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At LinuxInsider, we've been busy these past few weeks trying to bring you all the most important news from the world of our favorite operating system, as we always do. But it turns out we missed something. It wasn't until we began compiling our Linux Starter Kit -- which we're fervently hoping will help show more of the world the light that is Linux -- that we discovered it: Lindependence 2008. That's right, Lindependence! On July 28, "a significant percentage" of the town of Felton, Calif., declared independence from Microsoft and pledged to go Redmond-free for a week.
It's from here on in that counts
Posted by: helios17 2008-08-11 19:37:15 In reply to: Katherine Noyes
I would like to join my partner Larry Cafiero in thanking you for the mention of the Lindependence 2008 effort. While we may have enjoyed moderate success, the real success is to be achieved by those who carry this effort forward.
It is a pliable project that can be folded, molded and shaped into any level of participation and complexity desired. While I did mention (ahem) in passing a bit of disappointment in the lack of news coverage, there is a difference in simply being late to notice it. With a community as physically diverse as ours, it is bound to happen more times than not.
While our effort is in the books, many more are in various stages of planning and I thank you and your publication for bringing it to your audience. http://www.lindependence.net will cover other people and places who strive to build on our success. Thank you for giving them a good head start. This can truly be the catalyst for the changes we seek.
Ken Starks
HeliOS Solutions
HeliOS Project
Austin, TX
helios at fixedbylinux dott kommm
It is a pliable project that can be folded, molded and shaped into any level of participation and complexity desired. While I did mention (ahem) in passing a bit of disappointment in the lack of news coverage, there is a difference in simply being late to notice it. With a community as physically diverse as ours, it is bound to happen more times than not.
While our effort is in the books, many more are in various stages of planning and I thank you and your publication for bringing it to your audience. http://www.lindependence.net will cover other people and places who strive to build on our success. Thank you for giving them a good head start. This can truly be the catalyst for the changes we seek.
Ken Starks
HeliOS Solutions
HeliOS Project
Austin, TX
helios at fixedbylinux dott kommm
Kudos to Ken, Larry, and Katherine (for the article), and everyone that participated at Felton. This is by far the best strategy for promotion of FOSS and Linux. It puts it right into the hands of the user. I get really excited about the direct connection with the people that are using it.
Discovering Linux and FOSS can be very liberating and uplifting. Once you try it, the possibilities begin to appear. And you begin feel... free.
Now I hope the people realize that they are becoming members of a community. I hope the people of Felton that really catch on will share with the others in their community that will have questions. Once that happens, they have something called inertia. And I believe that will take them far. Especially once they also realize that there are schools out there, city governments, etc using this software and saving money and time.
Discovering Linux and FOSS can be very liberating and uplifting. Once you try it, the possibilities begin to appear. And you begin feel... free.
Now I hope the people realize that they are becoming members of a community. I hope the people of Felton that really catch on will share with the others in their community that will have questions. Once that happens, they have something called inertia. And I believe that will take them far. Especially once they also realize that there are schools out there, city governments, etc using this software and saving money and time.
Thanks for giving us some pixels (to go with a degree of mainstream media "ink") regarding Lindependence 2008, especially now that the first one has finished and we have three others on our proverbial plate going forward.
A couple of clarifications (and again I apologize for not connecting with you before deadline):
In Felton, we dropped the "Microsoft-free week" portion of the project because, frankly, no one wanted to do it -- we had so many people come in during the three meetings/installfests and say about their Windows OS, "Take this [stuff] off my machine," that no one wanted to do the comparison test. This aspect of the project will probably be offered in other Lindependence events going forward, but it was scuttled in Felton.
We count this as +1, obviously.
Also, there were about 200 Live CDs of Mandriva, Ubnutu and Fedora handed out during the course of the month in Felton, and of those I don't have an accurate count of how many were put to use. However, counting those who installed at the meetings/installfests and those who contacted me afterward, I count 28 conversions in Felton (with one unsuccessful).
To bean-counters, that may not sound like many. But the fact is that the seeds for growth have been sown. Cultivating these seeds is an already-established Felton LUG, for starters, which means that a support network for those who have started -- not to mention those who are already GNU/Linux and FOSS users -- is here.
We are in the process of compiling a "how-to" guide which is almost finished, outlining how to get the most from the project as well as how to avoid the pitfalls we encountered. For those who are interested in doing a Lindependence project in your area -- and it doesn't have to be a whole town; it can be your school, your church group, etc. -- contact me at the address below.
Thanks again, Katherine.
Larry Cafiero
HeliOS Solutions West
6116 Highway 9, Suite 4B
Felton, CA 95018
831-335-7303
http://www.lindependence.net
lcafiero-at-fixedbylinux-dot-com
A couple of clarifications (and again I apologize for not connecting with you before deadline):
In Felton, we dropped the "Microsoft-free week" portion of the project because, frankly, no one wanted to do it -- we had so many people come in during the three meetings/installfests and say about their Windows OS, "Take this [stuff] off my machine," that no one wanted to do the comparison test. This aspect of the project will probably be offered in other Lindependence events going forward, but it was scuttled in Felton.
We count this as +1, obviously.
Also, there were about 200 Live CDs of Mandriva, Ubnutu and Fedora handed out during the course of the month in Felton, and of those I don't have an accurate count of how many were put to use. However, counting those who installed at the meetings/installfests and those who contacted me afterward, I count 28 conversions in Felton (with one unsuccessful).
To bean-counters, that may not sound like many. But the fact is that the seeds for growth have been sown. Cultivating these seeds is an already-established Felton LUG, for starters, which means that a support network for those who have started -- not to mention those who are already GNU/Linux and FOSS users -- is here.
We are in the process of compiling a "how-to" guide which is almost finished, outlining how to get the most from the project as well as how to avoid the pitfalls we encountered. For those who are interested in doing a Lindependence project in your area -- and it doesn't have to be a whole town; it can be your school, your church group, etc. -- contact me at the address below.
Thanks again, Katherine.
Larry Cafiero
HeliOS Solutions West
6116 Highway 9, Suite 4B
Felton, CA 95018
831-335-7303
http://www.lindependence.net
lcafiero-at-fixedbylinux-dot-com
