Installfests (WAS: Re: [ossig] FOSS Meet)

[Colin Charles <byte@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2004-11-04 at 21:14 +0800, Raja Iskandar Shah wrote:

> hey, why not do a ubuntu instalfest ???

I'd say offer the few, big, free one's:

	Mandrake, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian

Offering SLES9.x is useless as Novell needs to sponsor it, and what
about people wanting media or thinking they're going to get support?
Nada. It confuses them. Ditto with RHEL3/4

I've organised many an install fest (around 1 every 2 months here), and
the popular distros we push out are Mandrake, Fedora, Debian. Because we
want people to enjoy their usage of Linux. And also, if there's support
questions, mailing lists are a plenty. We've never done Ubuntu because a
release of that just came out!

And its important to push _free_ software, not commercial offerings that
might create a lock-in situation. Also, updates must be free...

Other folks opinions on install fest thoughts are welcome. I'm willing
to participate (if around) and discuss, and bring along ideas/thoughts,
esp. since I have some measure of experience

In Malaysia, are there building laws, including provisions for fire
hazards? I doubt it (and even if they are, they're probably lax), so
things might be easier

To a installfest, a user must bring his/her _complete_ computer set,
including monitor. This will ensure said distro will work 100% like it
should. To allow for the few idiots that do show up with just their
CPUs, a 4-port KVM is usually handy with a monitor, keyboard and mouse
that an installer can use

A switch, maybe 8-port would be useful. Someone needs a machine with all
current updates, i.e. for yum/urpmi/apt-get so that we send users out
with the _latest_ packages, and no security holes. A laptop, with an
80gb drive externally usually does the trick for me here (usb)

Plenty of power boards

Do you charge for the installation? Or charge for the media? We tend to
prefer to get the location sponsored, and charge for the media only.
Why? Because if you charge for the installation, users tend to have
further expectations. Take it home, break it, they said, "ooh, we wasted
$x on this stupid Linux shit". So if they want to buy the media, let
them get it, for RM5/cd (we charge aud$2/cd)

Offer some form of training. A follow-up session in an install-fest
kinda environment sucks. So, maybe a projector, with someone willing to
talk about how to use the desktop and stuff would be useful. Maybe
someone even going thru a prettified install, is always good. Passer-
by's (esp. in a mall) will love this (and yes, this has been done before
too in M'sia, I remember in Sunway - iirc, I was installing RH5.2 on a
projector/large monitor (40"?), crossing my fingers that it'll all just
work)

And send them home with documentation for Pete's sake. This can be in
the form of the IOSN training materials, for instance. At least they
don't just start it up and stare at things...

Oh, liability waiver forms. Make them sign one. Because users love their
data, and if they didn't back it up and we ate it up, its really not our
fault

So, thoughts, comments, brickbats, foo?

Who's organising this installfest anyways? How about one a few days
before Christmas - in the spirit of giving, and the joy of receiving, we
push out GNU/Linux to wanting folk. Grab a shopping mall, and we'd get
the crowd going with us too. Run it for ~2 days, and definitely folk
will return on day #2. Before the 23rd, because most malls tend to be
jam packed after (I know, I regularly buy presents on the 23rd/24th :P)

Oh, and of late, we've not only been doing x86/x86_64 installations. We
also do PPC installations ! 
-- 
Colin Charles, byte@aeon.com.my
http://www.bytebot.net/
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, 
then you win." -- Mohandas Gandhi


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