Report for Annual General Meeting - Metro*CAN Society

Technical Committee

Committee Members

David Trueman, Chair
Trent MacDougall
David Murdoch
Gerard MacNeil
Ben Armstrong

Committee Mandate

To plan, design, implement, test, deploy, monitor and maintain the hardware and software to provide services to users, Information Providers (IPs) and other committees.

Accomplishments

• we run a Sun Microsystems SPARCsystem 10 computer with 20 phone lines, serving about 3,000 accounts
• we have a freenet which we are told by outsiders is the most advanced in the world
• while there is much still to be done, we believe that the facilities we provide offer a high level of usefulness while being reasonably easy to use
• we have developed a software package which, along with documentation and training materials, is known as Chebucto Suite -- this is being distributed internationally to other freenets
• we have deployed, in cooperation with the cable companies and other committees, the the first of 20 Public Access Terminals connected via cable TV -- a world first
• we have worked with various Information Providers to convert existing documents and databases for presentation on the freenet
• we continue to develop interfaces to make the day-to-day operations less time-consuming

In Progress and Short-term Plans

• more statistics and reporting of trends
• newer versions of software providing new features and more reliable operation
• improved registration process
• interfaces for IP management
• mailing list management interfaces
• better packaging of Chebucto Suite
• broaden the activities of the committee with more members

Longer Term Plans

• a close to turn-key version of Chebucto Suite
• integration of news and mail interfaces into the Lynx program

Volunteers Needed

Our greatest need is for experienced Unix programmers, in both C and shell languages, to develop new facilities and enhance existing ones. We will also need more volunteers to work in conjunction with the IP Committee to assist IPs with conversion of documents and make the best possible use of the facilities that we offer.