Aaron Ruscetta
404.315.0406 (10a to 10p est)
Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
c/o Ben Chapman
Emory University School of Law
1301 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30322
ALE is also a promoting
sponsor of the 2nd annual
Founded in December 1994, ALE has hosted hundreds of regular monthly meetings with talk topics ranging from "The Linux Advantage in Education" to "How to Write Device Drivers". In addition, we regularly host Linux installation events and educational forums to help others eradicate their windows diseases by introducing them to the secure, user empowering freedom of GNU Linux and Free Software.
The ALE group is loosely structured with a few dedicated volunteers filling any needed administrative and resource support roles. There is no charter and no board. There are no membership fees or other superfluous formalities. Anyone is welcome to join the group by simply showing up at any ALE meeting or event, or by subscribing to our mailing list. Our interests are purely in sharing information about Linux, Open Source and Free Software empowerment with the greater Atlanta community and beyond.
In addition to supporting members through web and email services, ALE holds regular monthly meetings. The "Central" meeting is usually hosted at Emory University on the 3rd Thursday of each month (see directions on sidebar). We also host meetings and events in other areas of the greater Atlanta region as affordable venues and volunteer support allow.
On SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, from 9am to 5pm,
we hope you will join us for:
The Fall, 2009 ALE & Ubuntu Linux Install Fest
featuring Ubuntu release 9.10
The event is hosted this year by ITT Technical College
at their SW Atlanta Campus:
Two Crown Center
1745 Phoenix Boulevard
Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30349
(Note to please use the North end building entrance
and follow signs to Lab 1.)
This will be a great chance for the pros of the ALE and
Ubuntu user communities to mentor Linux students and
see the facilities of our ALE partners at ITT Technical
College. There will be opportunities to install the latest
Linux releases and get some face time help with your
Open Source technical challenges. Plenty of Ubuntu
disks will be on hand, plus install disks for many other
popular Linux distros like OpenSUSE and Fedora,
not to mention swag and raffle gifts. As always, plenty
of good Open Socializing and dutch treat pizza lunch
will be available, too!
We invite everyone to promote this event where ever
possible and appropriate! A printable PDF poster for
the event is available here.
11/19 Central Meeting & Key Signing Party
11/21 ALE Ubuntu Linux Install Fest
The focus for our ALE CENTRAL MEETING
for 7:30pm on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19th will be:
Protecting Your Identity and Privacy
with GPG PGP encryption:
An Overview and Key Signing Party
with an intro presentation by Charles Shapiro
and Key Party host Jeremy Bouse working in
consultation with ALE’s resident (and recuperating)
Guru of Cryptography, Michael Warfield.
The meeting will begin with a brief overview talk on PGP / GPG
starting at 7:30 pm, to be followed by a Key Signing Party
starting PROMPTLY at 8:00pm.
Synopsis:
– As in introduction to the Key Signing Party we’ll look at some
of the mechanics of using GPG and show why this tool is such a
valuable resource for enhancing the security of your data, as well
as protecting both your identity and your civil liberties in a world
that is increasingly driven by computers and information technology.
– Note that participation in the Key Signing party requires
registration of your GPG Key Info in advance of the meeting.
Details about generating, storing, signing, registering and using
GPG keys are provided here. These step by step “HowTo”
instructions should make it easy for you to create a personal
GPG Public Key and participate in the ALE Key Signing party
by sending your Key Info to alekeyparty@wittsend.com.
The meeting will be at Emory Law School in our usual
Gambrel Hall, room 1C venue. The meeting time frame
is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm, and Directions can be found here
=============
AND THEN…
On SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, from 9am to 5pm,
we hope you will join us for:
The Fall, 2009 ALE & Ubuntu Linux Install Fest
featuring Ubuntu release 9.10
The event is hosted this year by ITT Technical College
at their SW Atlanta Campus:
Two Crown Center
1745 Phoenix Boulevard
Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30349
(Note to please use the North end building entrance
and follow signs to Lab 1.)
This will be a great chance for the pros of the ALE and
Ubuntu user communities to mentor Linux students and
see the facilities of our ALE partners at ITT Technical
College. There will be opportunities to install the latest
Linux releases and get some face time help with your
Open Source technical challenges. Plenty of Ubuntu
disks will be on hand, plus install disks for many other
popular Linux distros, not to mention swag and raffle
gifts. As always, plenty of good Open Socializing and
dutch treat pizza lunch will be available, too!
We invite everyone to promote this event where ever
possible and appropriate! A printable PDF poster for
the event is available here.
The highlight presentation at the ALE Central Meeting
for Thursday, Oct. 15th, 2009 at 7:30pm will be:
“Application Development with QT 3.3″
featuring “KSDB” as presented by the wildly illusive
but always engaging Charles Shapiro
Synopsis:
– Join our guide, Charles Shapiro, as he leads us through the evolutionary
process of coding an exciting new open source application, replete with bold
side-excursions through the wilds of QT 3.3 and C++. Wear your ties [as
a headband] and watch as Charles becomes either the Hero (It Works!)
or the Goat (It Crashes!) with a live demo of his new QT intensive database
form designer on his KDE laptop. In an audacious climax he will then do
what Bill “Greedy Guy” Gates could never do: SHOW YOU THE CODE!
The epilogue will be a tearful, impassioned plea for help and support from
you, the beneficent bug hunting audience. Come learn and participate
as History is Made!
bio:
– Charles Shapiro is a fan of fencing, gadgetry, juggling, gizmos,
beer brewing, obscure weaponry, radio control (in all it’s connotations),
and most anything else the that lesser world might consider “geek”.
Consistent to these avocations he has been a professional programmer
for over 12 years, specializing in C and Unix with a couple years of
C++, Perl and a plethora of Python in the mix. He can type faster than
most people can talk, is a Linux Lunacy Cruise alumnae, a liberty
minded friend of the EFF, an officially sanctioned Richard Stallman
impersonator for the FSF, and a seriously committed GNU Linux
zealot since 1996.
=============
We will be meeting at Emory Law School in our
usual Gambrel Hall, room 1C venue.
Meeting time frame is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm
Directions to Emory Law School can be found
[here]
ATLANTA LINUX FEST on Sat. Sept. 19th
A big reminder that Software Freedom Day is Saturday,
Sept. 19th and ALE is encouraging all Atlanta freedom fans
to celebrate by attending the second annual
ATLANTA LINUX FEST
Saturday, September 19th, 8:30am to 5:30pm
Click on the ALF link banner in the right column to see the full details.
===
And as a warm up to all the info and activities at the ALF,
we have a great presentation scheduled for the ALE Central
Meeting on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 7:30pm that
should be of interest to all Linux users:
“All Your Device Are Belong to UDEV!”
with Ryan Matty of Prefetch Technologies
Synopsis:
Whether a disk drive, a USB slot or an ethernet port, Linux manages
most of the various data transport components of your system as DEVICES.
The mechanics and capabilities of Linux device management underwent
a pretty significant overhaul with the release of the 2.6 kernel in 2004,
where DevFS was removed in favor of the UDev device management
framework. This presentation will give an overview of UDev, and will
show how it can be used to handle all of your Linux device management
needs!
Bio:
– Ryan Matteson (aka matty) is a long time Linux user, and has been a
member of ALE for close to 8 years. In addition to hacking code, Ryan
thoroughly enjoys evaluating new technology and sharing his findings
with the world through his blog at prefetch.net.
=============
We will be meeting at our usual Emory Law School venue,
Gambrel Hall, rm 1C. Meeting time frame is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm
Directions to Emory Law School can be found at
[http://ale.org/?page_id=2].
The feature presentation at the ALE Central Meeting
at 7:30pm on Thursday, Aug. 20th, 2009 will be:
“Open SUSE: The State of the Disavowed Distro”
with Chuck Payne, Atlanta regional OpenSUSE Ambassador
==
Synopsis:
– Despite extensive concerns and criticisms from the Free Software
community regarding SUSE’s partnership deals with Novel and the
dangerous precedents of their concessions to the extortionist FUD
campaigns of MicroSoft, the OpenSUSE project has continued to be
an important contributing developer in the global GNU Linux and
Open Source arenas. SUSE’s recently appointed volunteer ambassador
for our region, Chuck Payne, will bring us up to date on the features
and strengths of current OpenSUSE 11.1 offering and talk about
enhancements scheduled for the pending 11.2 release.
Bio:
– Chuck “PUP” Payne has been working with computers since
his parents gave him an Atari 130XE for his 16th birthday
[ed - (: presumably misunderstanding his actual requests for
a Commodore Amiga :) ]. He has since worked with personal
computer platforms ranging from Atari and Apple to Mac and
PC, and has explored various operating environments including
Linux, BeOS, Solaris, FreeBSD and others. He has been
working with GNU Linux since 1998, when he bought a book on
Slackware ‘96. After Slackware he tried out Red Hat, then
moved to openSUSE with their 1998 5.3 release and he has
stayed with the SUSE choice since.
Computers also became central to Chuck’s career, and he has
worked as a System Administrator since 1998. He is currently
employed by Travel Channel Media as a Unix Systems Admin,
where day to day tasks include managing TCM’s DNS, 70+ Red
Hat Linux Servers, 20 Solaris Servers, and a handful of Mac
XServers. He also helps out with web development in the areas
of Apache and JBOSS administration.
In April 2009 Chuck’s application to be a regional volunteer
ambassador for OpenSUSE was accepted, facilitating his goals
of helping people discover the benefits of Free Software,
GNU/Linux and the OpenSUSE distributions. In his free time he
bolsters his geek cred by writing bash scripts or php code,
hacking hardware in his home gadget lab, and watching any
and all Zombie flicks that cross his path.
Related Links:
– OpenSUSE.org
=============
We will be meeting at Emory Law School in our
usual Gambrel Hall, room 1C venue.
Meeting time frame is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm
Directions to Emory Law School can be found
via the side bar link.