[wellylug] My reasons for leaving

[Jamie Dobbs]

For those who want to know why I have made the decision I have made:
(I'd appreciate this going out on both lists please)

My motives are pretty simple really.

The LUG has moved away from being 'by geeks and for geeks' into an area
where a vocal minority is making decisions affecting the silent majority.
If this was not the case there would be no need for a seperate 'wlug_org'
mailing list and everything could (and would) be discussed frankly and
honestly on the one list as it is for most other LUGs I have seen.

There also appears to be a move toward trying to make the LUG make some
money, which is something I am dead against - the instant a LUG starts to
look at how it can make money it moves from being something 'good' to
being something 'bad' (in my opinion).

Why does a LUG need money? I think the simple answer to this is that it
doesn't. There are no costs associated with meetings as the venue is free
and any special events etc. that may incur a cost should be run to recover
the cost only rather than make a profit. It is just plain wrong for a LUG
to make a profit then try and dedice how to spend it and have suggestions
such as 'curry night' and the such which are purely of benefit to
individual members rather than the group as a whole thus moving the LUG
from being considered a 'not for profit' into a 'lets make profit so our
members can spend it'.

Please feel free to share my thoughts with any others as you wish as it
may make it clear why I have made the decision that I have made.

Regards

Jamie Dobbs