FreeGeekPenn Ephrata Collaboration?

[elizabeth]

Hi folks.

Earlier this year Kevin Valentine (kejava) contacted FreeGeekPenn (http://www.freegeekpenn.org/) about the possibility of working with them on Linux machine deployment. His progress was them was documented on the mailing list in this thread:

[Ubuntu-US-PA] Free Geek Penn in Ephrata, PA (https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-us-pa/2009-January/thread.html#728)

No one was able at the time to pick off where Kevin left off, but now that I have some free time I've re-contacted them to see if there is any way our team can work with them.

I'm heading out there on Saturday morning during their 10-3 "normal business hours" for a quick tour and to check out their organization. We don't have an appointment with them, but the person I spoke with said they could fill us in on what kind of volunteer roles are available if we show up.

Anyone interested in joining me? I am planning on dropping by around 11AM. Let me know and we'll swap cellphone #s so we can properly coordinate this and get in touch when we arrive :)

[elizabeth]

Kejava, Chinnodog and I spent some time over at FreeGeekPenn on Saturday.

It was a pleasant visit, the people over there was very friendly and welcoming. Stephen Baily, Kevin's contact from earlier in the year, was happy to give us a tour of the facility and he and their resident "Linux Guy" Adam Markley helped outline the challenges they face when considering the adoption of Linux for PCs they ship out to clients.

Essentially they aren't ready to jump on the desktop deployment bandwagon again just yet, but they were open to the possibility in the future. They are willing to work with us to host Linux classes at their location. They also have a program where they ship PCs to Africa, frequently without an OS but if they have our manpower and Linux expertise they said they'd be happy to ship them with Ubuntu.

I've put together a wiki page detailing all of these details, including a section on why their desktop deployment program didn't work out:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PennsylvaniaTeam/CommunityOutreachTeam/FreeGeekPenn

I will be following up directly this week, but in the meantime, are there folks toward Reading and Ephrata who would be interested in working on this with me? Even if we don't jump into producing and hosting classes for Introduction to Ubuntu classes just yet, I think making ourselves known as a group they can turn to if they want Linux support would be great.

[RoboNuggie]

Message deleted ;-)

[elizabeth]

They also have a program where they ship PCs to Africa, frequently without an OS but if they have our manpower and Linux expertise they said they'd be happy to ship them with Ubuntu.

I know it's a long shot - but FreeGeekPenn got a request for 10 systems to be shipped over for this program, but they need them completed by Wednesday (eek!).

Is anyone free tonight or tomorrow before 6PM to help them out? Let me know and I'll give you details: lyz@ubuntu.com

[adam007]

Thank you so much for posting this, i just wanted to update the post a little bit, i was able to get 5 computers done today, i just need to get done 5 more, if anyone is still willing to help me with these computers, and maybe be willing to help me with testing some monitors and getting all the other stuff ready for the computers that would be great. please contact Elizabeth for more information.




***UPDATE*** 10/27/09: All the 10 computers are done, it is just a matter of getting everything else ready. In the future i will try to let you all know a head of time, again sorry for the short notice! I am glad i was able to meet this deadline!! lol. Thanks anyway. I may need some help later on this year, or early next year, i will keep you all posted. Have a nice day!

[FiveSidedPoly]

I am very interested in volunteering with anything that may arise. I had read about this from their website prior to joining the LoCo team and had planned on swinging by there when I return from Iraq.

I am looking into possible ways to collect donations for both computers and parts from organizations within the PA National Guard if possible.

[r0000t]

This sounds like a great idea and I would be willing to help out in the future, time permitting. It would be great if there were a way to streamline a process and help these guys and gals out!