"Linux for Home Users": Workshop at East West University

[Russell John]

Ubuntu Bangladesh organised a workshop at East West University
yesterday, titled "Linux for Home Users".  108 undergraduate and
graduate level students from from 9 departments participated on this
day-long workshop, where various issues of FOSS and Ubuntu Linux were
discussed.

I initiated the discussion by talking about the FOSS philosophy,
history of Linux, Ubuntu and it's variants, and why Ubuntu is "better"
then other distros.  The students were very enthusiastic, and asked a
lot of questions.  This interactive atmosphere made the program very
stimulating.

The next presentation was provided by our member Mr. Rafiq-ul-Islam,
who explained why switching over to Linux is important for students
and how it can help them in their future career.  His presentation was
highly acclaimed by the participants and he received a great deal of
applause.

Light refreshments were then served to the participants, after which I
demonstrated the installation of Kubuntu.  I took special care in
explaining the partitioning part, as this is where all the newbies get
stuck.  After the installation was over, I demonstrated programs
available under Kubuntu that the novice users would possibly use in
their everyday lives.  The Ubuntu Live CD was also demonstrated, so
that the students get to know the difference between the KDE and GNOME
environment.

Five more workshops are scheduled over the next four months in this
University.  We believe that as we inform them about foundational
topics about Ubuntu Linux and steadily progress towards more advanced
ones, these students will be able to obtain a thorough grounding about
Ubuntu Linux.

My appreciation goes to all the volunteers of East West University
Telecom Club, who worked hard to make the program a resounding
success.

Pictures are available at
http://gallery.linux.org.bd/thumbnails.php?album=33 (sorry about the
picture quality, taken with a mobile phone).  East West University's
website is at http://www.ewubd.edu/.