Tough Times for *nix Users' Groups
Are Unix and Linux now passé in the days of DevOps? I'm writing this on August 11th, and it looks like the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts haven't met since May and the Atlanta Unix Users' Group didn't meet last month due to lack of program. Has *nix gone from cutting edge to being so ubiquitous that it's now invisible? For the Unix folks, there's only three vendors left: HP with HP-UX, Oracle with Solaris and IBM with AIX. AUUG had the HP folks come and speak a couple of months back, and they're focused almost entirely on high-availability systems. Oracle and IBM just shuffle my requests off to a national sales line and refuse to let me talk to any local salesperson. Is the sun setting on Unix/Linux users groups? Drop me a line and let me know your thoughts.
Atlanta Maker Update
Got this in today's inbox: an Update on Atlanta Makers from the folks at the local Maker Faire.
Atlanta 3D Group
There's a new meetup forming for all things around 3D printing. See the Atlanta 3D Group page at meetup. It's just forming, but there seems to be a lot of buzz around 3D printing in town. Not strictly open source, but a lot of 3D printing seems to use open source tools.
Google Developer Group
Google's isn't strictly open-source, but they contribute a lot to the open source community. Freeside Atlanta has a new subgroup for Google Developers that cover topics like polymer.js, html5, etc. Check them out.
Geekspace Gwinnett Moves In
The region's latest makerspace, Geekspace Gwinnett now has a home and is building out. I went to one of their regular Tuesday Open House events last night. They're in the building out phase. So far they have Wifi and workbenches with a couple of older osciliscopes. In the back shop area are a couple of drill presses, an old Craftsman table saw in need of a tune-up, a small metal lathe, cutoff saw and scrollsaw. A milling machine is in the works as soon as moving equipment can be arranged. All in all, about a dozen people showed up and the space has great promise. So come out to one of their events and learn more.