better, more powerful tool than the competing software paradigms of the day.

Now I look for tools that will improve my productivity, allow me to choose the level of complexity that I want to deal with and that were developed with my use in mind rather than corporate agenda. Nothing's perfect, but UNIX variants are still the best tool for that job.

As I approach a level of comfort with the tools and practices I use, the ideas of community and supporting those who support me is becoming increasingly important and I see CUUG as a way to do that.