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COMPUTERBANK VICTORIAN BRANCH.
Minutes for Branch Committee Meeting.
Date: Wednesday 20 August 2003.
Where: 92 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne, 3003.
Present: Rob Brittain, Tony Calenti (late), Owen Courtis, Kylie Davies (chair),
Julian Goodwin, Steve Paynter, Jan Smith (late), Con Validas.
Apologies:
Vic Koci, Terry Van Heygen.
Notes:
a) Quoted text is from the previous minutes.
b) Numbering system has changed from previous minutes and agenda.
1. WELCOMES, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES.
2. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES.
Rob moved to accept minutes; Con seconded.
3. MATTERS ARISING
3.1 Loaner Development Computers.
"Rob has organised someone to follow up on Wade."
Rob is waiting to hear back from the person who is hunting down
Wade. That person has visited Wade's house several times, but not
yet caught up with him. ITEM ONGOING.
3.2 Process Meeting Feedback.
"Kylie still waiting for report from Steve Davies."
Kylie is not expecting to hear back from Steve Davies, so the whole
idea of process mapping will be put on hold. ITEM DROPPED.
3.3 Installation of Peripherals.
"Drafting of Peripherals Policy held over until next month."
Kylie believes this stuff has been incorporated into the Information
Sheet. ITEM DROPPED.
3.4 Open Source Software Policy.
"Draft to be completed by next month."
Kylie hasn't yet passed this on to Julian. Policy has been set, but
the wording needs attention. Low priority. ITEM DROPPED.
3.5 Mailing Lists.
"Waiting for national meeting. Kylie has had no reply from national
committee."
Still no reply from the national committee. ITEM DROPPED.
3.6 Letter from Hancocks Victoria Plantation.
"Kylie to approach Terry."
Terry has been in contact with Hancocks, but can't find anyone who
knows about the letter. ITEM DROPPED.
3.7 Auction of Surplus Equipment (was "Macintosh Report").
"Julien will put higher-spec [Macs] on mailing list for volunteers
to make offers on."
Done. Other equipment also sent to the list. Terry to collate
responses. Items not sold after 2 weeks will be rolled over onto
eBay. ITEM ONGOING.
3.8 Projects Report (was part of item 3i "Reports" in previous minutes).
"Steve to forward templates for progress reports to Rob by next
meeting."
Templates nearly completed. ITEM ONGOING.
3.9 Internal Systems Report
(was part of item 3i "Reports" in previous minutes).
"[Network documentation] will be explored when new servers installed."
ITEM INCLUDED BY MISTAKE (oops!), NOW DROPPED.
3.10 State Coordinator's Report
(was part of item 3i "Reports" in previous minutes).
"Kylie to look at minutes and Menieres report to see what needs
amending."
Not done. ITEM ONGOING.
3.11 Events Calendar (was "User Support Day").
"Rob still to put up a calendar of future events and meetings."
Kylie suggested this could also be incorporated into our Zope
internet site, which is still under development. ITEM ONGOING.
3.12 Camera.
"Recent emails look promising."
The camera is for pictures of surplus equipment for display on
eBay. Julian may be able to borrow a camera. ITEM ONGOING.
3.13 NAB Community Link Awards.
"Due 1st August. Con to help Kylie with drafting."
Con did whole thing by himself. Submitted and received ok.
ITEM DROPPED.
3.14 State Coordinator's Report
(was part of item 4a "Reports" in previous minutes).
"Kylie to look at policy on training recipients."
The training group are trialling the idea streamlining training
by not giving a second session to recipients with advanced skills.
This seems to be working well - in the last month, many people
have gone through with just one session. ITEM DROPPED.
3.15 Internal Systems Report
(was part of item 4a "Reports" in previous minutes).
"Migration of services from omniscience [..] will take over a
month to complete."
This will happen when we get decent computers that don't require
custom kernels, and when Julien gets time to do it. Kylie
suggested that, for the moment, users should back up their own
data on removable media. ITEM ONGOING.
3.16 Database Report
(was part of item 4a "Reports" in previous minutes).
"Prototype database expected to be running by next meeting."
Owen wasn't able to get the prototype running. ITEM ONGOING.
3.17 Visit by Government Ministers.
"Several State Government Ministers may be visiting - awaiting
confirmation."
Several politicians have been emailed, but Kylie has heard nothing
further. Doesn't seem likely to happen. ITEM DROPPED.
3.18 System Builds.
3.18.1 "Rob noted problems with sound cards and cd-roms."
Rob explained how stockpile control and quality control have
both improved this month, eg, David Lavender's test script built
into the installer. ITEM DROPPED.
3.18.2 "Client system build sheet to be abolished. New sheet for
special-needs clients."
The client build sheets will still be used, but will be reduced in
size. Terry to do. ITEM DROPPED.
3.18.3 "As a result of [new generic systems:] installation document-
ation, Owen's database, and training [materials] will be updated."
a) When the build sheet changes, Owen will incorporate those changes
into the database.
b) Rob is working with David Lavender to update the installation
documentation.
c) A training manual "rewrite day" is scheduled for next Wednesday;
an invitation to attend will be posted to the mailing list.
Material will be taken from online "open licence" sources.
Estimated time to completion has blown out by one month.
ITEM ONGOING.
3.19 Revision of Training Manual.
"Con and Kylie to look at new manual tailored to current
distribution. [..] Kylie and Con to look for existing documentation
on Internet that can be adapted - estimated to take one month to
complete. Instructions on adding extra accounts to be added to
training documentation."
Incorporated into item 3.18.3. ITEM 3.19 DROPPED.
3.20 Installfest Day.
"Scheduled for 2nd August, for setting up generic client systems."
The Installfest happened. About five people turned up. Several
machines were installed successfully. Nearly everyone experienced
problems, especially hardware problems. ITEM DROPPED.
4. AGENDA ITEMS.
4.1 Reports.
4.1.1 State Coordinator's Report (Kylie).
No written report done; Kylie hopes to do so next week.
Fifteen systems have been delivered to clients this month to date
using the new streamlined system, as compared to eleven for the
whole of the previous month under the old system. Our bank balance
is currently $3581.50 in credit. A grant for $26,400 is expected
in the next two weeks to keep us going for the next five months.
We're also owed $7300 by Kangan for completion of last WFTD project;
an audit of books is required before collecting this. Shirley is
entering data for the audit; this is progressing well. Finally, we
started a new WFTD program this week with 20 people in total; eight
people will start tomorrow.
4.1.2 Treasurer's Report (Con).
No written report done. Con has submitted documents to South
Australia regarding GST branching; they will eventually be
responsible for submitting their own BAS statements, and for their
own finances in general. We've applied for Government Debits Tax
exemption from State Revenue Office, back-dated for three years.
We've received increased revenue from sales of CD-ROM drives, sound
cards, etc. Superannuation now has to be paid quarterly; all
payments have been made.
4.1.3 Projects Report (Rob).
No written report done. Rob handed over to Owen (item 4.1.8) and
Julien (item 4.1.7). David Lavender has been working on software
for system installs, eg, breaking up the install process into lots
of modules (ie, scripts) for various purposes. A CHANGES.TXT file
is now included on all rescue disks so people can see what's new
from previous versions. Rob has been looking at Morphix for our
new Desktop Penguin; he will report his findings at the next
meeting. Mark Holloway and Julien have developed a barcode
labelling system.
4.1.4 User Support Report (Con).
No written report done. Con reports that there hasn't been too
many user support issues. Kmail is broken, and sometimes wipes
user settings and prevents sending and receiving of mail.
Mozilla Mail is being recommended instead. Kylie suggests the
problem may be due to users turning off their machines without
proper shutdown, while Kmail is still running. User support
issues have perhaps been down this month, possibly due to improved
quality control.
4.1.5 Donations Report (Terry).
No written report done. Terry not present at meeting, but has
said he may be able to get a report out to the list. Rob says
we've been getting a much better class of machine, and not so
much of the lower-spec machines (which are of little use to us).
4.1.6 Documentation Report (Jan).
No written report done. The Zope documentation website has been
upgraded and a login bug has been introduced. Dave Fregon may be
able to fix within the next week.
4.1.7 Internal Systems Report (Julien).
Julien has written and tested a script to automate getting systems
onto the network. There was discussion of locking the rack to
prevent strange Ethernet patchings.
[The following discussion occurred elsewhere in the meeting:]
Dynamic DNS is now running. Rob expressed interest in work schedule:
general directions, what servers were being built, expected
downtimes, etc. Julian is waiting on getting a working machine.
Julian has also been working on getting printers going.
4.1.8 Database Report (Owen).
No written report done. No prototype database yet working, but
there has been some progress. The database design has changed
quite a bit since previous version. Owen explained various details,
such revoking of permissions. Screenshots of the database will be
available on Owen's website tomorrow; a note will be posted to the
mailing list about this.
5. OTHER BUSINESS.
5.1 Locking of Patch Rack.
It was agreed to lock the rack to prevent unauthorised meddling.
5.2 Rubber Stamp.
Rob says this will cost around $26. Approved.
5.3 Training.
Kylie suggested it would be useful to have a standby trainer for
when the rostered trainer is ill or otherwise unable to attend.
It would also be useful to have a technical person available to
support the trainer on the day.
Training rosters were worked out for the next few weeks.
5.4 Computer Screens.
Jan noted how dirty the computer screens were around CAI-VIC.
Cleaning stuff has been purchased, and monitors will be cleaned
tomorrow.
5.5 Training Room Machines.
All machines have been upgraded to Pentium II-300s. These are
expected to make training much less tedious. The training room
can also now be hired out to paying customers, eg, the Lupus
Foundation.
6. MEETING CLOSE.
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