Rik Tindall

From Hackstop

~$ #!

echo hello world

Kia ora taatou. Google reads this as my business card home page CV, so it's time to whakamohio teenei mihi (offer more explanatory greetings).

Vocation: GNU/Linux advocacy, training & support specialist. Sport/interests: web, garden, swimming & hiking, green future.

More detail may follow.

[Pagestart cNov2004]

Hi. Thanks Jim for the Wiki forum - great! I hope people find hackstop.org useful.

[The comp.jargon-weary should read Main Page to start understanding the obscure terms below]

Having experienced a surprising level of antagonism towards GNU within our local LUG, and little support nationally, I for one have found it necessary to see a GNU-friendlier network established, in the open tradition of not-unix. The problem seems to stem from the hobbyist, non-professional focus of the LUG system, and its eagerness to identify with generic and proprietary Unix work (now 'Open Source'). To peacefully resolve this dichotomy, GNU/Linux Users has emerged.

Expanding the LUG structure into honest Unix User Groups - with GNU/Linux and BSD sections - presents the broadest solution. Concisely unifying them as GLUGs would be a principled, clarifying improvement - representing what Linux more accurately is, imho. Community-building success is validating this approach.

Hoping to hear from everyone on our hackstop.org portal, [All pages now locked vs link-spam; apply for write-access as wanted]

My hackstop business theme page is here: [1] (http://www.infohelp.co.nz/hackstop.html)

Cheers, Rik

P.S. I am firmly convinced that Richard M Stallman - for all his mortal faults, and his contribution to the Linux projects - is a 'great man' of democratic computing history. Tell me I am wrong. This wiki is dedicated to RMS.

Other role models: Lao Tze, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Lev Davidovich, Mahatma Ghandi.