Before this discussion really goes anywhere, I would make two recommendations:

First, let's give Ed his chance to finish his email and have his peace. We elected him president, so let's let him preside. Work on the problem in your head, but let's not get going before we've really started.

Second, as we talk about last night, the mailing list does not seem the ideal way, if we're to have some kind of grand online discussion about funds allocation (which seems inevitable, now), something like the Ubuntu Brainstorm or a private reddit install, or perhaps a private subreddit, although even that has limited privacy. The relatively linear format of a mailing list seems doomed to hinder us.

On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 1:41 PM, Yanglei Zhao < z12y12l12@gmail.[redacted] > wrote:

Hi all,

How to spend the money is really important, I agree that it have to
meet the purpose of this whole group. I am sort of new to the group,
but why I join this mailing list and go to meetings with you guys are
just because the common interest in Linux, otherwise I'll not be
there. I think that's why this group is called Linux User Group.

So I think the funds should be spent according to these points:
1) For Linux users/developers: it should support the whole linux
community (maybe mainly who is in this LUG) on campus, spend this
money on what everybody really needs. (Example: Servers, website..)

2) For prospective linux users: Linux is a great OS and we should let
everybody at least know it. So the funds should be spent on this
purpose when needed. (Example: Free food on introductory lectures or
meetings designated for new users/possible users).

Any comments?

Stu Zhao

On 1/20/10, Jack Neely < jjneely@ncsu.[redacted] > wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 11:34:16PM -0500, Edward Anderson wrote:

>> Tonight at dinner, we had a great discussion regarding our plans for a
>> server and LUG funds that are being recovered. Discussing where our
>> funds should be spent led to a discussion of what our purpose as a LUG
>> is. My goal in this email is to summarize what was said tonight and
>> suggest a course of action to follow.
>>
>> We have over $1000 in escheated funds that are currently being
>> recovered from the NC Dept State Treasury. These funds were untouched
>> for over 5 years, under the philosophy that we shouldn't spend when we
>> have no source of income. However, after having our funds escheated
>> due to account inactivity, we realized that saving the money was doing
>> the club no good. We want to use the funds we have to benefit the
>> group.
>>
>> Spending money to benefit the group begs the question of what our
>> group's purpose is. Our money should go toward whatever our purposes
>> are. It has been suggested that the LUG exists for these purposes:
>> 1. Serve as a social group for those with similar interests
>> 2. Serve as a resource for existing Linux users at NC State
>> 3. Introduce Linux to users of other operating systems and make converts
>> of them
>>
>> I would argue that it is all of the above, with the first being most
>> important.
>>
>> (1) When I've asked the core people why they come and have continued
>> to come to the LUG (myself included), they'll talk about the social
>> aspect of the LUG. The LUG is primarily a group of friends with common
>> interests. Anyone who comes for other reasons [help with a problem,
>> interesting meeting topics, installfest] does not stick around unless
>> they make friends with us become part of that core social group.
>>
>> (2) The NCSU LUG serves as a resource for NCSU Linux users in that we
>> help answer questions and resolve issues that people have while
>> working with Linux. We also sometimes share job opportunities for
>> people in our various fields. This goal is largely satisfied through
>> our mailing list and IRC channel, though
>>
>> (3)
>

> If we are talking about the prupose of the LUG, it's also well stated in
> the constitution:
>
>     The purpose of this organization is to promote the use and usability of
>     Linux in the NCSU community.  This includes such activities such as
>     informational talks, installfests, and open forums.
>
> Perhaps that needs attention and rewording as well at this point...but
> I"ll leave that to you.  :-)
>
> Jack
> --
> Jack Neely < jjneely@ncsu.[redacted] >
> Linux Czar, OIT Campus Linux Services
> Office of Information Technology, NC State University
> GPG Fingerprint: 1917 5AC1 E828 9337 7AA4  EA6B 213B 765F 3B6A 5B89
>