-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Surendra Singhi wrote: > > Yeah, but there might still be lot of people who are having trouble > installing Linux > on their machines. Especially newbies, and people from non-CS > disciplines, say arts, > sciences, etc. Many of them even don't know what is IRC and don't know > about mailing > lists.
Of course - I normally use the *Can my parents install this ?* test. Add to that a sizeable section for whom the internet is a luxury (dipankar-da would be in a better position to explain that statement). But what has happened over a period of 12-18 months (and I am quite sure a lot of the LUG old timers might agree) is that distributions have started providing default installation methods which are a bit more easy on the eye and the fear-factor for such users. The very idea that Linux is for CS folks would be something that I would not like to begin an argument with :) since that would really cut off a large section of my immediate family from being involved with it at all (I for one don't really have an IT background and in the past a few friends have termed at as technology flakiness). Eventually it would also cascade across the group :) Amazingly enough, at each LinuxAsia there is a random survey being taken by LUGs and a few quirky ones about CS vs non CS involvement in FLOSS and the CS is healthily outnumbered. The moot point is that the Feature Requirement for each section of the population differs viz. dipankar-da (again another classic example of a power user of the text editing tools) has radically different requirements from say Indranil or Sayamindu. This is an area one has to keep in mind when targetting the population. Install fests have an implicit understanding on part of the person who is getting his/her machine down that there are folks out there who will help out in case the machine borks. This would be complicated when you will be looking at enabling dual boots. Now, I am not being a spoilsport, but there are some basic ground rules you will have to put in place before hitting the ground running. > This idea was meant for people who already do so or want to (and not for > everyone). > The LUG should encourage and help people in such activities, I don't > think teaching > is feasible. By that premise you are really shrugging off the heavy lifting that is required to start off the project. I don't know how much positive your experience of the current crop of CS students has been, mine has been that there is a good amount of coaching/mentoring/teaching that is required to be done. If you consider only people *who want to* who talks to the people *who wanted to know all about FLOSS but were afraid to ask* ? Would you be able to provide any input on the mailing list as to defining the scope of help the LUG can provide and the activities required thereof ? > If we are able to create enough awareness among people, then arranging > for funds and hopefully > corporate sponsorship shouldn't be hard. Initially we should see if any > college bodies or students > groups are interested in having some question answer session where > students can find out more > about linux and open source movement. > I am sure that there are many speakers in this group, who people will be > even willing to pay to listen. I can only wish you luck - you are boldly going where many others have gone before - -SM -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Red Hat - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFEAAJb+g4kmZ76nyERAl7bAKCAXdrc91G0bjr2mT3R2ZICogKVEACgoNUn 6GuyMfs8qsCPiTcsXZ37P5k= =Z9JY -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- 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
