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Bristol usergroup shuts after 17 years

Published: 17th Jun 2006, 23:00:31 | Permalink | Printable

Votes to fall on own sword, heads towards light at end of tunnel

BARUG logoA RISC OS usergroup founded in 1989 has decided to close down because too many people have "drifted away". Members of the Bristol Acorn and RISC OS user group voted at an EGM on May 31 to wind up the club.

A statement on their website said: "The ups-and-downs to which we have been accustomed in the last years have done little to maintain a positive attitude amongst the RISC OS-using populace.

"More and more people have drifted away from the platform to the point where BARUG now finds it impossible to justify its continued existence."

The group has previously entertained many visiting companies from all corners of the RISC OS scene, and maintained a regularly updated newsletter.

The club added: "BARUG's demise, however, does not represent the demise of the RISC OS platform nor of the membership's enthusiasm for the platform. Rather, they feel that what BARUG was formed to do, share information and help users with problems, is now largely more conveniently done elsewhere."

The group was formed 17 years ago, in the same year that Acorn launched RISC OS 2 and the A3000.

While paying tribute to and thanking those who contributed to BARUG over the years, the club believed RISC OS was "far from dead and buried".

They said: "When BARUG started, the Acorn computer scene was lively, software and hardware development was rapid and Acorn appeared to have a bright future.

"For reasons well documented elsewhere this future was not to be and, with the demise of Acorn itself, users were left in a situation of dwindling interest and the loss of many of the developers on whom the platform relied."

• Some user groups still going and when they are next meeting up: ROUGOL, Monday June 19; RONWUG, June 21; WROCC, July 5; ICENI, July 6 ; WAUG, July 8; NKACC, July 13; and MUG, July 15. SASAUG, SAUG, and LAUG also met up earlier this month.

Links

BARUG website

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Discussion

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BARUG members may want to note that there is no need for a formal organisation in order to keep a user group growing. You can still meet on a regular basis (if you have no subscription money you simply need to find a free venue or a benefactor). Speakers will still come to see you. If any of the BARUG group want to speak to us at RONWUG to see how we organise it then they are welcome to get in touch with me - local call on 0845 006 8822 or by e-mail.

is a RISC OS Userjc on 18/6/06 10:13AM
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I've always had to give BARUG a miss because they met up at the wrong time for me, unfortunately. However, while I couldn't bolster the numbers (by a whole one) for the meetings, I can help in another way.

So, I think it would be useful if Bristol RISC OS Users were able to communicate (and, erm... arrange meet ups) therefore there is now a mailing list available to RISC OS Users in and around the Bristol area.

<A HREF="[link]">Bristol RISC OS Users Mailing List</A>

Or send an email to bru-list-request -at - riscository.com with 'subscribe' in the subject line.

(I've called it BRU to differentiate it from the user group, since that's what it isn't.)

is a RISC OS UserVinceH on 18/6/06 4:45PM
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The next WAUG meeting is actually on the 15th July as Yeovilton Air day is on the 8th!!

is a RISC OS Usermfraser on 19/6/06 6:55AM
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Shame to see a user group die. On a more positive note, ROUGOL has seen a rise in attendees over the past 18 months. We now get about 25-30 attendees every month, and it has been over 50 at times, and what once seemed a decent sized room can get a bit cramped! Even more encouragingly, it isn't the same 30 people every time. There's about a dozen regulars and the rest vary from month to month. Having no membership or entrance fee probably helps with this. Next ROUGOL meeting is tonight (Monday 19th), where the ever entertaining and informative Stewart Brookes will be demoing the latest EasiWriter, ArtWorks, GhostScript, and all things PDF related. Come along and join the world's fastest growing RISC OS user group :-)

is a RISC OS Userhelpful on 19/6/06 1:26PM
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helpful:

"world's fastest growing user group" - indeed!

it should be noted that ROUGOL was founded *after* acorn had died.

We prosper because we have no subs, are largely informal and of course represent western europe's biggest city! ;-)

is a RISC OS UserROHC on 19/6/06 2:34PM
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Shame I'll be missing ROUGOL tonight.

I booked some holiday off from work (in London) so I could sort my place out a bit (in Berkshire).

Oh well - I'll just look forward to the write-up on Drobe about it.

is a RISC OS Userphilipnet on 19/6/06 5:45PM
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ROUGOL meeting update. As of right now, Omega owners at the meeting outnumber non-Omega owners! More details to follow.....

is a RISC OS Userhelpful on 19/6/06 10:48PM
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Its a realy shame Bristol is winding up. There was a good bunch of regulars down there, who kindly sat through two talks from me, and some were even still awake at the end! Its was a shame it was just a little too far for me to attend regularly.

is a RISC OS Userdruck on 1/7/06 10:02PM
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