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Linux Installfest At MIT On February 28
Bellhead (
Second-Tier Associate to the First-Tier Minion, BLU) writes "The Boston Linux & Unix User Group's 16th Linux Installfest is being held at MIT on Saturday, February 28. Linux users in and around Boston, Massachusetts will have access to expert help and tools in order to install Linux on their computers. The BLU's volunteers will help anyone who shows up and brings their computer, free of charge (they accept donations). See the BLU Website for details and directions. Information about the BLU is at http://www.blu.org."
The support offered will help show some people that they don't need it.
Kids today are tyrants. They contradict their parent, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. - Socrates 400 BC
While the installers may be easy these days, FUD is STILL being cirlced around from the dark days of linux (2.2 kernels, text based installer, No kde, just some scary window manager and netscape and staroffice, yuck). If Linux is going to get popular, then it needs to shake off its FUD. When people, especially joe are shown in public that installing Linux is just insert cd, follow the easy instructions, and then reboot into a colourful desktop environment complete with multimedia software, office suite, games, internet and and utillities all nicely installed they are going to say, WOW, this is a 100 times easier than Windows, I am going to give all my freinds Linux cds and spread the word.
So, I reccomend you grab your beloved fedora cds, burn a few copies of them and organize your own installfest with your family and freinds. Spread the word about Linux.
Once the FUD barrier taken down, Linux wiont need install fests, because people can just grab a CD, and know its goigng to "just work".
With killer software such as KDE 3.2, Kernel 2.6, OpenOffice 1.1, Xfree86 4.4, WineX 3.2, Firefox 0.8, K3b 0.11 and Gimp 2.0 Linux software is really exciting and fun to use.
2004 has been declared the year of Linux for joe user, as by many organizations. Grab your typical Linux distro such as Mandrake, SuSE or Fedora, and see that they are all easier than Windows these days. But, we need to get linux to the joes, that means helping the Joes. To do this, we need to "Introduce" people to linux with an install fest.
Organize it. Decide what time you want to do it, then make a list of all your freinds and family you want to invite to it. Make your invitations, and send them to your freinds. Dont make the install fest a geeky talk. Make it a freindly party.
On the day, set up a computer (any old computer will do, get that old pentium III out of the basement) As a "demonstration" pc, and hook it up to a projector, So people can see Linux nice and big. Invite them to bring over a computer or laptop, so that they can try Linux themselves.
Start off with a presentation using OpenOffice Impress, explaining what is Linux, about its History, Why should you use it and Why am I introducing it to you.
After the presentation, give people a guided tour of the KDE desktop, explaining how to use Linux, run programs, changing their settings. But whatever you do, DO NOT show them the console, if you do, then you scare everyone off. Sorry cli fans, the future of linux is cli-less. Show them the best of Linux. Show them the games, let them play the games. Show them howto create pictures with the gimp, Show them music with Juk, play some movies with Kmplayer, show them the galaxy with kstars, show them Wine, so they know that they dont have to abandon their old Windows programs.
Then, after the tour, its time to install. If people were brave enough to bring a computer along, hook it up to the projector, and install Linux on it. Show him how easy it is to boot off the cd, select the language, resize their windows partition (explain partitions like cake slices, and give Linux the bigger slice), select the packages and install. Then reboot and show them the boot menu, point out that Windows is still there in the unlikely event they want to go back, then boot up and watch them see their shiny new desktop. Then, install Linux on any other machines there.
Next, its party time. Treat your freinds to a Linux Buffet, with delicous Linux style food, that Linux users eat. give them party bags with Linux goodies, including a Knoppix disk so they can Linux at home.
So, introduce the world of Linux today, with your own install fest and party!