[Ubuntu PA] questions about OSS usage at NTR

[Elizabeth Bevilacqua]

On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Bret Fledderjohn
<freelancer317 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 1.  It does make it pretty clear what challenges Ubuntu and Linux face.  A
> lot of the problem is image.   After all, why on earth would anyone need to
> rush right out and get a pirated copy of M$ Office when there is OpenOffice
> and other alternatives available for free and already installed, legally?
> With the exception of games, there are open source packages in the
> repositories that can do almost anything that people could need.  The
> consumer doesn't know about the alternatives, and they won't research the
> options.  You and I will, but the general public doesn't have the gumption
> to look for alternatives unless it is already installed AND right in front
> of their face.

I think one of the ways of going about this is comparing it to a Mac.
People know that "Macs and PCs" are different, do different things,
have different software, and aren't compatible. So generally when I
explain what Linux is, I just say it's another in the list - so you
have Mac, PC, Linux.

> Perhaps a "Tour of the computer" package that kicks up when
> first started (like Windows does), to show the people what OpenOffice is and
> where to find it, how to play music, how to access the web, how to setup
> mail, etc.  Is there anything out in the community like this?

There are individual tutorials of course, but I'm not aware of
anything like you're describing. A post to the loco-contacts list
asking what others do about this might be worth your time.

> 2.  Peer support is somewhat of an issue.  Ubuntu's internet based community
> support is pretty darn good, however, it does nothing if people can't access
> the internet for help.  Is there a way to make support even more
> accessible?

Printing relevant portions of the training team's manual and
distributing it with the laptops might be worthwhile, depending on
their resources.

-- 
Elizabeth Bevilacqua
http://www.princessleia.com