[PLUG] Re: vmware special? offer

[Dylan Reinhardt]

On 18 Nov 2003 20:54:43, Russell Senior <seniorr at aracnet.com> wrote:
> So has anyone ever had a nice cup of coffee with the PDXLUG people to
> work this whole name thing out? 

PDXLUG has coffee the second Thursday of each month at the Fireside
Coffee Lodge.  There aren't any formal agendas, so if you show up, feel
free to bring up a topic for discussion.  

Not that bringing up the name thing is likely to accomplish much. :-)  

Open source has a long history of using names that are intentionally
similar to established names.  If people can be expected to understand
the difference between PGP and GPG, I think they can sort out the
difference between PDXLUG and PLUG.  

Or maybe they can't tell the difference.  It might be the case that our
membership consists primarily of people who mistakenly believe that PLUG
meetings have recently changed venues and become more fun.  Who knows.


> They are currently saying:
> 
>   ``We've had many people ask why another group spawned from PLUG. The
>     main reason is because we wanted a more informal gathering with a
>     smaller group of people. [...]''


PLUG isn't what many of us want for a LUG.  Others of us enjoy that
there is more than one style of LUG in town.  The rest is historic.  


> 
> Now, if that is true, why choose an all-encompassing name like
> "Portland Linux User Group"?

Because we are a group of Linux users in Portland.  We aren't Portland's
[Largest|Only|Oldest] LUG.  Just the most fun.  :-)


>   Is this, indeed, declaring victory on the
> basis of whatever situation is prevailing? ("we _WANT_ a smaller
> group!")

Our broader mission doesn't need to stand up to logic... we don't *have*
a broader mission.  What we *do* have is a user group we actually enjoy
belonging to.  No additional victory is required.  

$.02,

Dylan