Dear GKD Members, What follows is a summary on our Linux project. For more information on the LINC Project subscribe to LINC-hot-news <http://lincproject.dyndns.org/mailman/listinfo/linc-hot-news> or visit our website at <www.lincproject.org>. ---------------------------------------------------------
USING LINUX IN ORGANIZING - AN INITIAL SUCCESS! The Low Income Networking and Communication (LINC) Project of the Welfare Law Center has helped many low-income led organizing groups acquire access to the Internet and use technology more effectively. While these groups have increased their abilities to communicate with one another and their allies by using the Internet, one communication hurdle remains, communicating with their leadership via the Internet. Despite many "digital divide" initiatives addressing access to the Internet in low-income communities, access is still an issue. Public Internet access points, such as libraries and schools, are not sufficient. Many low-income leaders do not have access to the Internet where it would make the most impact -- in their homes. The need for Internet communication is particularly great for rural groups whose members live far apart and cannot have frequent face-to-face meetings because of distance, time and money constraints. We began to explore the idea of using Linux, a free operating system that works well on older computers, when we learned of Microsoft's decision to discontinue support of its older operating systems like Windows 95. We had also been troubled by the frequent problems that occur for Windows users just by having Windows run on its own. Giving a person who lives in a rural area an older computer with Windows seemed like we were just asking for trouble. We also attempted to identify similar projects but had limited success. What did LINC set out to accomplish? We wanted to increase our ability to provide stable desktop systems using donated computers for board members and leaders of low-income led organizations that LINC serves. Our goal is to increase the ability of LINC Project partner groups to use open-source software (for a definition on open-source see http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition_plain.html) to support their organizing work. We also wanted to document the project as much as we possibly could, so we could provide details of our experiences for others doing similar projects. What did LINC actually do? - identified a partner in GRO-Grass Roots Organizing in Mexico, MO, for our pilot project organization - identified Linux as the operating system that would run on older donated computers - installed Linux on 10 computers and prepared them for use as stand-alone workstations in people's homes - installed Linux on a brand new stand-alone computer to work as the main computer in the GRO office - set up the main computer (in the GRO office) as a terminal server to work with one or more of the lower-end donated computers as clients - established a relationship with the Mizzou Linux Users Group for ongoing local support - conducted a group training for an introduction to the system - conducted one-on-one trainings for people getting computers in their homes - established a listserv for support issues - documented our experience in daily journals which were disseminated over listservs and the web <www.lincproject.org/toolkit/linux> What were the necessary components in making this project work: - GRO - an organization with strong technology saavy and a clear goal for what these systems would do (allow members to access the Internet and have word-processing capability), and people within GRO that were willing to make local connections and acquire donated computers from the local university - 14 Pentium II 2OOmhz computers, with 64 megs of ram and 2 to 3 gig hard drives donated by University of Missouri Outreach & Extension - a Microtel PC (from WalMart) with a Celeron 1GHz processor and 128 megs of ram also donated by University of Missouri Outreach & Extension - Linux software: Distribution: Red Hat 7.2 - additional software: Open Office, AbiWord, Ximian Red Carpet. IPCOP on the firewall, and the Linux Terminal Server Project in GRO's office - Technology Assistance Providers (the LINC Project Circuit Riders) with solid training backgrounds and a clear understanding of what GRO is trying to accomplish as an organization. What were the challenges (and our solutions): - Identifying good training materials on Linux (we compiled and created our own) - Finding modems that are compatible with Linux systems (we used external modems) - Older hardware that kept failing (a lot of creativity) - Identifying ways to speed up the software installation process (we tried several methods settling on disk "cloning") - Windows users, transitioning to Linux, becoming frustrated by having to do more steps for tasks than they are used to and items being in different locations (we urged patience and practice but we continue to try to identify better interfaces) - Securing phone-lines for project participants so they can connect to the Internet and securing those phone lines for a period of time (GRO is trying to secure funding to assure that their board members keep phone lines in their homes) What's left: We still have a long way to go before we can call this a completely successful project. After a period of a few months we will assess whether the board members are actually using the computers to communicate more effectively. We also need to identify and develop training materials to smooth the transition process for users who were used to working with Windows. We need to schedule another trip to Mexico, MO, within the next couple of months to do follow-up work. We will also be working with a couple of other LINC project participating groups to see if we can replicate the success we've had with getting GRO's leaders online. To view the daily journals on our project with GRO please visit the LINC Project Linux pages at <http://www.lincproject.org/toolkit/linux> -- Dirk Slater Senior Circuit Rider Low-Income Networking and Communications (LINC) Project Welfare Law Center [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.lincproject.org 212-633-6967 ext. 22 ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
