My last post was bounced by the listserv, in case it bounces again I'm
addressing you directly Matt....
I've been involved with a project in State College, PA which may be of
interest.
We collect unwanted systems, see what we can salvage or need to add and
install Linux.
The refurbished systems are then distributed to families with elementary
school age children
in need of a home computer. The idea is to at least provide the kids
with some exposure
to word processing and etc so they aren't so far behind the other kids
in regard to technology
when they reach the higher grades.
It is a loosely organized group that is headed by a local teacher with
support from a
family services type organization.
I can give more details and suggestions if this is something that sounds
interesting.
I can also say the kids do get excited about the new system.
-Kevin
The parents Eoin Fitzpatrick wrote:
http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/in_the_beginning_was_the_command_line/
It's a quick and entertaining read.
Kids who may like Linux will certainly be in the minority - they play
with legos and read sci-fi, so they won't be hard to find :-)
On Wed, 2007-01-24 at 22:57 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I'm not familiar with the Neal Stephenson reference so I may be
misinterpreting this, but from a kid's perspective, both Windows and Linux
would be free (in the financial sense), and considering which OS all their
games will run on, Linux will seem like the station-wagon. I think kids
would be a hard sell, unless they're the type who might be interested in
all the geeky cool stuff you can do with Linux.
-Derek
It's the "willing teacher" problem I had with my classroom idea. I put
the question to a few teachers I know, and there's not much interest.
I like the idea of outreach and advocacy Matt suggests - if you think
about my original idea, perhaps the market's wrong. Instead of selling
Linux to the teacher/administration, sell it to the kids. Any kid
interested in computers would choose the "free tank" over the "expensive
station-wagon" (a la Neal Stephenson "In the Beginning") and a *willing*
kid would actually learn.
On Wed, 2007-01-24 at 22:25 -0500, Judah Milgram wrote:
Beware of OPC [1] syndrome
[1] Other Peoples' Computers
It's not just the install and setup. You'll have to hold their hands
forever, else sooner or later they'll run into a problem they can't
solve and if you're not available right then and there it'll be "we
tried Linux and got burned".
Especially unpromising if you have to "convince" someone they want
Linux.
I see a reply from Eoin ... maybe his experience says something
different.
Judah
Matt Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I've recently started to look into the idea of assisting private
schools and
non profits in migrating over to linux. Has anyone else already done
this
sort of thing? With the summer break a few months out this seems like
it is
a good time of year to come together and start planning, convincing,
whatever is needed before any actual installs take place.
Feedback, experience, whatever?
-Matt
