At 5:45am I received Instant message saying “do you know Open journal Montreal? Take a look at this” was then given this link to read. Reading through it with a big smile on my face, I couldn’t help to wonder why Risa wouldn’t let me know about the post but that was over powered by my pleasant surprise that a Mp3.Net producer 6000 miles away in Greece was able to come across it.

I remember Risa’s get down to business attitude when we first met, and how mp3.net was about to get ripped apart piece by piece. This would have made any owner of a company uneasy to say the least, but not me. It only made me more excited to get to the thousands of positive differences a transparent company owned by the people had over all other corporate structures.

White wine? gr8t! I’ll have a Grey Goose Soda with a slice of lemon I said. (Advertising department at grey goose listening?)
Which I needed at that moment. That being the first time Mp3.net and I was going to get interviewed.

Having gotten the edge off, I could hear myself rambling on and on about bits and pieces of mp3.net jumping from one side to the other but Risa hitting back with perfect question after perfect question. I call them perfect because they were questions that proved my rambling made sense. As you might have already guessed communication is not one of my fortes.

With drinks comes smoking so off Elran and I went to have a chat which I found very inspiring, just knowing a talent of his stature was acknowledging the positives of our concept.

Having come back to the table I was ready for the Open Source aspect of the conversation and another Vodka. I sensed Risa felt passionate about this aspect of things and kind of taken aback. This was really the only time in our meeting that my feet felt warm from being held to the fire. That only was because the open source issue is the only one not resolved. Not so much because we don’t know if we want to be open source but mostly because the resources (Mp3.net Producers) to create the structure for an Open Source model is not presently available . The Other reason would be security issues and how open source would jeopardize our member and network secure data.

Having said all that, I’d like to conclude by saying thanks to Elran and Risa for all they have done so far and looking forward to experiencing together the years ahead with mp3.net.

To any one else reading this, you don’t really need it but please accept an invitation to become an Mp3.Net member at http://www.mp3.net and possibly a Producer. Take a look around fill out your Member profile and don’t forget to say Risa or Elran Referred you.
Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have at james@mp3.net

Sincerely Thanking Everyone,

Mp3 Dot Net and I,
James Tambas

which i think is pretty freakin accurate, eh? he appears as the leader on the meetup, but isn’t in practice- exterts no leadership control, organization, or guidance, just animates the forums, answers questions, and pays the bills.

and i think it was a very cool move to keep that site kicking, though obviously there are things that are less than ideal about meetup. i’m glad part of you feels that way too. it was not meant as a competitive gesture. the prob was not that the group was gonna disband (note that i never said it did)- obviously you guys were and are going strong, and that’s awesome. the prob, in our view, was just that the search rank was high on the meetup site, and that’s not easy to rebuild from scratch in a free standing site- ie, not part of a huge network like meetup. and people who came to montreal were (and are) still finding it and using it to try and get in touch with linux enthusiasts. so to let it go seemed a waste. if anything, i think we should use it as a ressource to post links to everything we can that’s related.

and yeah, your point is important- it is a big town, there are lots of free software initiatives, and that’s exciting and cool. people can find ways in that suit what they’re looking for. and we can cross promote independently organized events that speak to those different motivatations and interests. and in that respect, i’m proud of what we bring to it. i think the os for artists workshops we’ve thrown via indyish have been a cool way for people to have their first encounter with linux. so anyway.. thanks! umm .. i think..

That said, keep up the good work and don’t forget this is a big town with lots of initiatives regarding Free Software.