** Reply to message from "Lan Barnes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:57:27 -0700 (PDT)
> Isn't that called an "installfest"? Don't we do two a month already with > slim attendence? > > I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but our attendence is declining, not > increasing. I wasn't talking about offering a training room type installation for the general public but for a school( public/private ), church/synagogue/etc, library, or adult center. A very targeted attempt to not only provide a nice training setup but also provide the help in running it like training for the public/etc on computer skills, not just Linux or this system. Also help with keeping it updated. Basically a pro-active targeted approach to leveraging our skills in Linux and OSS and the advantages LTSP and the Edubuntu distro brings to the table. I only mention Edubuntu because I would like to make this as easy as possible for others to duplicate and the built-in software in Edubuntu covers the the LTSP installation and the educational software for the end users. I wanted to do this with the nonprofit Computes 2 SD Kids org I was helping and build a 4 client/1 Server demo but before I could start moving on the training class, the head of the org bailed out. I know someone who helps run an adult center and she's asked me about this kind of thing but then went out and blindly used grant money on a whole bunch of Dell PC's with Windows already on them and they might have ended up being contractually excluded from using open source software on the systems. Heck, I could see doing this kind of thing at SDSU since I know they are pumping out teachers who have very little computer skills and I mean general computer skills. Knowing how to make a Word doc or spreadsheet is not proof of knowing basic skills. So even if we could not immediately find a school interested, we might be able to get access to one of the local adult education facilities, build a system which uses their existing network infrastructure but will repurpose the computers for the LTSP client/server training and we start doing training and putting together the course materials along with providing it all to the students and anybody who asks. not the same as doing an install fest, much more. And heck, if you want to boost install-fest attendence, an active promotion of it might be very useful. Like someone going around the the schools and posting it on their billboards, colleges and other places. But this is really another topic. Doug -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
