[FOSE] dac@cafaro.net: Concerns about attire.

[Alan McConnell]

Dear Colleagues,

This has been an interesting and amusing thread for me, and I'm
grateful to the various posters who have let their opinions
be known; albeit a bit disappointed that other, more knowledgeable,
voices have not been raised.

I first attended FOSE(I think it was called that; it was before the
present Convention Center was built) in about 1992.  I was sent
there by my administrators at GSFC to investigate what other
WORM machines were on the market besides Panasonic and Sony, which
devices we knew about, and had purchased.

For the first 15 minutes I was enthralled; then I becames gradually
appalled as it became apparent that the whole thing was a great
advertising/marketing show, and a supremely foolish one at that.
I was sent to a couple of other shows while at GSFC.

Then Tim Bogart -- I don't know where he is now -- somehow got
the attention of the company that runs FOSE, and got our local
Linux groups a free booth.  He appealed for volunteers, and I
spoke up, despite my distaste for the venue.  I believe in
raising the Linux flag wherever we can, although I believe it is
more effective to talk to Senators about Linux than to the more
humble folk who wander the convention center with their big red
bags to contain their loot[1].  I handed out fliers and engaged
as many people as I could in conversation; who knows if I, or any
of the rest of us, had any effect?

Now we are, evidently, in a different era.  David C, despite his
obvious good will, verges on the clinical in his micromanagement.
And many of the others -- I don't know how many have actually 
signed up -- think that this is fine.

Whatever.  I don't care.  I am relieved of the task of schlepping
down to the Center and standing on increasingly aged feet for
a number of hours doing something that I've done many times before
and which I'm not convinced is terribly productive.

[1] Not that I'm above loot<g>.  I once snaffled a set of three
beanbag/balls for jugglers, which served me well for several
years.

	And now we have:
According to David L Durant:
> Alan,
> 
> You really don't "get it", do you?

	. . . . <wondrous stuff snipped>

> this audience. Did you purposefully ignore the guidelines to be
> deliberately offensive to the important powerful decision-makers of our
> US government? Can you accept that it was WRONG?!
> 
> Extremely disappointed,
	What can one say but Wow?<g>

Anyway.  Carry on, folks! and enjoy!  and with luck this will
be the end of this thread.

Best wishes,

Alan

-- 
Alan McConnell          Linux!  The choice of a GNU generation;
Pixel Analysis          already at a site near you!