I like the idea of handing out free Windows software (i.e.
cross-platform apps).
I doubt we'd look like a Hare Krishna group or anything, because we're
not promoting a belief system, we're providing a public education
service which applies to the field of technology and computing
(something which is very useful!). There are a lot of really daft people
out there, some of whom don't even know about openoffice. So if we run a
broad enough event, then we could cover lots of things and some people
will no doubt benefit as a result. Some attendees would probably be
happy just with the latest Firefox, Thunderbird or ooO. A lot of people
haven't even caught onto those sorts of things yet.
We are going to need a lot of good speakers, and this topic should be
brought up at the next LUG meeting. This is not about promoting Linux,
this is about solving problems. We can eliminate pathetic problems with
ease. There are people who still need to defrag and scan for viruses,
and in some cases they even need to pay for software or submit to DRM
(shudder).
Here is my summary:
- We are going to need a lot of good speakers (e.g. good communicators,
distro specialists, people in the IT industry, every day users).
- This topic should be brought up at the next LUG meeting.
- We need to promote cross-platform apps, not just Linux.
- We should mostly focus on Ubuntu, due to its great community, but I'm
not against being more generic.
- We need to explain how Microsoft is ripping us off.
- We need to argue our case that "free" software is about freedom, not
price (this is a common misconception, and it annoys me when people get
it totally wrong).
- We need to have a target audience and guest list, and perhaps run more
than one event.
- Most importantly, we are going to have to organize a team to do this
(let's start by giving roles to certain individuals, then have some real
life discussion).
