[Ubuntu-US-CA] Installfest / tutorial in University Village, Albany

[Maile Urbancic]

Michael,

Your LTSP lab sounds interesting.  Unfortunately, the University Village
computer center is pretty tightly run by UC Berkeley's Residential Computing
department (we have 30 Windows machines and 4 Macs).  We can't even get them
to agree to having a non-networked staff computer in the center to allow
staff members to install their own programs.  I doubt they would even
consider the type of setup you propose.  Nonetheless, I will inquire.  I
completely agree that having several Ubuntu machines in the computer lab
would aid adoption by letting residents experiment with Ubuntu in a
low-stakes way.  If nothing else, perhaps ResComp could replace a few of our
many Windows machines with Ubuntu...  I'll look into it.

*Maile*



On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM, Michael Paric
<mparic at compbizsolutions.com>wrote:

> Hello,
>
> As a newcomer, I wanted to introduce myself and briefly summarize a project
> that Grant Bowman, Jack Deslippe, and I have been planning.
>
> I work with Cathy Malmrose to run Partimus, a non-profit that uses FOSS and
> repurposed hardware to provide technology to disadvantaged children and
> schools.  I have a background in mathematics and programming, but I am still
> learning my way around Ubuntu; my more valuable skill set lies in
> organizational planning.  I currently live in and work closely with
> University Village, Albany, the main campus for UC Berkeley's student family
> housing.  I am deeply involved in affordable housing issues and in building
> programs beneficial to student families.
>
> Grant, Jack, I have been working to plan an installfest / Ubuntu tutorial
> in the University Village computer lab.  The demographics of University
> Village make it a prime population for potential new Ubuntu users.  We have
> nearly 2,000 highly-educated, financially impoverished, widely international
> adults in the Village--many of whom are likely to be interested in Ubuntu,
> but nervous about making the jump on their own.  Our tentative plan is to
> create an Introduction to Ubuntu tutorial extending over two or three
> sessions, where students install Ubuntu the first week and learn basic
> skills, then come back again for the next class to resolve issues, ask
> questions, learn slightly more complicated skills, and learn where to go in
> the future when they have problems.  We are planning to hold it in late
> January or early February, after UCB's spring semester begins.
>
> Thank you for your enthusiasm and support,
>
> Maile Urbanic
> maile.urbancic at gmail.com
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>
> Maile,
> We spoke briefly at a past Berkeley LUG meeting where I mentioned my thin
> client-based system that I believe would be perfect for the University
> Village. Setting up a Ubuntu-based Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) lab
> would provide several benefits: 1) An open lab where people without their
> own computers would have access to the technology; 2) A training facility
> for the proposed tutorial sessions; 3) Reduced maintenance and down-time due
> to the LTSP architecture. I believe you'll have a greater success with
> Ubuntu adoption if the residents can get some hands-on experience and
> practice in the lab before committing to an installfest (which can be done
> in parallel but as a separate project from the lab). I have an LTSP demo
> system (using ZaReason equipment, of course :) I'd be more than happy to
> bring to Berkeley to show you and the residents. Let me know how I can help.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Michael Paric
> mparic at compbizsolutions.com
>
>
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