On Wed, Apr 14, 2004 at 04:11:25PM -0600, Evan McNabb wrote: > > How about the ODOW CD? (Opening Doors, Opening Windows). Kind of an ugly > > name, but maybe it'll grow on me . . . > > > > Or maybe a recursive version . . . the OODOW CD (OODOW Opens Doors, > > Opens Windows). Then again, maybe not . . . > > I really didn't mind "Software for Starving Students". I think it shows > what audience we are targeting. Is the name changing because so much on > the CD has changed?
As the person who first suggested the idea of the UUG creating CD with Free Software of this sort and who suggested the name ``Software for Starving Students,'' I thought I might chime in here. As y'all may remember from our discussions back in the day, my intension was for the Software for Starving Students to be more of a campaign than anything. Too many students are either (1) spending way too much of their $10/hour wages on software or (2) making illegitimate copies of the software they are using. The UUG is in a position to help BYU students avoid either mistake, by hosting activities that raise awareness of the existence of Free Software alternatives while helping to make them easily available. The phrase, ``Software for Starving Students,'' plays nicely off something with which most students are already familiar: the Starving Student Card. The phrase instills in students the idea that they are getting something that saves them money, because they are poor starving students. Of course, computer software has absolutely nothing to do with the Starving Student Card, but it parallels the basic idea. The students get this cool thing (the CD) that they can walk away with, and they can pop it in their computer to give it a try. Perhaps we can try including a registration option, so that we can gather statistics about how many of the students are actually installing the software and trying it out (similar to OpenOffice.org's registration). Then we could add a EULA that indicates that the act of registering is an opt-in to receive future promotional electronic communications. We could then load some software that automatically puts pop-ups on the screen; maybe we could hook up with double-click or some other ad agency to get that done. We could use the revenue to help fund UUG activities (like making more SSS CD's)! We could automaticaly disable IE and Word while we're at it, keeping the icons the same, but making them point to Firefox or OOWriter instead. We could monitor their browsing habits, and report to the Honor Code Office anyone who's visiting naughty web sites while we're at it. Better yet, we could preemptively install seamless web filters that will block access to potentially inappropriate sites on their computers. We could also replace Outlook with Evolution, and then scan e-mails for subversive content. We could also figure out, based on mail headers, who their friends are, and we can send messages to those friends, masquerading as the original users, advertising UUG, SSS, and Free Software in general. We can also install and enable BitTorrent by default, and use their computers to redistribute ISO's of SSS. If they have a webcam, we can turn it on and record at random, just to make sure that none of the on-campus housing students have any hamsters, goldfish, or 4-foot-tall tomato plants. Has anyone pitched all this to BYUSA yet?? This sounds like something they would be very interested in passing on up to the administration! Mike
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