Subject: UCC Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: Mon, 03 June 1996 13:05:00 +0800
X-Venue: loft@cameron-hall.gu.uwa.edu.au
X-Present: [JEB] (James Bromberger - Pres.), [DJL] (David Luyer - Vice
	Pres.), [DGC] (David Chinnery - Treas.), [NTU] (Nick Bannon -
	Sec.), [DUC] (Duncan Sargeant - OCM), [SAF] (Simon Fryer - HWO),
	[YAK] (Ian McKellar), [RNS] (Robert Slater), [MTL] (Mark Tearle).

President's report: Last week's wheel additions were too fast - the
  situation has been clarified, with the result that [YAK] and [TDH] are
  now wheel members.

Treasurer's report: $23?? - $1915 (mermaid) ~= $400
  We want to stay above this level.

  Budgets are due on 22nd July - receipts need to be in order.

Machine reports:
  mulloway: Ethernet transceiver for it has arrived today. It can be
    another user machine. Currently needs a password to boot. Isn't
    fsck-ing (due to a read-only filesystem).

  mudskipper: We should get it running so that we can read tapes. Its HD
    controller is FITH.

  mermaid: Generally happy-ish. Not yet patched into coke authorisation/
    dispense/adduser system. Not always mounting /home/ucc. Not highly
    reliable. xterms should be pointed at it. lynx has been installed.

    We should get at least two *nix boxen password serving.

  axolotl: Should we use the TACAX? password system?

  marlin: 4x4MB SIMMs should be extracted from it, and put into moray.
   Should we disable user logins to it soon, to be a core machine?
   Probably not, until mackerel is doing our NFS.

  mackerel: Jeff Miller (person selling us the SPARC and memory boards)
    replied.
    We have trained assassins currently in the US, in case the Sun
    boards don't get sent to us soon...

    Serial board still unhappy, with four dead ports. We can have lots of
    terminals off axolotl - it has 10 ports, one of which is a console.

    No news on the Sun SCSI cables we ordered.

  starfish: / partition is full. Should be fixed.
    OS install should be done - by [MTL] and [DJL], after [MTL]'s exams.

  X-terms: No news on a possible software upgrade.
    ACTION: [MTL] to work on getting one.

General Business:
  [JEB]: RAM prices are plummeting.

  [DUC]: We can upgrade any given machine to a Pentium MB with 16MB RAM
    for $350.
  [RNS]: Pentium chips cost $200...
  Are the Headlam 286->Pentium upgrades a good deal? Possibly not - the
  computer shops never lose...

  Another 486? for general use would be nice, on a protected ethernet
  segment.

  Shenton Park: Need an inventory done. The stuff which is on shelves is
    particularly important. Much of the other stuff has historical value.
    The inventory should be returned to the Guild.
    ACTION: [MTL] to organise getting one to Joan.
    The racks we extracted for Justin Twiss haven't been paid for yet.
    ACTION: [JEB] to poke him about it.

  Mail: Someone should check it. [RNS] volunteers.

  Drinks/Food: Vending machine slots seem to be mostly dead - it's now
    being left open so that stuff can be accessed.
    ACTION: [SD:] to investigate getting an old Guild one.
    We're getting quite a lot (~$100 a week?) from them. Should we have
    a plan on what to get in the near future? A couple of 32MB SIMMs?
    The income does tend to get eaten up by little things more than it
    should.

    All the signatories should probably be put onto the drinkbuyers
    alias.

  SPARC IPX tenders: [TDH], [SAF] and [NTU] are checking out some SPARCs
    that are being sold. What does the UCC think of them?

  UPS: Even a small UPS could run, say, an NFS server composed of a 486
    and a couple of drives, without fear of power cuts. One of the
    problems with the Eagles SMD drives we use is that they don't like
    spinning up again after a power cut.

  Core machine plan: Not all services need be run outside out firewall, or
    on Suns. If the new mackerel proves to be flaky, a two machine core of
    marlin and moray should be tried.
    finger, mail, MUDs would all be happy under NetBSD, though not flame.

  Backups: Still to be done, when Paul arrives.
    ACTION: [MTL] to do them.

  Wheel: There was a wheel meeting last Friday, which resulted in some
    settling on the method of adding wheel members.
    Much talking.

    Discussion to go on, on this topic.

    Committee/wheel mail aliases are getting a bit heated and
    antagonistic...

  AppleTalk: May be operational again? 'Twas this morning.

  Auctions: Could leave our name/contact details about the place. There's
    surplus equipment for the picking up, eg from government departments.
    RPH will be selling their 486's sometime soonish.

  New hardware fund: There is some support, and there are some concerns,
    about the idea of a fund of say $200? available to hardware group
    members at short notice. Current practise is that either someone lends
    the money, or the cashbox is raided.

    A new cashbox needs to be gotten/made. Araldited to something,
    perhaps?

  Cleanup: Corridor is overflowing again. We need a cleanup after exams.
    ACTION: [MTL] will organise one, asking for help as needed.
    Also need to organise power/serial/network cabling.

  EFTPOS: EFTPOS machines are getting widespread and cheap - the Guild may
    be getting one.

    Probably not suitable for us. <grin> e-cash systems could be fun,
    though.

  Door sensors: We should make some more.

Meeting closed: 2:35pm