Fwd: [Linux-aus] anyone for an open-source-beyond-the-black-stump miniconf?

[Donna Benjamin]

It sounds like a great idea to me.

Whether it ends up as a mini-conf, or a bof you should continue to
formulate the idea and gather and generate interest in it - because
doing this kind of work in remote communities is really important.

You might also want to touch base with Ed Holcroft at NetDay in South
Africa. He attended this year's LCA and spoke at the education
mini-conf, basically he's putting whole computer labs into the tribal
homelands, in areas struggling to get clean water and electricity.
http://www.netday.org.za/


On Thu, 2006-07-06 at 08:36 +1000, Aguido Horatio Davis wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 06, 2006 at 01:14:08AM +0930, Rohan M. wrote:
> > Hope this isnt a stupid question - but how does one start somehing like this?
> 
> In the case of the Gove rollout, it started with a request from a
> community organisation that had a computer lab they hadn't used in ages.
> The computers were Windows-infested and lying around in neglected heaps.
> 
> We then collected a group of volunteers via email, and arranged to fly
> up there for a week. Pia bought lots of spare hardware.  We cleaned out
> and straightened up the machines, and did fresh Ubuntu installs on most
> of them. We did a little training and had an opening day to raise
> awareness.
> 
> When I say "we", it was literally a random group of volunteers turning
> up to hack together a computer lab because it seemed like a good idea.
> While individuals turned up with LA support (such as Pia), and we
> claimed it for Software Freedom Day, the effort was not organised by LA. 
> 
> > Do you basically organise it yourself, source hardware, speak to the local
> > community to meet needs etc?
> 
> Basically, yes. It helped immensely that one of the local LUG people had
> already done a visit to scout the situation, and also that Sokar had
> good contacts already in place with the community there. 
> 
> > So how does one become an 'offical LA backed community FOSS rollout-er' so
> > to speak?
> 
> To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any. That may change in the
> future, especially if a critical mass of us manage to be in the same
> room at LCA2007, but for now random groups of volunteers seem to be the
> custom, and they source resources for each effort on an ad-hoc basis.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Horatio
-- 
MEL8OURNE2008     
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