Official Linux Charity Project Thread

[etank]

gjtoth, we had a meeting in the irc channel on Thursday. We are going to be having them each week on Thursday at 8:00PM EST. I am going to try to send an email to the mailing list each week to let everyone know what topics we are going to try to cover in that weeks meeting. To join the mailing list go to https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-ky or click on the link in my signature. If you want to read the log from the meeting go to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KentuckyTeam/Meetings.

[comfurtn]

April is a long way away. If we get a group of 10 or so machines, we could work on getting our distribution and install methods down, and work on getting the PR machine working so that when we get all these computers the turnaround time can be relatively quick.

So then, Tasks at this point become:

Generating some documentation to contact people that may be in need of computers.

Create our standardized Linux install, preferably as automated as possible.

Just curious... what are we talking about in the means of documentation, and has anybody brainstormed on the standardized install yet?

[Zuph]

Just curious... what are we talking about in the means of documentation, and has anybody brainstormed on the standardized install yet?

Documentation, we can easily write up a quick-start guide saying what is where, and then for more in-depth documentation, pull from the official docs or the ubuntuguide.org wiki and edit that for what we need.

I'm not sure how to make a standard install disk yet, But I'm thinking we need to go with Xubuntu (It's lightweight and behaves more intuitively (relative to windows) than fluxbuntu) and install a static copy of Wikipedia, whatever packages we think are good from Edubuntu, and some office apps. Maybe hook them up with some basic computer algebra stuff, that sort of thing.

We'll dig through the packages once we get together and get some machines.

[comfurtn]

Do we have any new leads on obtaining computers and monitors?

[montgoej]

Documentation, we can easily write up a quick-start guide saying what is where, and then for more in-depth documentation, pull from the official docs or the ubuntuguide.org wiki and edit that for what we need.

I'm not sure how to make a standard install disk yet, But I'm thinking we need to go with Xubuntu (It's lightweight and behaves more intuitively (relative to windows) than fluxbuntu) and install a static copy of Wikipedia, whatever packages we think are good from Edubuntu, and some office apps. Maybe hook them up with some basic computer algebra stuff, that sort of thing.

We'll dig through the packages once we get together and get some machines.

The install disc shouldn't be too much of a problem. The Ubuntu Customization Kit should do what we need, and if we know we're getting 60 machines that are all similar we can do a custom kernel build which'll be optimized for those machines
~Jordan "The Stash" Montgomery

[etank]

The Ubuntu Customization Kit should do what we need,
~Jordan "The Stash" Montgomery

There is also a tool called reconstructor. That is what the Ubuntu CE team used (at one time at least) to create their version of Ubuntu. I played with it some last year and it was pretty nice.

Another link on the topic http://www.ubuntulabs.devubuntu.com/...-your-own.html.

[Joule]

Well, if you are looking for recipients for said computers, I am the tech coordinator at a JCPS high school. We have a number of low-income students here who cannot afford their own home computers. I'm always keeping my eye out to local businesses who would want to get rid of low-end machines that I could load Ubuntu on and pass along to these students.

[comfurtn]

April is just around the corner now... how do we stand on getting this project up-and-running?

Should we start brainstorming the install process? (i.e. Derivative to use, custom kernel, KyLoco custom graphics, bundled packages, etc.)

[Zuph]

April is just around the corner now... how do we stand on getting this project up-and-running?

Should we start brainstorming the install process? (i.e. Derivative to use, custom kernel, KyLoco custom graphics, bundled packages, etc.)

The derivative we're going to be forced to use on a lot of the machines due to age is probably Xubuntu. To keep things portable, though, I think we should use something like aptoncd to make our own repository. That way, we just load up a machine with the base installation, stick the cd in, and say "sudo apt-get kentuckycoolcdstuff" or whatever.

I don't think a custom kernel will be necessary or time-prudent given the number of machines we want to crank out. KY logo is simple.

We NEED to figure out what packages we want to install, though. Soon.

[j1mc]

Hello, I'm Jim, and I'm a member of the Chicago Loco team. I found information about this project while perusing the wiki pages.

I'm a volunteer for a similar type program in Chicago called, "Free Geek Chicago." I've been volunteering for the group about twice a month since November of 2006, but the group has been around since August of 2005. We recycle computers, and put Xubuntu on them. You can find out more about what we do at our website, freegeekchicago.org.

If I can offer you all any tips or anything, please let me know. My email is jwcampbell-ate-gmail.comma, and I'm on IRC as j1mc. You can usually find me in the Xubuntu channels and the Ubuntu-Chicago channel, among others.

Good luck with your project! It really does sound like a good idea.

Jim