This month we are going to do something a little different. Instead of having a formal presentation, we are going to experiment with a "Hackfest." What this means is that we will have free-form lightning talks for up to the first half of the meeting, and then reserve the last half of the meeting so everyone can hack on things or just sit around and chat about Linux. The lightning talks are open to anyone so if you have something interesting you have been working on and could present on it for 5-10 minutes, we will have a sign-up sheet for you at the beginning of the meeting.

So how exactly do people use Linux in the workplace these days? In this talk an NBLUG panel of systems administrators will talk about how they use Linux at their work.

Last month we discussed some cool command line tools. This month Kyle will go to the opposite end of the spectrum and talk about desktop eye candy. Kyle will specifically discuss Compiz Fusion and Gnome Do and go into some of the more advanced configuration options available for Compiz.

Haiku is an open source operating system inspired by the BeOS that is
specifically focused on personal computing. The intent of this
presentation is to give a general introduction to both the Haiku
project and operating system. The talk will cover among other things
the history of the project, some of its most important milestones,
recent developments, the code base, as well as the global community
that supports it. We will also introduce some of the aspects that make
the Haiku operating system unique both from a technical as well as end

In this talk Kyle will cover the basics of how DNS (Domain Name System) works. The talk will include a short history of the service, how it works today, and a step-by-step walk-through of what happens between entering a domain into a web browser and getting back an IP address. Also covered is how you could use this new-found knowledge to take down the Internet. Specific implementations of DNS (BIND, djbdns, PowerDNS) will not be covered.

The date for our next Installfest has been confirmed: Saturday, March 17th at O'Reilly Media in Sebastopol (directions).

If you are interested in attending, please pre-register on our Installfest page. If you would like to help out, please send an email to installfest[at]nblug.org. If you'd like to help promote the event, we will also have a flyer that you can print out and post in useful places (watch this space and the announce list for a link to the flyer when it is ready).

Also: In conjunction with the installfest the March General Meeting (Tues., March 13th) will be a discussion geared towards new Linux users. Watch this site and the mailing lists for more info!

We are proud to announce our upcoming Installfest on Saturday, October 28th at O'Reilly (directions). If you are interested in attending, please pre-register on our Installfest page. If you would like to help out, please send an email to installfest[at]nblug.org. If you'd like to help promote the event, we also have a flyer (see attachment) that you can print it out, copy and plaster all over the place.

Please note that this InstallFest is at O'Reilly in Sebastopol. Please see below for information on the exact location and directions.

WHEN:  Saturday, February 25th - 10:30AM - 4:30PM PDT
WHERE: O'Reilly in Sebastopol; http://nblug.org/genloc
WHO:   Anyone wanting help in installing Linux onto their computer
URL:   http://nblug.org/installfest/
WHAT DO I DO: Go to http://www.nblug.org/installfest/ to signup!!!!

What is an InstallFest and who can come?

Linux on the desktop gets more and more buzz as time goes on. In this presentation, a panel composed of NBLUG members will describe and demonstrate some of the major desktop environments/window managers available for Linux including Gnome, KDE, Fluxbox, and others.