On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 2:58 PM, Robert Donovan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM, James G. Sack (jim) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Doug LaRue wrote: > > > ** Reply to message from "Carl Lowenstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Fri, > > > 18 Apr 2008 11:06:31 -0700 > > > > > >> The situation can be rather confusing. AT the National City site, on > > >> Saturdays there is an Adult Education class on Linux happening in the > > >> other half of the room where we do the InstallFest. The Installfest > > >> lasts for a couple of hours longer than the class, so sometimes there > > >> is crossover. > > > > > > I really wanted to get to the installfest I just missed but will have > to see > > > what next months schedule turns up. It sounds like a nice setup and > > > and hearing this I can't help but wonder how the conversation went > > > on for so long without it coming up. > > > > > > There should be no reason to change anything about the existing KPLUG > > > meetings since anything to do with getting new members or helping new > > > users seems to be best left for the Nat'l City installfest. Like maybe a > > > name change to indicate there is training too. ;-) > > > > > > > Name change implies it's a coordinated or co-sponsored thing, which > > isn't quite true. > > > > Robert Donovan - can you say something (again) about the training and > > availability. Is it a sign-up thing? Jump-in anytime? Fixed-topic > > (course outline)? Free? > > > > The Saturday Linux class is a weekly class at NCAS that costs $20 to > sign up for and it runs for the whole semester. The Installfests are > separate from it and cost nothing. We have a sign-up sheet for the > Linux class to show the school there is sufficient interest in the > installfests to keep use of the facility. That's why I annoy people > all the time by incessantly asking if everyone has signed in.
Oops, sorry, thee is also a sign-in sheet for the Installfest itself, to show sufficient interest in that. That's the list I'm always asking if everybody has signed. > The Linux class goes from 8:30 to 12:30. The Installfest goes from > 10:00 to 3:00. I signed up for the class because it covers SUSE Linux > and I was really light on SUSE. The course outline is, um, in flux at > the moment because of the change from SUSE 10.2 to 10.3 and the > associated changes in the Novell certification exams. However, the > course is not organized around the Novel cert, it is meant more as a > general Linux clas covering multiple distros. > > Juan Garcia and Christian Berctacini are the instructors, and are > knowledgeable about system admin, but not applications on the desktop. > They were aware of my other Linux knowledge and teaching experience in > Linux Desktop applications like OpenOffice, Scribus, and Inkscape. I > offered to do show and tell presentations on some of this during > class, and they liked the idea. I don't see any reason why we couldn't > come up with a schedule of presentations and present them in the last > half of class on Installfest days starting at 10:00. We could also > look into scheduling other presentations later in the Installfest, but > this hasn't really been well-recieved before, partly because it was > thrown together, ad-hoc, with no real organization or impetus behind > it. Also, ther was no real attempt to get the information out about > the fact that we wanted do more at installfests than just > installations or when the other presentations would be. I've been > trying to find ways to extend the Installfest to the other side of the > room, out of the lab area, and this seems like a good way to do it. I > had this kind of thing in mind when I asked earlier for a list of > topics people are willing to teach. There is also no reason we > couldn't throw in some more advanced topics, say, every third or > fourth presentation. If we could get a list of people and topics and > present it to Juan and Christian, I'm sure they would go for it, and > the principal would support it. We could aslo schedule these things in > advance for those who need to plan ahead for something like this, and > post them on the KPLUG site. Since the class starts anew each > semester, I think it would be a good idea to come up with a set of > core presentation topics(not necessarily core presentatons, just core > presentation topics) that we cycle through as the audience changes, > and pepper those with three or four covering more advanced topics that > we can throw in ad-hoc based more on presenter availability and area > of expertise. > > The fact that the classroom has computers networked together for the > classes offers the opportunity to do some very interactive > presentations. Although that might take some minor preclass > coordination, it shouldn't be hard to arrange. > > Also to consider, Ralph Mora, the current Principal and the one who > initially approved the return of the Installfests to NCAS, is leaving > the school, but Adriana Aldana, the vice Principal and nice lady that > used to open the school for us when there was no weekly Linux class, > is going to be the new Principal. So, we've got friends in the right > places at NCAS. If we can show enough interest and participation, the > very thing outreach is predicated upon, we have the potential to turn > this into a good show piece for KPLUG, SDCS, NCAS and SUHSD. > > However, I'm getting a bit ahead of my self. The key to getting this > to work is organization and coordination between the Installfests, the > meetings, the KPLUG website, and the school. Juan and Christian are > our points of contact for the school and Adriana. In order to really > sell this we need to create the product to sell first. I'm already > creating and organizing class presentations, so I can help there. Off > the top of my head, here is a tenetative, very general outline of what > I think we need to do: > > * We need to get a list of what we can, or are willing to present, > decide when, or if, it should be presented in this venue, create the > core presentation topics list and populate it with presentations for > each topic. This should be structured loosely enough so that if > someone is not available to do a presentation, we can just plug in > another one that somebody else can do and should depend as little as > possible on the order in which the presentations occur. > > * We want to attract people with more advanced interests in Linux so > we also want a list of more advanced presentations. These can be more > advanced topics, like Tracy's Xen presentation, or more in-depth > coverage of basics, along the lines of Gus's X presentation. I expect > there will be some overlap here and that is fine. The point is, we > don't want to limit ourselves to noob or in-class topics at this > stage. Remember, there are 32 networked Intel Core2Duo boxen with 2GB > of RAM, all with KF-72 removable SATA drive bays, and some have the > PATA removable drive bays too. These mobile bays cost $17 at Best Deal > Computers on Broadway in Chula Vista. Want to do a presentation on > setting up a heartbeet cluster? Get three or four hard drives, come to > the installfest prior to your presentation, install your favorite > Linux flavor on the actual machines you'll be working on, take the > hard drives home, come back on the day of your presentation and you're > all set to show how to set up the cluster. Live CDs would also be an > option if you didn't have that kind of time. How about an LTSP demo or > a remote administration of multiple machines, or a firewall and > security presentation on live machines? You can see the possibilities. > We wouldn't want to do this sort of thing all the time, but an > advanced presentation like this every third or fourth installfest or > so would be great. Later on, guest presenters from outside the group > or SDCS might even be an option. Let's get everything we've got on the > table and see if we can fit it in. There's enough know-how running > around in this group to make a very impressive list of presentations. > Impressive enough to get the attention of people well beyond the group > and school district, if we do it right, just the kind of interest SDCS > and her sister SIGs are pining for. > > * Once we have the list of presentations, we need to coordinate with > the presenters and schedule them. This schedule could be posted on the > KPLUG site. I would also consider looking at doing a few, > well-choosen, affiliated links with the KPLUG site to drive more > traffic between KPLUG and relevant related organizations that could > help spread the word outside our usual ken. > > I am open to other suggestions. > > Robert Donovan > One other thing. The only limitation on the presentations we can do on the classroom side is that we can't modify or open up the hardware in any way, or rewire the patch panels in the network cabinet, and must always leave the machines in the condition we received them, no exceptions or they'll cut us off. We can bring in our own cabling and other devices and applicances, like routers, soekris boxes, laptops, etc., but must leave the NCAS PCs and hardware in the classroom completely alone other than inserting a mobile drive or Live CD. RD -- KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
