[olug] goal = FLOSS alternatives at UNO

Mon Dec 15 23:12:22 UTC 2003

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:27:14 -0800 (PST)
CM Miller <cmmiller1973 at yahoo.com> wrote:

I've been talking with them on the linux-desktops mailing list
[https://lists.unomaha.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-desktop] at UNO for a
couple months now, and sent some emails to unohelpdesk at uno asking for
these things in the computer labs.  It's nice to see they had this list
setup, there's some powers-that-be who have been wanting to get a
discussion going, it's just now finally getting some momentum.  (please
join if interested)

I have been making a movement to first get at least OOo and perhaps
Firebird on the Windoze desktops as a first step towards free/open source
software deployment, as they prepare and troubleshoot managing a dual boot
envrionment.  I'm also not calling for 'all' to be dual boot, but to start
the experimentation on a few systems in different labs on campus. 
Students in the college of Arts & Science have even been asking around for
this!  Shouldn't ACM and MISSO be heading this up?
(this conversation may lead more to the UNO ACM list)

|Its hard to compete with this bastard when they show
|up at your local college with free versions of Winjunk
|XP and free copies of Winjunk Office 2003.  Metro
|Community College is a prime example of this.  

Well, there's a discount for students, it's still pretty pricy.

|With RH coming up fast and strong, do they do anything
|like this on college campuses?  I remember the RH bus
|tour of late 2002, but if they were more active in
|winning the hearts and minds of students, it would
|really help.  

Local LUGS, especially ones on college/university campus, have a day or so
especially during the start of the year where they setup a booth and give
out the free CDs of software, and explain the differences, do awareness
campaigns.  They hold installfests/demos and other things as well...  I
couldn't find a good example right now, the LUG of Davis, CA is quite an
example with their demos [http://www.lugod.org/projects/demo/].  So I see
part of this as a cooperation with the OLUG, and through ACM I think we
definately want to promote 'alternatives' and not just "linux" per se,
especially those based on open standards.

|Also some of the professors are pro-M$, one comes to
|mind pretty quick.  

Thats fine, we have a few pro-UNIX profs on campus too... if we had some
more exposure on campus, I think this would come out.  And not to start M$
vs UNIX wars... but just from a scientific/socially responsible
perspective, advertise the alternatives and tout the benefits of each --
with a strong emphasis on open standards and interoperability imho.

|> "professor, could you please resend me this document
|> in a non-proprietary...

|What are your professor(s) response?  
|
|Are you dismissed as a radical that has a problem with
|authority (Neo)?  

No, they promptly reply to my requests without much hassle at all, though
I do feel a little bad asking them to do more work.  They usu dual post
ppt slides in PDF format (which can loose some resolution/readability) or
kindly resend me a doc in RTF format.

|> Most people simply are not aware
|
|More of the problem is being lazy.  The attitude is,
|Winjunk works when I boot up. I don't want to have to
|learn anything new, or change my way of thinking.  

I'm sure there are people out there though, who are forming a conscious on
the consequences of their actions/interactions with software - and the
prices of such M$ software, security concerns, legalities, unacceptable
licensing terms, etc.. you know the arguments.  For those looking for a
way out, I think we should be there to guide them.

-- 
 Brian Wiese | bwiese(at)cotse.com | aim: unolinuxguru
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