[BLU/Officers] Online meetings
John Abreau
jabr at blu.org
Mon Mar 16 01:22:05 EDT 2020
We're not at the point yet of considering anything. Right now we're at the
point of testing and comparing various options, and SamePlace is one of the
options that Jerry listed in his initial email.
It's been almost 10 years since I last looked at this sort of thing, so it
makes sense to me to check out what the current state of the art is.
On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 12:35 AM David Kramer <david at thekramers.net> wrote:
> Are we seriously considering a teleconference option that is not supported
> under Linux?????? when there are so many options out there that do?
>
> We're going through the same thing with Agile New England. Zoom has been
> working fine for our initial tests, and our April meeting will be online
> only using Zoom. We're also considering Sococo for moving our conferences
> online because it supports breakout rooms well.
> On 3/15/20 10:53 PM, John Abreau wrote:
>
> I saw a posting from the CDC that suggested a few options for virtual
> meetings, and one of them was skype. I just installed skype on my laptop,
> and it seems it does have a group meeting function, plus there's supposed
> to be a way to save a video file of the meeting.
>
> I picked up the hotspot from the library this afternoon (Sunday), after
> returning it Saturday, so I'm able to test it this week. What's a good day
> for us to try it out with an officer's meeting?
>
> If there's no day that works for everyone, we can always test it with just
> a few of us.
>
> Regardless of the outcome, of course, we should still examine the other
> options at some point.
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 4:51 PM John Abreau <abreauj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> typo in previous message: "complete" was supposed to be "compete" :-)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 4:50 PM John Abreau <abreauj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Google Meet sounds like a good option to try.
>>>
>>> While the question of streaming or archiving the session to youtube is
>>> not a show-stopper, it's something I would very much like to do, if
>>> possible.
>>>
>>> I took a brief look at the BlueJeans page. I see the cost of the
>>> entry-level package is $9.99/month for up to 50 attendees, and the next
>>> level up is $13.99/month for up to 75 attendees.The second one provides up
>>> to 10 hours of "Cloud Meeting Recording", whereas the entry-level one
>>> doesn't provide for recording at all, so if we could afford it, I'd prefer
>>> the one with the recording option. It's unclear from the page whether
>>> that's up to 10 hours per meeting, per month, or per year, so we'd need to
>>> clarify that before committing to the platform.
>>>
>>> The other options Bill mentions are also worth looking into, of course.
>>>
>>> As for my broadband access, I borrow a 4G/LTE hotspot from my local
>>> library for a week at a time. I can't guarantee that I'll have it on the
>>> night of the meeting, as I have to complete with other library patrons for
>>> access to borrow one of the eight the library provides, but most of the
>>> time I've been able to borrow it again the day after returning it.
>>>
>>> Of course, if the library decides to shut down completely due to the
>>> pandemic, then I may no longer be able to borrow the hotspot.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 3:17 PM Bill Ricker <bill.n1vux at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> *Adding Tom Metro* to CC: list since he has experience and opinions in
>>>> remote meeting tech.
>>>>
>>>> I've seen a number of new-to-work-from-home and new-to-teaching-online
>>>> posts on twitter this week.
>>>>
>>>> Two threads (of many) by old hands at remote-meeting/teaching that have
>>>> useful info
>>>>
>>>> *Options* (addressed to non-tech, but really is addressing anyone new
>>>> to WFH)
>>>> https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/1238690177435852803?s=09
>>>>
>>>> *Hints for Zoom instructor*, half will apply to all platforms and many
>>>> to non-academic semi-lecture meeting like ours
>>>> https://twitter.com/SamWangPhD/status/1238838659949961216?s=19
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My own *comments* on platforms -
>>>>
>>>> - *Screenleap* has 45 minutes (iirc) on free account and
>>>> only-presenter-pays options also.
>>>> Desktop clients for win, mac, Android, iOS.
>>>> Iirc one of chrome or firefox would let me share a window on linux;
>>>> the other would only let me share a tab.
>>>> (*This may have changed with new FireFox security which is more
>>>> flexible and explicit this year*. *We haven't used this one as much
>>>> lately so not really current on it*. *When last used, it had some
>>>> difficulty switching presenters but we eventually got used to how to do it
>>>> without restarting meetings*.)
>>>>
>>>> - *Slack* has screenshare/meetings too. *I think i used it once or
>>>> twice, don't remember details.*
>>>>
>>>> - *Google Meet*: Works well with our remote client and their remote
>>>> team.
>>>> Oddly Android client is least featureful, can't feed a screenshare;
>>>> I suspect because Android has better program separation but might be less
>>>> multiprocessing? (Android can watch screenshare. )
>>>> Includes a phone bridge dial-in for folks who want audio via phone
>>>> instead of tablet/laptop for whatever reason, or only want audio.
>>>> Larger Meetings can be set to automute. Individuals can unmute/mute
>>>> selves; and toggle their video camera.
>>>> Will work with camera off.
>>>> With Latest FireFox, the user must grant camera, mic, screenshare
>>>> privs to in-tab applet, and FF keeps a visible warning that one is sharing,
>>>> very nice. (*And will work if you deny camera, which i do.*)
>>>> I haven't tried with Chrome but i think Tom did. We recently shared
>>>> both Terminal window and a Google Docs tab alternately, switching
>>>> presenters.
>>>>
>>>> Smaller replies interleaved below ...
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 9:47 AM Jerry Feldman <gaf.linux at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Some of our speakers may have access to a video conferencing system.
>>>>> We certainly could have the speaker give his/her talk via YouTube. But, our
>>>>> next speaker is Federico who has access to BlueJeans
>>>>> <https://www.bluejeans.com/>.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Perfectly reasonable to let the speaker present with their preferred
>>>> brand.
>>>> (Whether we can or should capture a BlueJeans presentation on our
>>>> YouTube channel is a separate question.)
>>>>
>>>> In the future, we can explore ways to be able to conduct online
>>>>> meetings where the audience will be able to interact with the speaker.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Having an IRC-like back channel, either in the presentation app or on a
>>>> second screen (tablet) can work.
>>>> Some of the apps allow participants to unmute themselves and butt right
>>>> in, others have RAISE HAND button and chat channel.
>>>>
>>>>> We would need to secure a location with a high enough bandwidth for
>>>>> the speaker,
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Staples Brighton has a WeWork or equivalent meeting space in the back,
>>>> but if they have any sense they've shut that down for the duration.
>>>>
>>>>> or the speaker could present from his/her home or work.
>>>>>
>>>> During this time of sanitary isolation that's probably ideal.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> We would probably need to buy a license that would allow our members
>>>>> to connect. (Possibly Boston User Groups could use its funds to acquire a
>>>>> license). For us, we must be able to use Linux. I'm sure most support
>>>>> Android.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> True Linux Desktop clients are few and far between (due to the
>>>> infinitude of testing space) but ability to work from the browser on Linux
>>>> is more common; some Electron "It's not a browser" apps exist (e.g. Slack).
>>>>
>>>> As noted in my comments above, at least Google Meet native Android App
>>>> can not drive a screen share - which is likely an OS restriction so i
>>>> suspect may be across the board.
>>>>
>>>> Zoom is $14.99/Mo
>>>>>
>>>> This seems to be the popular choice for Universities going On Line.
>>>> Per Glenn's comments, they've fixed their egregious security botch.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> SamePage has a free option. Prices start at $7.50/User
>>>>> RingCentral $14.99/Mo
>>>>> jitsi https://jitsi.org/ Free/Open source. We may be able to use
>>>>> this. Source is on github.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Google Hangouts Meet
>>>>>
>>>> I like, am using at least weekly with client currently.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Talky (https://talky.io/) built on jitsi
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Let's take a look at the above list and add or subtract.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> See my list and resources above.
>>>>
>>>>> I would like to be able to test 1 or more of these online within a few
>>>>> days among us. I would prefer all of John, Me, Kurt, Bill, and Dave. I
>>>>> think John is the key here since he does not really have home internet.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If John doesn't have home broadband, how would he consume a streaming
>>>> video meeting from home?
>>>> 4G tablet OTA?
>>>> I don't expect anything beyond text chat and audio will work well over
>>>> dialup, iffy on ADSL !
>>>> Self-isolation w/o broadband is not going to be pleasant!
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Officers mailing list
>>>> Officers at lists.blu.org
>>>> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/officers
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
>>> Email: abreauj at gmail.com / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID
>>> 0x920063C6
>>> PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23 C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
>> Email: abreauj at gmail.com / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID
>> 0x920063C6
>> PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23 C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
>>
>>
>
> --
> John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
> Email: abreauj at gmail.com / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID
> 0x920063C6
> PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23 C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
>
>
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--
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
Email jabr at blu.org / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0x920063C6
PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23 C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
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