Short talks, 5-15 minutes, on various subjects around Linux and FOSS. If you have a talk, let us know and we’ll add you to the list.
Submitted talks: The AI box
Still looking for speakers!
Come ready to speak, listen, and engage. This is your platform.
Moderator: Alan Heighway
August 12th, 2025 19:30 EST
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
Got a burning question or a topic you’re eager to explore?
Whether it’s something we haven’t touched on yet or a subject from a previous discussion you’d like to revisit, this is the meeting for you.
Join us for an open, round-table style session where the agenda is driven by you. We’ll be collecting questions and topics from both in-person attendees and online participants, and we’ll address each one during the meeting.
This is your chance to:
No topic is too big or too small—if it sparks curiosity or conversation, we want to hear it. And if any discussion opens the door to a deeper dive, we’ll consider dedicating a future meeting to that subject alone.
Come ready to speak, listen, and engage. This is your platform.
Moderator: Alan Heighway
May 13th, 2025 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
No current mainstream AI chat system meets the full definition of Open Source or Free Software. In this presentation we will discuss the state of openness in current AI chat systems, where conventional concepts of open source can be applied and where they can’t. Legal and licensing difference between the various options reveal that some are far more open than others, and that “OpenAI” isn’t really that open at all.
Also, Evan will be announcing the creation of a new organization, formed by Canadian AI and IT professionals, to support of Open Access AI in Canada.
Evan Leibovitch
April 8th, 2025 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
In this session, we’ll dive into the practical use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for software development, with a focus on how AI can enhance your coding workflows. I’ll demonstrate three powerful options: two cloud-based models—ChatGPT and Claude Sonnet—and one locally hosted solution, LLaMA. We’ll explore how these tools can assist in everything from code generation and debugging to documentation and testing. We’ll look at options for integrating them into your development environment, highlighting their strengths and limitations. This talk is designed to provide actionable insights for developers at any level. There will be ample time for questions, so come prepared to explore how AI can accelerate your software development process and improve your coding efficiency!
March 11th, 2025 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
In this session, we’re going to take a practical, hands-on look at the state of generative AI, with a special focus on open-source models, particularly DeepSeek R1. I’ll cover what makes DeepSeek R1 noteworthy, how it compares to other models, and why there’s so much excitement around it. More importantly, I’ll show you how to run these models locally on Linux using tools like Ollama and LM Studio, so you can experiment without relying on the cloud. Since this is a friendly crowd of Linux enthusiasts, I’ll tailor the discussion to practical, real-world applications—including AI-assisted scripting, coding, and documentation generation, among other things. Expect a lively Q&A, so bring your curiosity—whether it’s about self-hosting models, fine-tuning, or the broader implications of AI in open source.
February 11th, 2025 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
January 14th, 2024 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
December 10th, 2024 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
What’s the line between using open source and exploiting it?
WordPress is one of the world’s best-known open source applications, powers more than 40% of the world’s websites. But a recent drama between co-creator Matthew Mullenweg and CMS hosting outfit WP Engine has led to forced forks, strange code changes, acrimony and, of course, lawyers.
We’ll be trying to make sense of this story, giving the history, and looking for clues that might prevent this from happening to other major open source projects.
November 12th, 2024 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
Join us for a presentation and discussion about the current state of Linux and open source gaming, featuring:
We will be hosting this in person and online so there are no excuses for not joining us! See all the details below…
October 8th, 2024 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
Dave Mason is the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Toronto Metropolitan University He has been using the internet since the early 1980s, from the first Canadian university on the internet (toronto.edu which eventually became utoronto.ca). He has been using FOSS also since the 1980s (initially GNU Emacs, then XEmacs as well as an early adopter of Slackware). He was active in Unix Unanimous, ran one of the key Toronto usenet sites (tmsoft.ca). He has been a proponent of Linux/Unix at TMU/Ryerson for 40 years.
Dave will talk about TMU/Ryerson and, in particular the Computer Science Department and our use of Linux.
Dave’s major research is in programming languages. He will also give a short presentation on Zag Smalltalk and its research goals.
September 10th, 2024 19:30 EST
In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below)
Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i
The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call.
Traditionally many GTALUG attendees have met for dinner at Kabul Express, 126 Dundas East, about an hour before the scheduled meeting. We will try this again on the 13th, but since the dining options in the area have expanded dramatically since we last met, we may decide on other locations for future meetings.