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Open Source CD Lending For Public Libraries?
phatlipmojo writes "Bob Kerr has taken what might well be an important step in getting open source software to the masses: donating CDs to public libraries for lending. It's a simple idea, but fraught with complications; indeed, at first, he couldn't give the CDs away to the wary libraries. Mr. Kerr dealt with the complications admirably, and has had a great deal of success getting open source CDs into lending libraries around his home country, as Mr. Kerr's howto PDF and this NewsForge article detail. What kinds of suggestions would Slashdotters make in addition to Mr. Kerr's to help make open source software on public library shelves a widespread reality?"
Hmm...
This could do well in association with a local User Group of some sort, methinks.
Getting a bunch of people together to organize the CD labeling, DVD-cases instead of jewel cases, etc could help spread the cost and work around, as well as creating a perfect "next step" for the people checking out the software - a user group basically waiting for them.
I especially like the quote: Forcing anyone to do something they don't want to do just breeds resentment.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
I suggest to Mr. Kerr, that he consider BYOCD (bring your own CD). Users could burn their own cdroms from a plethora of projects that meet a particular library criteria, for quality and safety.
It might be smart for libraries to offer two methods for achieving this:
1) Library burns cds on demand for a small fee.
2) Users burn cds themselves.
Having actual cdroms on a shelf for people to "check out", as it were, is likely a bad idea for a number of reasons. The large volume of cds occupying shelves would be a copy of the old library system, so it would likely be their default method, but it's incorrect, imho; it's a waste of space; it goes against the mighty electronic way. Burning on demand is the way to go because the open source community could ensure that the most recent versions of software are available, and that fresh new content would flow into libraries everywhere, rather than fill up shelves until the place has no more room.
Stop gaps could be issued at the base system, to prevent abuse, and this would be much easier if the product was electronic.
A project for your local Linux group: Take an old machine with a burner and donate a Linux kiosk to the library. Install enough hard drive space to hold ISOs of recent versions of the most popular distros. Make an intuitive menu for selecting a distribution to burn and then just have the user insert CDs after that. The library could sell blank CDs or users could bring their own..
OpenOffice.org
KNOPPIX
Mandrake LiveCD
Debian installation CD
Fedora
The for-Windows
Can anyone think of any more? Mandrake and RedHat aren't likely to want people selling copies of their software, they'd probably want you to buy it from them, instead.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea? All it takes is one script kiddie or spammer getting the idea to check out a CD, take it home, replace it with their own kernel/binaries/whatever, and voila! Ownage. I think an alternative would be to get behind hosting community Open Source events... after all, anyone who is interested in Open Source Software, probably already has the means to access the large, free, online library known as the Internet from the comfort of their own home.
Someone recommended a burning on demand. Not a bad idea if someone is willing to keep the people there upto date with new images couple months and train people how to burn the CD's. Its sad to see that many don't know the difference between, say, buring a music CD and an ISO.
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
While this may make sense in Scotland, does it really make sense in places where broadband is more readily available?
I mean, first off, Linux simply isn't ready for the desktop or the unclued user. I hate to say it guys, but it's true. My dad could install and use Windows, but he could not install use Linux (that would be any distribution you care to name). And I consider him to be an average computer user.
Secondly, it seems that there's a large disparity among audiences here. People who are capable of installing and using Linux simply aren't the kind of people who'd get their copy from a library shelf. Perhaps in areas where there is no broadband, okay... But in areas where there is fast connections (like an ever increasing majority of the US), they'd simply find a fast connection.. Like work, or a friend's cable modem, or DSL, or even the store shelves at Best Buy. Whatever. The library simply isn't where you find software.
For that matter, what library *anywhere* has software on its shelves? I've been in a lot of libraries, in big metro areas and small communities, and many of them are just now starting to carry DVD's, and even then it's hesitantly. And the only reason they carry movies in the first place is to attract a different kind of crowd. I mean, if the idea here is to do the same, by attracting a different kind of crowd, then more power to 'em, but that doesn't seem to be the thrust of the article here.
I guess I'm wondering what exactly the point of putting OSS on the shelves of the local library is.. What's the goal? What does this accomplish? A user wanting to install Linux around here certainly wouldn't check the library. I think the shelf space there is probably more suited to, oh, *books* or some such thing.
I'd predict that even if all the hurdles of convincing a library to maintain an OSS CD library were jumped, the library itself would suffer the same fate as technical books at most local libraries.
The technical books themselves take so long to procure because of the multiple(albiet not vast) layers of red tape that by the time they end up on the shelves, they're flirting with being out of date (just as new tech books flirt with being out of date before even hitting the store shelves).
I can't think of any open source project that isn't regularly patched, and because of this constant progression, I can't see a CD library being up to date, ever. It would require an individual or group of individuals who would simply cost too much to justify having them in the first place to maintain it.
This man may just have radically altered the course of Scottish society. He is bringing enlightenment to thousands. This could be the best thing to happen to Scotland this century.
Well done!
Stick Men
Most public libraries I know have windows machines which can be used by anyone to hop on the net. Schedule meetings with librarians and convince them to put linux on these boxes instead. They don't get a lot of money in these places, so if you volunteer to set it up for them for free they'll probably accept. The cash they save by not paying for windows licenses is more than enough. Sure, patrons might not know what to do at first, but the library is a place of learning. They'll soon learn to click on the red dinosaur instead of on the blue e.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Valid points (to my un-library-trained self atleast).
Why would IT be involved at all? Yes it is software, but it is simply content that people are borrowing. Does IT also help out when someone rents a tape that their VCR eats?
As far as tech support, simply stick to your guns and don't provide any.
Cataloging. My local library manages to have current best sellers on the shelves in a timely manner.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
I tried to get one system into our local town library. The director of the library flatly refused to even consider the proposal to have a linux workstation in the library.
Essentially, even if volunteer-maintained and/or no maintenance required(think Knoppix), she said that they were Windows, and Windows only, and that was because that's what the Minuteman Network supports(the Minuteman Network is a nice little corporation that's making money off the local town libraries.)
Despite being exceptionally polite, she wouldn't even examine the proposal, and complained about issues I had addressed already- in the proposal, if she had bothered to read it.
Please help metamoderate.
Hello all, Firstly I think this is a magnificent idea with some possible drawbacks. It would be simple to distribute with a donation of a CD Writer or 2 per library with a OSS catalogs on DVD distributed out to each library through the existing library resource network already in place, for instance here in Michigan a larger library organization is the lakeland Org., gathering a representative from each org (which already exists) they in turn contact the OSS distribution org for access to the DVD listing, DVD get delivered and then are listed in the software dewey decimal system for access too. Then as joe/jane user comes in, looks through the available list and selects a desired program/OS to try at home, he/she asks the librarian for the disk with *** software on it. for a fee of the CD and small recoup for library time and equipment (1$ US perhaps)the software is cooked to CD and presented to joe/jane at that time. With this said, the first time joe or jane asks for software, they are presented with a form stating quite explicatly that NO support comes from the library system for this software at all. seek a technician (perhaps even have a local Tech listed as someone to contact) The software is free, the overhead of electrical and the librarian, the CD and the access DVD's is covered via the fee. local techs gain business, libraries become cool places for geeks and non-geeks to hang again, ice cream tastes better, your clothes fit and look better, your teeth are whiter, etc etc etc
I am forced to agree as I worked in a Public Library for over a year as their network administrator. While the idea expressed in the article is good, there are a few problems. First (and the one you mentioned), the budgets of most library's would not be able to handle an open-source software checkout. Second, most users of library computers are low to middle-class. Finally, most of the users who would use the software already have high-speed Internet connections. The results are a worthless system and a waste of valuable resources (a.k.a. money) that could be spent on other improvements to the library's offerings.