Install Fest Notes

[Ron Swift]

I think that is a great idea.

Matt Burkhardt wrote:
> Maybe we should be trying something else...
>
> For example, Alameda has this guy who's recycling computers -
> http://www.adtmag.com/article.aspx?id=22245
>
> I know in my previous life, the company that I worked for would replace
> everyone's computer every three years, but they were left with the old
> PC's.  Once a year, they would raffle them off for charity but without
> an operating system due to Microsoft's licensing agreement.  Of course,
> only the computer geeks would go for it because they knew how to get a
> new OS on them.
>
> The Alameda guy has applications for schools, not-for-profits and
> individuals.  I would be happy to contact him to find out how they do
> this.  Let me know....
>
> On Sun, 2008-03-16 at 16:45 -0400, Josh Rhoderick wrote:
>
>   
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Well, I'm not sure if we ever came to a conclusion about whether or not we
>> should hold discussion on the mailing list, so I apologize if my reply is
>> out of place. I know a lot of people said they'd rather use the mailing list
>> than the forums for whatever reason, so I'm just going to go ahead and do
>> this via e-mail rather than the forums. *For those of you who despise
>> frequent mail, I suggest setting your subscription to digest.*
>>
>> Anyway, thanks for sharing, Chuck. I too was wondering what had happened and
>> why I hadn't heard anything about it. I feared that the silence wasn't a
>> good thing. I would really like to thank Craig, John, Chuck, and everyone
>> else who put so much work into this. These guys have all put in a lot of
>> time and energy into the team, and I'm sure we all appreciate everything
>> they've done. Craig deserves a special mention for his dedication to this
>> and other projects. We're really going to be losing a great team-member when
>> Craig goes off to school in the fall. :(
>>
>> I think we should use our open schedule to discuss future activities. I'm a
>> big proponent of having fun as a team because I think this builds team
>> morale and will better enable us to pull off successful events. It's a lot
>> easier to work with someone who is a friend rather than someone who just
>> shares a similar belief about an operating system. Also, let's not forget
>> that Ubuntu isn't JUST an operating system. It's a philosophy. I think
>> bringing more ubuntu (little "u") to the world is a good thing.
>>
>> I personally would like to see more public gatherings like the one we had at
>> Frederick, maybe even team bowling, laser tag, go-kart racing, or whatever.
>> And, of course, I think we should all do these things while wearing
>> Ubuntu-branded garb. In addition to fun stuff, I suggest we do
>> documentation, local technical support (when possible), maybe bug triaging
>> (although Celeste pointed out some obvious difficulties with this), and a
>> whole host of other things we can do as a team to improve Ubuntu for users.
>>
>> Also, as soon as this semester is over I will be putting more effort into
>> getting the Frederick subteam off the ground. I'm hoping to have our first
>> subteam meeting in June. Anyone who's interested in helping me with this can
>> contact me either via the Bat-Signal or e-mail. Preferably e-mail.
>>
>> So, does anyone have any thoughts on this stuff?
>>
>> -- Josh
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 11:55 PM, Chuck Frain <chuckfrain at pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> I just published this to my blog. It's my thoughts on the install fest
>>> we had last week.
>>>
>>> -----
>>>
>>> It was pointed out to me recently by Celeste that no one had done a
>>> write up on our recent install fest. The reason for that I think was the
>>> low turnout of those wanting to get Ubuntu installed on their systems.
>>> Kind of a downer.
>>>
>>> It's always tough to spend time and energy getting an event like this
>>> together then have a small turnout. The time spent developing fliers.
>>> Taking those to shops and libraries in the area with gas prices being
>>> what they are and the time it take to ask for space to put them up.
>>> Finding sites to post the information on wondering if anyone will read
>>> and act on it. Then the day comes and you get up bright and early. Pack
>>> the car with the gear and make the trek in. An hour to set up and then
>>> over the next six hours you have three people show up.
>>>
>>> For some it would lead to the question of 'Why bother?'
>>>
>>> Then I get an email from one of the gentlemen who dropped in. It was
>>> simple and read:
>>>
>>>     "Enjoyed the event. I had Ubuntu put onto a flash drive, and I can
>>> boot from it (given a computer new enough to boot from usb flash - I am
>>> learning alot about that). Thanks, and looking forward to the next event."
>>>
>>>
>>> That got me thinking. We had three people come in to have Ubuntu
>>> installed on their systems. The first was a home user who had come
>>> across our website. He wanted to see what Linux could do for one of his
>>> old PCs. Then we had [The Other] Chuck from the local LUG. Recently he's
>>> become interested in giving back to the community through his knowledge
>>> of computers. He took time to collect up some older hardware and spend a
>>> few hours of his Saturday installing Ubuntu on them. He's going to take
>>> those five machines and either give them to a charity that can use them
>>> or sell them inexpensively and donate the profits to (I think it will
>>> be) Hackers for Charities. Then we have the gentleman who came in and
>>> had a flash drive Ubuntuized. Now he can try this wonderful system out
>>> and show it to friends easily.
>>>
>>> I think at the end of the day all the volunteers can say we had a great
>>> time. We got to hang out and chat with friends. Discuss various
>>> technologies and geek out a bit. All of us with common interests. Marco
>>> Figueiredo dropped in with his daughter to discuss some of what our
>>> host, Loyola College Center for Community Informatics, was doing and
>>> researching. All great stuff to hear and start to conceptualize what can
>>> be done with free software to help people.
>>>
>>> So even though we didn't do a whole lot of installing we did quite a
>>> bit. Two new Ubuntu users, one person who we've helped with a charity
>>> project, learned a little about what's being done with Free Software to
>>> help people around the world learn and enhance their lives and we had a
>>> good time together. I'm looking forward to seeing what we do next time!
>>>
>>> --
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>>>
>>>       
>
>   

-- 
Ron Swift
President
410-788-7011
www.swiftstaffing.com