Install Fests - Skipping the updates.

When On-Disk.com decided to create an "Always Up To Date" version of Ubuntu there was evidently something we didn't consider and didn't make mention of it here at groups. Fortunately a customer reminded us.


by Anthony Zimmerman
Date Added: Saturday 18 July, 2009

This is awesome!

I go to a lot of linux install gatherings called 'install fests' and I finally have a place to tell people where they can get the latest Ubuntu so they dont spend the first half hour updating a new install. PASS THE WORD so on-disk will keep doing this unique disc!

I don't suppose you could do the same with linux mint?

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!


So now we are testing to see if we can do the same with Linux Mint. If there is anyone who thinks also trying the same with another distribution would be feasible please don't hesitate to chime in.

Distro Night - Showcasing the best software you've never heard of.

One little thing I invented not to long ago was "Distro Night" at our local LUG meeting.

The concept is simple. I pick some of the newest releases from the On-Disk.com Catalog and take them to the Meeting.

Attendees break off into smaller groups and experiment until about 30 minutes before the meeting ends. We use the last half hour to chat about the software. Likes, dislikes, surprises etc.

There's a lot of new stuff out there but I find that sometimes users get in a rut. So a Distro Night is less about changing minds, but more about seeing what else has been developed and using it. Some find cool features in a distro they wouldn't have considered trying. Or find something they just don't like. Or maybe just the chance to get something hot off mirror. Whatever it is, it makes for an enjoyable meeting.

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No money? Hold a raffle!

Say you need a few hundred dollars to get booth space at a conference and a few hundred more to get some really sweet SWAG to hand out. But the problem is your LUG-mates are more of the Free as in no cost kind of guys.

So, let's appeal to their nature of community and support of FOSS with a chance to get something in the process.

It's really as simple as it sounds. First you pick out the computer system to raffle off - make sure it's relatively sweet to entice people to buy tickets. Then it's simple math to calculate the price and number of tickets you need to get to your goal.

For example, if you need $500 and the prize will cost $1200 (with all shipping, taxes and fees) you can sell 170 tickets for $10 each. Though you can also calculate other incentives like 5 entries for the price of 4.

I would try to keep the number of tickets low so that the odds look good. After all, the 1:170 chance ($10 per ticket) looks better than a 1:340 ($5) chance. Plus it might be easier on your group to sell a lower number of tickets to reach your goal.

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Event Demonstrations

We have all done events where we look someone square in the eye and say, "it's really cool, you'll love it."

But how effective is it? If it's a FOSS event and the attendees are from within the FOSS community then people are more in tune to continue listening and may wait around for you to explain why you think it's "cool". But if they are not from within the FOSS community they usually won't stick around long enough to hear.

Visual input can cut past this and work in your favor. Show a computer running the software with a free disc next to it and people will either catch on right away if this is something they already know about, or more often than not ask what it is they are looking at. I've find that a working demonstration is the absolute best "ice breaker".

OK, so it's easy to show off your favorite application by just opening it, but what about an operating system, what about several versions of it, or a wide array of operating systems? Of course you can have 10 computers setup with different operating systems, but that is a whole lot of work, and things get very cluttered quickly...not to mention the logistics of getting all the equipment there and back home.

This is where Virtual Machines come into the picture. Using Virtual machines you can have as many installations of different operating systems available on a single computer as the hard drive can hold. If you use Virtual Box and have guest additions installed the speed is and integration is so good you can't tell it's not an actual installation.

I personally have over 20 on my computer. It's pretty easy to run two virtual machines on one host at a time with as little as 2GB of RAM, as many as four with 4GB of RAM, etc. Having two virtual machines open at one time might not seem so impressive, however the ability to close one and open another from the a large collection means you can demonstrate more on one PC than on the original 10 you could have lugged along. I also notice that people are intrigued by the ability to switch between operating systems so easily...which invariably cause a crowd of people all clambering to see what's going on, and what other hidden goodies you might have on there...and you can't buy that kind of attention even with the best table at an event.

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How to give away 300 FOSS discs in Less than 2 hours.

On March 26, 2009 I Joined the Ithaca Free Software Association in their booth at Ithaca College EdTech Day.

When the doors opened, hundreds of people flowed in and it seemed like most of them came directly to the IFSA booth. But why?

Our booth wasn't flashy in anyway. It wasn't the first booth inside the door. Other than the XO laptops on display we didn't have a hard educational message.

So what was it?

Without having polled our visitors I think it had to do with the Free Software Association display above the booth.

While we did have to explain the freedoms that come with Open Source, being the booth with "free software" was a boon. Especially when you consider Microsoft and Apple were also represented.

So how long did 300 discs last us? An hour and a half!

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