Hello all, I just thought I would send a very informal, casual invitation to those of you who like to dabble with Free/Libre/OpenSource Software to help out at BWorks. BWorks "provides opportunities for at-risk youth to develop their academic, vocational, and entrepreneurial skills, and to become community leaders." The ByteWorks program of BWorks awards refurbished computers to youth (4th-8th grade) who have successfully completed the Earn-a-Computer program.
ByteWorks is looking for volunteers that are familiar with Free/Libre/OpenSource Software and that are willing to ... * train other volunteers (e.g. cloning, installing, troubleshooting, teaching) * triage hardware (e.g. HDDs, modems, RAM, sound) * explore other Linux distros and FLOSS software * teach kids (e.g. FireFox, OOo, KDE/Gnome, KTurtle) * help run the shop (e.g. sell machines/parts/services, solicit donations, etc.) ByteWorks is also looking for donations of ... * computers (300+ MHz x86, 128+ MB RAM, 4+ GB HDDs) * monitors (15+ inch) * modems (prefer those that work with Linux) * spare parts for building complete systems * money to purchase parts that are not frequently donated (e.g. modems that work with Linux). Currently, the students are using Debian/Sarge systems to learn everything from browsing the Internet with FireFox, to creating documents and presentations with OpenOffice.org, to learning a bit about programming with KTurtle. In fact, we sent 8 kids home with Debian/Sarge machines at the end of the last sessions last week. In addition, ByteWorks is building its IT infrastructure using FLOSS, e.g. Ubuntu for its Web proxy server and Knoppix for cloning drives and triaging equipment. If you are interested in helping out, please do drop by. Also, if you know of anyone who may be interested in volunteering or donating, please let them know about ByteWorks. BWorks is open on Saturdays from 10am-2pm and is located in the Shaw neighborhood of Saint Louis, just East of the Botanical Garden, at 4100 Shenandoah Ave[2]. In addition to its location in real space, ByteWorks has an on-line forum for discussing technical topics[3], which is available as an RSS feed[4] and is archived[5]. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) or ask on the shop list[3]. Thanks in advance for your help and hope to see you soon at the shop or on-line. [1] http://stlouis.missouri.org/bworks/ [2] http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4100+Shenandoah+Ave+63110 [3] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bworks_shop/ [4] http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/bworks_shop/rss [5] http://www.mail-archive.com/bworks_shop%40yahoogroups.com/ Regards, - Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ CWE-LUG mailing list [email protected] http://www.cwelug.org/ http://www.cwelug.org/archives/ http://www.cwelug.org/mailinglist/
