On Mon, 2005-02-14 at 00:21 -0800, saugata ghosh wrote: > > ? What all can we do > > in the coming events ? > Its difficult to stand under a different banner and > explain something else.
Hmm, interesting ! We don't have funds to get a stall of our own at the Kolkata Book Fair. Also I have observed that the Kolkata LUG doesn't have too many members who would be willing to spend >Rs.100/- for the LUG. Besides, we do not seem to be good at getting sponsorships also. Considering the long standing demand within the LUG for a presence at the BF, I think, we managed to get the best deal we could get. > Most of the crowd came there for lottery, rest for > hardware pricing enquiry and about less than 5% > actually were interested about linux. I personally think that we are suffering from an elitist attitude towards the "unwashed masses". We expect people to understand OSes, partitions, filesystems, etc. We forget that to most people the PC is just like another appliance, which they plug-in and use. They need to be handled differently. It's only when we manage to convey to these people that Linux PC is to PCs what Sony is to Music systems, that we'll be able to really start spreading the use of Linux. (On a more personal note, I think I'll take the lead and convert Sharmaji to Linux, he still uses MS Outlook Express to post to the list :) > In fututre we should think twice before sharing a > place with other stall, otherwise we will get lots of > unwanted audience. "Unwanted audience" ??? Well is there any such thing ? We were there to promote the use of Linux, and we certainly do not have the luxury of choosing whom to consider as our audience and whom not to. Yes, there might be people ignorant of the concept of Linux, but isn't it our failure if they return home from the Aamar PC stall without at least having an idea of what Linux is ? Considering that LUG members are loathe to pay to attend meetings, I don't think we'll have the werewithal to get a stall of our own, at even Compass, leave alone the Book Fair. Besides, we also fail to net sponsors. So, IMHO, the fact we got a presence at the AamarPC stall should be cause celebre. Honestly, three machines at one of the most crowded stalls of the BF is a luxury for most LUGs of India. The potential number of people who could be contacted is beyond the wildest dreams of many Linux enthusiasts, who are more devoted to Linux evangelization (if I may use that term). The problem is, IIRC the very people who used to crib about the absence of the LUG from the BF are nowhere to be found when there was an oppurtunity to represent the LUG at the Book Fair. In fact I'd like to thank the members of WBUT LUG who came to the aid of the iLUG-cal to fill up the need for volunteers. I'm quite tired of the incessant noise on this list about what should be done, how it should be done, etc. to promote the use of Linux among common people. I formally announce the fact that due to campus placements, I'll be unavailable to represent the LUG at Compass 2005. Thank you -- Soumyadip Modak [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://soumyadip.blogspot.com -- To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3
