DEVON, CORNWALL & SOUTH WEST LINUX USER GROUP
A group of GNU/Linux and Free software enthusiasts based in Devon and Cornwall. We hold some monthly meetings and have an e-mail discussion list, Matrix & IRC Channels. Feel free to post questions and connect with others interested in Free software.
The next Tinkerers meeting will be on Saturday 27th September 2025. We will meet at the STEAM café at for drinks / catch up
Carry on looking at Helen’s Dragster Car project
We may try and set up an old wireless router to provide basic DHCP network access (not Internet) so thatwe can then experiment more with networking etc.
STEAM CAFE & DISCOVERY CENTRE
13 TORBAY ROAD
PAIGNTON
At present, they only have a facebook page. I can’t do much about that. I can be contacted via the mailing list or via the Lug matrix channel.
Paul
The OpenBSD project produces a FREE, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. Our efforts emphasize portability, standardization, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography. As an example of the effect OpenBSD has, the popular OpenSSH software comes from OpenBSD.
The IRC NOW network make extensive use of Open BSD in their services, and offer a range of these services as they encourage use, they are offering introductory and administration training for free. They do have shell accounts available
The training pages are on their website, but support is VIA IRC or Internet Relay Chat via their own servers (it is decentralised, so there are a good few servers linked together.
I am posting this here, despite this being a Linux user group because I feel there is some relevance, there are certainly skills that would be useful and are transferable to the Linux world
There is no reason we can’t discuss Open BSD on the Linux user group mailing list or Matrix / IRC channels.
Not linked to IRC now, but there is a OpenBSD Matrix community.
Mission Libre
\Mission Libre has now launched.
Mission:Libre is a new, independent project for teens all over the world who love free software. We aim to help teens learn about software freedom and develop the skills they’ll need as they become tomorrow’s contributors and activists. Mission:Libre will help spread the word about free software.
With the release of the newest Debian stable just round the corner, the release notes have details of what is coming in the new version, from software to hardware support.
We can discuss on the mailing list and or on the group Matrix channel unless you are on IRC which is bridged to Matrix, so people can discuss on both.
There is also a Debian Matrix Channel
Training is essential to learn new skills, keep existing skills fresh or upskill to find new roles or careers.
The Linux foundation offer a wide range of courses and other learning materials on their website.
Explore the open source technology landscape with our vast repository of free resources. You’ll find courses, webinars, tutorials, and publications all at your fingertips and free forever.
MEETINGS
The group hold regular meetings
69A New George Street, Plymouth, GB PL1 1RJ
Wider Community
There is NO Exeter Pi jam in June.
Torbay Tinkerers – 4th Saturday of the month at Paignton, 09:30 to 12:00ish, STEAM Café and Discovery Centre, 13 Torbay Road, Paignton. Please see the [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554348046709) for details.
Please ask on the mailing list for details on lug meets, so those who are attending can keep an eye out for you.
With support for MS Windows 10 ending, on October 14th. There may be many reasons you don’t want to, or are unable to upgrade to Windows 11. There is now a campaign growing to get people together to help upgrade computers to a Linux distro.
Has all the details and links to various groups, the UK is very underrepresented on here but if there is anyone in the South West who can maybe help then maybe we can make a difference to a few users out there.
LibreOffice 24.8.7 is available for download – The Document Foundation Blog
Berlin, 8 May 2025 – LibreOffice 24.8.7, the seventh and last minor release of the LibreOffice 24.8 family of the free open source, volunteer-supported office suite for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), MacOS (Apple and Intel) and Linux, is available at www.libreoffice.org/download. LibreOffice is the only office suite that respects the privacy of the user, ensuring that the user is able to decide if and with whom to share the content they create. It even allows deleting user related info from documents. In addition, it has a feature set comparable to the leading product on the market.
This is apparently the last of the 24.x release. If you want the latest LibreOffice, then you can download 24.2
Posted to the register, so just linking here. It may be of interest to lug members and the wider community.
Gopher 2
I have set up an account at vern.cc, as they host gopher as well as other services such gemini and you can also host your own html pages.
As part of the sign-up process you need to provide a public key, this is generated as part of a public / private key pair, generated by ssh-keygen.
Once you are set up, they will let you know and you can log in. If you set up a local **gophermap** you can upload this and get started.
One important note is that gopher uses tabs not spaces, so it is important to configure your text editor so that it treats a tab as a tab, not as spaces, or you get problems with links and content on your gopher site. How you do this depends, of course, on the editor you are using.
Once set up you can host text, upload files and link to them so they can be downloaded, and have your own little space. You can also link to other gopher users. See links list to one of the tutorials I used.
If new to gopher you may want to read up first, I would also suggest hangout on the vern matrix channel so you can ask for help. I am on here, as well as the DCLUG matrix channel.
While gopher may be old and retro, it can be a good project or distraction and still fun to play around with. It also has the advantage of no cookies, no tracking, advertising or other bloat you get with modern websites.
Have fun
Paul