[TriLUG] Proposal for TriLUG List...getting a little long-winded here

[Brian Henning]

Phillip Rhodes wrote:
> FWIW, I personally would like to see a trilug-ot list created. Mainly
> because TriLUG is
> more than just a Linux User's Group... it's a community really, with a
> social aspect, and it seems
> that members of that community might occasionally want to have email
> discussions that
> are completely unrelated to Linux / computers / Free Software / etc. A list
> that has (mostly) the same
> membership as TriLUG but where nothing is OT would, IMHO, be a valuable
> thing.

<soapbox>

With appropriate credit to Jason (apparently)..  I like this idea as
well.  Take a look at our IRC logs.  Discussion often wanders around
non-Linux-centric topics.  I can recall conversations in which I've been
involved that dealt with music and model railroading.  Certainly such
offtopic conversations are questionably appropriate for the main TriLUG
list, but I think it's just as certain that we have those interests, and
enjoy discussing them with a group of people we already know.

Basically, we get to share more than one interest.  How cool is it to
talk to people that love trains?  Or music?  Or Linux?  But how much
cooler is it to talk to people that love trains AND music AND Linux?
AND know of, have played with, have possibly invented, or are at least
curious about ways of tying these interests together?  For example,
recent discussions about Linux-based music editing / tracking software.
  Discussions about Linux-based ideas for controlling model railroad
layouts.  While those examples are, in my opinion, fully on-topic for
the TriLUG list, I think it would be splendid for the TriLUG community
to have means in place for the same set of folks to talk about just
music, or just model trains, or just whatever, with this great bunch of
smart people.

TriLUG has the distinction of being a remarkably elite, and still
remarkably well-rounded and mostly friendly (wink wink nudge nudge)
group of people.  In my humble opinion, I'd much rather discuss my other
interests with people that have satisfied the social selection process
that creates long-standing TriLUG members.

</soapbox>

My apologies for being somewhat long-winded and a little meandering.

Cheers,
~Brian