For the InternetServer project, we should have some explict goals. What are we trying to accomplish? What aren't we trying to accomplish? This page is mainly concerned with administrative/political concepts, not technical nuts-and-bolts. See ServerToDo for the technical laundry list.

See Also: ServerReasons, ServerToDo

Goals

There are things we want this server to be used for.

• Front page for people searching for a LUG
• Providing information on who we are, what we do, how to participate
  • Nice to have: a calendar easy to post and query, RSS or iCal/vCal
• Becoming a long-term repository of what we have done
  • Bragging rights about past meetings
  • Link to resources we have discovered or presented

The primary purpose of the GNHLUG server is to provide an infrastructure upon which projects can be hung: web sites, wikis, mailing lists, calendars, schedules, car pool lists, and stuff we haven't thought of yet. -- TedRoche

Anti-Goals

There are things we do not want this server to be used for.

Discussion

Determining what we are NOT trying to accomplish:

• NOT becoming another "destination" place on line
• NOT a high-interactivity forum
• NOT a high-maintenance site

-- TedRoche - 08 Feb 2006

Ted, I'm a bit unclear on where you are aiming here. What do you mean by "high-interactivity forum", etc. I think we're actually in agreement, but I'm not sure. Let me explain where I'm coming from: I don't think GNHLUG should try to create the next Slashdot, nor do I think we should try to duplicate the work of The Linux Documentation Project, nor be a directory of software a la Freshmeat. There is plenty of general information on Linux/FOSS out there. We don't need to duplicate it. What I am interested in are two things. First is providing infrastructure (where have I heard that before ;-) ) that can aide the GNHLUG in operations. For example, a calendar/scheduler that can mail meeting notices. Better list archives is another big item on my list. The other is hosting content unique to GNHLUG. There might be a hundred-and-one software directories, but they might lack a lot of the very useful info given in someone's presentation. If we can get that onto the web, that's not a "me too" thing, but useful, unique content.

-- BenScott - 08 Feb 2006

On the other hand, I think we might want to run a Jabber server or some other IM server to facilitate discussions between members. This would obviate the "high-interactivity forum" non-goal. Its also possible that we might want to have A/V streams of our meetings out of this server (I'm not sure MV would like that, but we have yet to do the R&D on this topic).

-- BruceDawson - 09 Feb 2006

Yes, Bruce, that's what I'm getting at. There are very interactive things that I think would benefit us. IM and IRC, quite likely. I still think your concept of a web-based interface to the mailing lists is good; we just have to make sure it preserves the qualities of mailing lists that the text-only traditionalists like me want. Maybe a mail<->news<->web gateway of some kind. Likewise, I think it would be great if the GNHLUG website became the "destination" for Linux/FOSS people in the area. (It might not happen, but I can dream.) I see it more as a scope-of-the-userbase thing. I don't want to try and serve the entire Linux community (like, e.g., LWN or Slashdot). About the only thing I am certain we don't want is a "high-maintenance site"! :-)

-- BenScott - 09 Feb 2006

Okay, I knew I was tossing up what might be a difficult topic. My concern is that discussions get split between several forums, lowering the value of each of the forums. (As an example, there's been some great discussions about the LinkSys WRT 54G on DLSLUG that benefits the 20 or 40 subscribers to that list, but lost to the 200 on the GNHLUG list.) I'd like to see GNHLUG offer different, complementary services that added rather than competed for value. For example, an RSS feed equivalent of the announcement feeds gets our meetings into new media and possibly wider distribution. While IM/IRC can deliver more immediate gratification to those seeking answers ("Control-U should do it"), the answer is lost in the ether and doesn't build a knowledgebase within the Wiki or email archives. This is a balancing act, as the above posts say, we don't want to duplicate the many other wonderful resources available on the Internet.

-- TedRoche - 10 Feb 2006