Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
c/o Ben Chapman
Emory University School of Law
1301 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30322
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 Festivals that help others eradicate the windows virus by discovering the secure, user friendly freedom of Open Source personal computing.
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 and Open Source empowerment with the greater Atlanta community and beyond.
ALE currently has two monthly meetings to support the growing Linux Enthusiast population of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Central meeting is held at Emory University on the 3rd Thursday of each month. The ALE NorthEast meeting is held at Georgia Gwinnett College on the 1st Thursday of each month. Upcoming meetings and events are announced on this page (below), and meeting direction details are linked on the left sidebar. We hope y'all come visit with us sometime!
Our regular ALE Central Meeting venue is unavailable for the
third Thursday of December, so we found this a great excuse to combine
short form ALE presentations with some ALE tasting at our first ever…
ALE Solstice Celebration
& OSS Pecha Kucha Contest
Thursday, December 18th, 7:30pm to 11:30pm
at the Emory area facilities of
Railroad Earth
1467 Oxford Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307
SEE MAP HERE. See Location Details* below for more.
The ALE Solstice Celebration:
Our December meeting will be an open social event where we can
all relax, have fun, chat and get to better know our fellow Linux
enthusiasts. All friends and family are welcome and there is an open
invitation for anyone who is interested in learning more about Linux
and GPL Open Source Software in a casual setting. Provided
refreshments will be limited, so guest contributions of snacks and
beverages, adult and otherwise, will be welcome. Coolers, ice and
utensils will all be available.
The OSS Pecha Kucha Contest:
As topical entertainment for the evening everyone is invited
participate in our Geek version of a Karaoke contest and provide
a (modified) Pecha Kucha style presentation on a Linux or Open
Source related topic. Presenters will be alloted 10 minutes at
the microphone and 20 computer slides** to fully enlighten the
audience with every single item of information there is to know
about their Open Source related topic. After all the Pecha Kucha
performers are done, the audience will select their favorite and
the winner will receive a copy of the recently published
Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible,
rated as 10 of 10, 5 Star, “Top Stuff” by Linux Format magazine.
(Pecha Kucha participants should also see AV Support** notes below.)
Additional Festivities:
The RRE facilities include a full audio recording studio (with two pianos,
a few guitar amps, a PA, an analog synth, a trap kit and various hand
drums and percussion toys), so jamming and drum circles can be enjoyed
in the later half of the evening. There is also a large, private back yard
with a fire pit, so weather and firewood supplies allowing, an outdoor
warming fire may add “s’more” to the festivities and Solstice sacrifices
of SUSE swag may also be offered to the flames.
=====
* Location Details:
The RRE facility is a large stone front house that is located a block West of
Emory law School and a few doors down Oxford Road from Everybody’s
Pizza, Domino’s delivery station and the Saba restaurant. Street parking
on the curbs is acceptable, and there is an adjacent paved lot where
parking in spaces not reserved for Saba is allowed. Google maps has
some good views of the street where you can see what’s what before
you get there.
** AV Support:
A VGA RGB data projector, a microphone and sound system connection
(1/8″ mini stereo) will be provided for Pecha Kucha presenters. A Linux
laptop with Ubuntu 8.04 install and a Mac G4 iBook (with DVD player) will
also be available to support slide shows compatibly formated as OOo Impress
presentations or as a series of jpg, png or pdf files. Up to 2 minutes of DVD
video clips will be allowed in exchange of some of the computer slides at a
ratio of trading 1 slide for every 10 seconds of video.
=====
Questions or offers to provide an ALE meeting presentation
should be directed to Aaron@pd.org // 404.315.0406
Our feature presentation for the
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 7:30pm
ALE Central Meeting will be
“Toward a Robust Domain Naming System”
presented by Michael Warfield
Synopsis:
– As automatic and invisible as they may seem to the average
internet user, reliable network Domain Name Services don’t just
happen. From enterprise service providers to home networks,
good design in domain naming and DNS management are essential
components of a stable and secure network. Drawing on recent
papers presented for IBM-ISS, the talk will cover the design and
implementation considerations of setting up robust deployments
of Domain Name Services, including some forensic thoughts on
the AT&T debacle of a few months back.
Bio:
– Michael Warfield is a Senior Researcher and Analyst for the X-Force
Managed Security Services of IBM Internet Security Systems.
– With computer security experience dating back to the early 1970s and
Unix experience dating back to the early 1980s, Mike is responsible for
doing research into security vulnerabilities and intrusion protection
techniques for IBM-ISS X-Force.
– Prior to joining ISS, now IBM-ISS, Mike has held positions such as, a
Unix systems engineer, Unix consultant, security consultant and network
administrator on the Internet. He is one of the resident Unix gurus at
the Atlanta UNIX Users Group and is one of the founding members of the
Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts. He is also an active member of the Samba
development team and is a contributor to the Linux Kernel and numerous
Open Source Software projects. Mike has published articles on both
Samba and on Security and is a respected cryptographer in the Open
Source community.
============================
Our meeting time frame is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm
Directions to Emory Law School can be found
HERE (or via the side bar link).
Let the Linux Support Communities of Ubuntu & ALE help you Upgrade
to the Free, Painless and Permanent cure for every PC computer disease!
Discover the Healthy Freedom of GPL Open Source
& Linux Internet Computing!
ALE Linux Install Fests are designed to welcome anyone and everyone who
works, plays or tinkers with computers to expand their knowledge of the
many Familiar, User Friendly and Hardware Compatible solutions for
enhancing your digital experience. Learn about all the Industry Leading
options in free software and operating environments that can help you
escape from the endless cycle of commercial computer viruses and
spyware at:
The Fall 2008 Ubuntu Linux
Install Fest
Saturday, November 8, 10:00am to 5:00pm
at Emory Law School Gambrell Hall, Room 5e
[ Directions to Gambrell Hall ]
YOU TOO CAN ENJOY WORRY FREE COMPUTING & WEB SURFING!
Generous, friendly and informed Open Source technology professionals
from Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts and Ubuntu-Georgia will be availabe all day
to demo the most popular free choices in virus free software and answer
your questions about Open Source, freedom friendly Linux computing.
RESTORE, REVIVE OR RECYCLE YOUR OLDER PC HARDWARE!
Experts will be on hand with the knowledge, tools and peripherals to
make it easy for you to extend the life of your current PC systems and
keep them out of the landfill! Make your PC faster, more useful, more
functional, more friendly and disease free! Free CD and DVD copies of
Ubuntu and other Open Source Linux Software bundles will be available
for anyone to try or install!
We help provide all the monitors, mice, keyboards and support systems
so that all you have to bring is your laptop or computer CPU case.
Experimenting or Installing Ubuntu Linux is entirely SYSTEM SAFE, too!
By default, the Ubuntu exploration and installation processes will retain
all of your existing environments, programs and data files.
WHETHER YOU COME TO OBSERVE, LEARN, EXPERIMENT
OR INSTALL, IT IS ALL COMPLETELY FREE!
The full list of free fun for the Fall 2008 ALE Ubuntu Install Fest will include:
– Hands on demo systems where you can experiment with all that Linux offers
and find out just how simple and familiar free computing choices are.
– Assistance with safely booting your AMD/Intel PC or Mac with an Ubuntu Live
Install CD so you can freely explore and test the free Linux Desktop environment
and any of the many dozens of useful free programs that are included, all without
making any changes to your existing system whatsoever.
– Knowledgeable, patient help with installing Linux onto your system hard drive
when you decide that Free Computer Freedom is a really great deal!
– Free Copies of the Ubuntu v8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” Live Install CD (as well as
other Linux OSS package disks) will be available to everyone attending.
Note that free Ubuntu Live CD’s can also be ordered, requested or downloaded
for burning anytime atUbuntu.com/getUbuntu
– Demonstrations of the free Ubuntu Desktop and other major Open Source
software like Open Office packages will be offered at the Install Fest.
– Light refreshments will be available throughout the day and lunch will be
available for a modest contribution.
– A plethora of Linux & Ubuntu experts at the ready to assist with any questions
about anything involving Open Source, Linux and Ubuntu.
To learn more about Ubuntu GNU Linux and the
Ubuntu “Intrepid Ibex” 8.10 release specifically,
please visit Ubuntu.com
To get a taste of all the choices in Free,
Open Source Operating Environments,
visit DistroWatch.com
For any additional information needs, please contact:
Aaron Ruscetta, 404.315.0406 // aruscetta@gmail.com
The feature presentation at our ALE Central Meeting for
7:30pm, Thursday, October 16th, will be:
*The Joy of Coova”
– or –
“How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love Radio Networking”
as presented by the mildly paranoid but
always radiant Charles Shapiro
Synopsis:
– During this program you will witness how our intrepid narrator
conquered his paranoia and installed a WiFi hotspot on his network,
exposing it to the nefarious wiles of all hackers, spammers, and
other evil characters within a 100-yard radius of his home, protected
only by the fig-leaf of a click-through agreement form.
Featuring coova, a build-your-own-hot-spot kit built on OpenWRT,
the linux distribution designed to run on your WiFi router.
With explicit, never-before-shown details on troubleshooting
and other digital hilarity.
bio:
– Charles Shapiro is a fan of fencing, juggling, gadgetry, RC toys
and most anything the lesser world considers “geek” or “gear head”.
Consistent to this calling he has been a professional programmer for
over 10 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 and a committed 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
via the side bar link.
Our Featured Presentation for the
Thursday, Sept. 18th, 7:30pm
ALE Central meeting will be
Embedding Video Clips into OpenOffice.org Impress Presentations
a casual ALE presentation about preparing a presentation about
preparing ALE as prepared and presented by James Kinney
Synopsis:
– Most Linux users know and use OpenOffice.org for creating documents and Impress-ive
presentations. It’s often nice to use embedded video clips as a part of those presentation,
though it’s especially nice when we can capture and prepare those video clips using all
Open Source Linux tools like Kino.
– This will be a practical demonstration of how to do this and how to avoid pitfalls in
keeping the presentation portable. These procedures were learned during the making
of the “Beer in Spaaaaace!” presentation for DragonCon 2008.
– Warning: Video clips of animated beer drinkers may offend the easily offended, though
we can assure our audience that no hops were abused in the making of this presentation
or the brew that accompanied it. Also, a possible linkage between Linux and beer may
appear if it ever compiles.
Bio:
– Jim Kinney shows up at ALE meetings when harrased by Aaron and when he remembers
what day of the week it is. Currently, Jim brews beer and prefers beer over serial ports.
No, really! Once you pour the beer over the serial ports you can go have more beer ’cause
the serial ports don’t work any more. Beer over PS/2 or USB ports may be hazardous to
your health.
– Jim has also been a Linux user since 1993 (Go Slackware!) and a strong open source
evangelist ever since. He masquerades by day as a Linux admin to support his hardware
acquisition addiction. He is actively involved in working to displace the dysfunctional
computer platforms in schools as a founding member of Georgia Open Source Education
Foundation (gosef.org). The group works with community groups such as Boys and Girls
Clubs of America and the Clarkston Community Center to set up Linux thin client systems
to support these groups need for reliable, low cost computing platforms for social support.
Links:
< http://www.Octobrewfest.com >
============================
We will be meeting 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 (or via the side bar link).