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| Vol III |
The Linux Show!!™ |
2004 |
The Linux Show!! (or "TLS" as the listeners have re-named it) is the leading webcast in the world focused on issues of the Open Technology community. The Linux Show has just completed turning the page on another year of our broadcast history. We have been bringing you TLS in one form or another since September of 1997. TLS is considered by many in the Linux community as a key component in the way we as a community communicate with each other. As Eric Raymond says, "every community of people needs a mechanism that acts as the 'back yard fence' by which that community can talk, argue and some times just hang out. The Linux Show is our back yard fence." We at TLS are proud of our role as a community advocate and communication tool that we have played for now over 7 years.
However, TLS is at a critical stage in our history. We need to either grow or die. We have been running TLS as a labor of love funded by private contributions, some vendor sponsorship and many small donations coming from people in the community. But the simple reality is that popularity of TLS consumes an enormous overhead that has grown beyond what our present hybrid business model can support. We have never made the claim that TLS was a non profit business in the legal sense, but that is the way we have run the entity. We have been running TLS as if it were a not for profit in terms of making it available for members of the community to use free of charge. The only way we could actually accomplish this was by creating it as an "S" corp so that we could freely (and legally) pass assets from another business to The Linux Show. This worked well for the first 6.5 years of the show, and in fact, as of January 2004 we were in fantastic shape. A series of events occured in 2004 that have placed a significant drain on our cash flow and our pool of available cash. we had a couple bad debts from vendor sponsors who did not like they way they were covered on the show. We went to a couple Linux Conferences, and some of the folks who intened on sponsoring never came through with the promissed sponsorships. At some of those same trade show/conferences, we found ourselves getting overcharged by Expo provisioning vendors for many thousands of dollars. And lately we have been wacked with the news that our colo provider has gone broke. That is a double wack as the money we paid them is vapor, plus we have to pay to move and provision a new NOC. So, here we are a fw months later and we are in just about the worst financial shape in our history. For the short term, we are talking with some major IT companies looking for a underwriting sponsor to help us recover from all the bleeding of cash. For the long term, we have two goals. The first goal is to colaborate with members of the community on a series of fundraisers and affinity projects. At the bottom of this page is a list of some of the things in progress; juct click on one of the links to take advantage of the opportunity. Goal Two is to convert TLS from a single show entity into a full schedule 'network' broadcasting all kinds of Geek content. We are underway the process of doing the organizational steps that will facilitate this change. We have lined up many community volunteers to make this possible. We have several new shows lined up and ready to go. One of these new shows will launch November 1st 2004. Only through the support of the people in the Linux community will we continue this growth. If enough of you support us, we promise to continue to give you the kinds of shows you are used to hearing on TLS, and we will bring you lots of new shows on several different Geek and IT focused genre. No donation is to small.
SOS- Support Our Shows!!!
Pick one or more of the following fund raiser partnerships to help support TLS.
- Volunteer to Help!
There are lots of ways you can help TLS by joining the team as a volunteer. Its easy and does not require that much time. For more details email The Linux Show Staff
- Become a Community Sponsor:
Use the Paypal button to make a Community Donation. No donation is to small, but for a $50.00 donation we will plug you community group on the Show. A $150.00 donation will get you plugged on a months worth of shows. Plug your small business, your open source project or LUG. NOTE: Businesses must be in their first year of business and have less than $100,000.00 sales to be eligible for a community donation.
- Become a Vendor Sponsor
Contact Vendor Relations- For details on corporate sponsorships available.
- Give The Gift of Domain
Why not give someone a domain name as a gift this holiday season. We will include free of charge a email greeting that includes a files suitable for framing. For additional details go to the Give the Gift of Domain information page. For ONLY $8.88 you will have a gift that will be remembered for years. To skip the gift greeting and just register a domain jump to www.EconomyDomainNames.com
- No Limits DSL
DSL Solutions for Geeks or Small Business. We know what you want out of a broadband provider; good service, fast speed, control of the circuit, and for the ISP to get the hell out of your way. We have interviewed DSL partners and put together a list of ISP partners including our featured partner SpeakEasy.Net that fill the criteria for a broadband service that we feel is ideal. In fact, we consider this the way broadband SHOULD BE and so we are calling the program No Limits DSL. We have multiple packages available from 1.5M/384k RADSL through 6M/768k ADSL. The following criteria is the benchmark for the No Limits DSL program:
- No Blocked Ports
The ISP must guarantee to NOT block Ports, and if ports are blocked in the future all contract commitments are voided. - Real Routable IPs
Regardless of the number of IPs you get, they are routable. - The Right to Host Servers
Its YOUR bandwith, host away, including game servers. - No Use Prohibitions
Stream media, play games, make VoIP calls to your hearts desire. As long as its legal, do it. - Low Competitive Price
We may not have the very lowest available service, but it will be competitive and give you a significant bang for the buck. As an example, you can not get Speakeasy service cheaper even if you go direct. - And good service!
The check out more details and see what kind of service we can get for you, go to http://www.NoLimitsDSL.com If you are a DSL ISP that wants to participate in this program please contact our program coordinator at ISP partner group
- Geek Access
OK so what do you do if you do not qualify for any DSL but you still want to join one of our programs. Well, thanks to one of the largest Dial-Up aggregators in the world, we have set up a Dial-Up service just for you geeks. This service will launch in November 04.
- New Zealand Eco Clothing
Coming Soon, a program specifically to fund the launch of the Kiwi/Aussie version of TLS; featuring an entire line of eco apparel manufactured in New Zealand. Economical shipping fees to anywhere in the world.
- Geek Apparel & Gifts
In November we will be launching a new fundraising program for all of those who have asked for TLS apparel and gifts. Not only will there be TLS logo apparel and gifts, but we will have items featuring artwork from Nitro & Snaggy creators of the Geek Culture comic Joy of Tech and After Y2K, as well as items with artwork created by JD "Illiad" Frazer the creator of the User Friendly comic strip. Let us also not forget the Linux "Free Beer" Hat and several custom shirts created by our listeners.
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| Support TLS: |
You can Click on the PayPal button or you can go to our SOS Support Our Show Program page by clicking on the Bottle! 
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| VoIP Settings: |
| Our VoIP system is based upon Asterisk OS Software & Digium CTIcards. Set you SIP phone to XXXX, if you do not have a SIP Phone, go get the GnoPhone Software. Or you can purchase a SIP phone through our partner resource page. |
| IRC Client: |
| Want to join the IRC but the PC you are on does not have an IRC client working? Click Here to launch our JAVA IRC client. |
| Artist Links: |
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If you are a performer or represent an artist, please contact us ASAP at Staff to be added to our play list. Poets, musicians and singers are all welcome. |
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