TTLUG Elections 2008


TTLUG Elections 2008

 

This wiki page captures all information pertinent to the elections of the new Executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Linux Users' Group (TTLUG).

 

  1. TTLUG Elections 2008
    1. TTLUG Executive Positions
    2. Election Rules
    3. Candidates Nominated
      1. President
      2. Vice President
      3. Secretary
      4. Treasurer
      5. Public Relations Officer
      6. Trustee
    4. Candidates' Profiles
      1. Deosaran Bisnath
      2. Dev Anand Teelucksingh
      3. Falina Baksh
      4. Jacqueline A. Morris
      5. Nissan Dookeran
      6. Richard Bailey
      7. Shivan Jaikaran
      8. Simon Fraser
      9. Vasudev Seeram

 

 

TTLUG Executive Positions

 

The Executive of TTLUG is comprised of the following posts:

 

1. President

2. Vice President

3. Secretary

4. Treasurer

5. Public Relations Officer

6. Trustee

7. Immediate Past President

 

All positions except that of Immediate Past President shall be contested in the upcoming elections.

 

Election Rules

 

1. Nomination for candidates shall close by March 21, 2008.

2. Elections shall be held in the form of a poll on Yahoo! Groups.

3. Voting shall be held from March 24 - 27, 2008.

4. Candidates who are contesting the election must be residents of Trinidad.

5. Candidates may offer themselves for only ONE post.

 

Candidates Nominated

 

President

 

Vice President

 

 

Secretary

 

 

Treasurer

 

 

Public Relations Officer

 

 

Trustee

 

 

Candidates' Profiles

Members going up for the election can put a short writeup about themselves here.

 

Deosaran Bisnath

Thanks for all the nominations to several posts. I am overworked, overcomitted, plates filled, so regretfully I must decline all except the position of PRO for which I will consider serving. However, if anyone else offers to serve in this position I will

gladly stand down. I really do believe in the benefits of Open Source but we need to go out there and inform and influence. Whether I am PRO or not, I will assist in a strong advocacy campaign. Our country will benefit greatly.

I am basically a senior citizen compared to most in this group, with over 30 years in IT. It is good to see a more vibrant TTLUG.

 

 

Dev Anand Teelucksingh

 

Must decline due to the responsibilities and involvement in activities at the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

 

Falina Baksh

 

I'm grateful for the nominations for all the other posts but I am only accepting the post

for Secretary. I have been strongly urged to run for President / Vice President but unfortunately I would not be able to deliver the level of commitment required to run such a position this time around. Whoever leads TTLUG needs to be 100% involved, and needs to be the driving force of the group.

 

 

 

My experience in Linux only takes me from 2005 when I first installed Fedora Core 3. Since then I've developed a thirst for open source Apps, and haven't looked back since.

This group is a gem for people who want to learn about open source, and all we need to do is put our heads together and we can make open source the staple diet of anyone we interact with. I've seen for myself that there is a lot of curiousity about the world of linux, but often i've also heard that its too difficult to use. Our job should be to show people how easy it is to use and what they can get out of it.

 

Jacqueline A. Morris

Hi everyone. Sorry to be responding so late, but I was very busy offline.

I'm flattered to be nominated, but must indicate that 1) I use Linux purely in that my web servers run on it and they are outsourced. 2) I have never installed Linux in my life, and probably won't in the near future. 3) I'm really really busy as PRO of a couple other organisations, and when it comes around to Dec-Feb, I will be totally unavailable owing to work commitments.

So if there's anyone else willing to do it, I suggest that they be the PRO. I'd prefer to be a "communications sub-committee member" or something similar, assisting the PRO where possible.

 

 

Nissan Dookeran

Nissan Dookeran Thanks for the nomination(s). I will accept the nomination for the position of trustee.

I have been a Linux enthusiast and a member of TTLUG for the past 7 or so years. During that time I have written a published article on Linux conversion for the Windows user and to this day remain an occassional participant in TTLUG mailing list discussions.

I have also presented two sessions to the UWI Computing Society (UWICS) in past years on Linux and Open Source software and would do so again gladly if they would have me as I believe education is the key to clearing the public of the myths surrounding Linux and increasing participation in and enthusiasm for TTLUG activities.

I continue to blog on various computer and business topics in my spare time, and some of these entries would include references and tips on Linux, its features, distributions and other open source software.

Whether or not elected I will continue to do my best to educate others on Linux and open source software in general and defend the spirit of the principles behind the open-source movement.

O, and for the geeks among us, my preferred Linux distribution for today is Ubuntu. I see it bridging the barrier to acceptance by the traditional Windows user, although for quite awhile I had hoped SimplyMepis would have taken this title as I personally used it for over a year in my previous life as a Linux/open-source developer.

I have played with many distributions, including Knoppix, Red Hat, Fedora Core, Mandrake, Debian GNU/Linux but am not so skilled as to say I have conquered Slackware so I can by no means say I am an expert in it.

 

Richard Bailey

While I am honoured that I have been nominated I will have to respectfully decline. My personal focus over the next year will not allow me the proper attention that the LUG requires. At the next elections I will revisit this and may run for an executive post at that time.

 

Shivan Jaikaran

Shivan Jaikaran

Thanks for the nominations. I will accept the position of President. I became a member of the TTLUG back in 2002 while trying to fight my way though a Systems Programming course at UWI. Since then I have been using a combination of Linux and Windows. My production environment has been fully switched to Ubuntu Feisty (on my laptop). I am a web developer at heart with some business sense (I think!). My role here as President would be to assist with the dissemination of Linux knowledge across the IT community in Trinidad & Tobago. I intend to achieve this by at least having presentations and guest speakers at regularly (or as soon as available) carded dates together with the usual volunteer presentations who are knowledgeable in their field. The first item on my agenda would be to put some of my expertise to use and set up a website to properly disseminate information about the TTLUG such as an event calender and an article repository (similar to the TTCS). Even if I am not voted as the winner I will still volunteer to do this. (Although I will admit "TTLUG's President" will look better on my resume!) I will use a highly participative leadership role because I do not boast to know everything (or anything), so I would expect help from all members of the team (and TTLUG) wherever possible in any decision making process.

 

Simon Fraser

 

Nominations declined due to time constraints.

 

Vasudev Seeram

 

I am humbly offering myself for the position of Secretary Vice President of the Trinidad and Tobago Linux Users' Group (TTLUG). I have over eight years of Linux experience and have been involved in TTLUG for almost four years. Through TTLUG, my knowledge of Linux has expanded over the ensuing years. I would like the opportunity to give back to this community so that others may benefit as well.

 

My foray into Linux began around 1999, with Red Hat Linux 6.0. I was drawn to Linux because it was a different paradigm from the dominant OS at the time. At that time, Linux was not as polished as it is today. While today's Linux user can manage using the GUI, Red Hat Linux 6.0 relied heavily on command line commands. I was able to learn a lot about what went on 'under the hood' of the computer through Linux.

 

My interest in Linux was reignited in 2004 when I began attending TTCS/TTLUG meetings. I was introduced to a live Linux distro named Knoppix. It allowed me to run Linux directly off the CD without having to install it. In my spare time, I was able to continue learning Linux.

 

Linux has played a major role in getting quickly up to speed in my current job. I work as an Oracle Applications DBA, supporting the Oracle Applications E-Business Suite on the Windows, Linux and Solaris platforms. Because of my background in Linux, I was able to 'hit the ground running', focusing on learning the application and not the platforms they were running on. I was able to use Solaris with no formal training, since the shell and commands were almost identical to that of Linux.

 

Not one to be in the limelight, I am prefer instead to focus on getting things done promptly and efficiently. I aim to work closely with our leadership team to streamline the functioning of TTLUG and build it into the best local community for Linux users.

 

What I enjoyed most in TTLUG was the opportunity to learn something new. Be it the installfests or distro presentations, there is always something to learn by attending the presentations. If elected, I shall work to ensure that presentations are scheduled regularly.

 

I thank you for the opportunity to serve the TTLUG community.