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Collin
October 9th, 2005, 07:04 PM
Hi I'm a student from the CEGEP de Sherbrooke in Québec Canada, I study human science (sociology, history, politics and so on) and in one of my classes I have to do a project (from a sociology point of view) and I decided to initate all the students at the college to open source software (it's important that I don't want to throw them in linux right away since 99% of them are not going to go along) so my idea was to distribute cds with a bunch of open source software (open office, firefox, thunderbird, etc. and documentation about open source and how it is a key concept for the future).

Of course I want them to try linux aswell so I figured out that a live distro would be the best solution.

So I'm looking for some idea on what would be the best way to developpe the project. I thought of two things either have the two cds distributed with every school scheduler or have some sort of stand where people can come by and take a look (but that wouldn't really work)

If anyone takes part of or know of any initiative like that please inform me aswell

aysiu
October 9th, 2005, 07:17 PM
Are you talking about something like this?

http://www.theopencd.org/

Collin
October 9th, 2005, 07:41 PM
Great that is a good start, but my only problem is that I'm looking at the cheapest way to get about 6000 cds, I guess I'll have to present that project to the board to get some funding.

If I get this thing appoved by the board maybe Ubuntu would be interested in providing with live ubuntu distro.

Cause the way I see it, open source is the key for gaping the digital divide between rich and poor countries but it also have to be used and supported by people here.

One of the biggest hurdle in getting people to jump in the linux movement is always the fact that they have to relearn pretty much everything they know about computers, so i figured out that it should be done progressively by first providing open sources software usable under windows. Then we have to grab their attention on the open source as being a key element for "durable developpement" (not sure if that is the proper term in english) on a multitude of aspects such as environment (pollution) to truly democratics states and education.

Wolki
October 9th, 2005, 07:54 PM
I don't want to throw them in linux right away since 99% of them are not going to go along) so my idea was to distribute cds with a bunch of open source software (open office, firefox, thunderbird, etc. and documentation about open source and how it is a key concept for the future).

Of course I want them to try linux aswell so I figured out that a live distro would be the best solution.


Hm, the ubuntu livecd is a livecd that contains the following windows apps: Abiword, Audacity, Firefox, Gimp, OpenOffice.org and Thunderbird. There's little FOSS Propaganda though ;)

aysiu
October 9th, 2005, 08:01 PM
If I get this thing appoved by the board maybe Ubuntu would be interested in providing with live ubuntu distro. Ubuntu's live CDs are already provided for free:

https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

The FAQ (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/support/documentation/faq/shipit/) says "If you order a large number of CDs, you will be automatically contacted by Canonical staff to confirm who will ask about how you intend to use the CDs and to confirm the order."

Collin
October 9th, 2005, 08:01 PM
Hm, the ubuntu livecd is a livecd that contains the following windows apps: Abiword, Audacity, Firefox, Gimp, OpenOffice.org and Thunderbird. There's little FOSS Propaganda though ;)

That's ok with me actually I think that would be the perfect solution, one cd and offers what I want, it's an easy package for people not familiar with the project and then if they want to get a full ubuntu install cd they would have to go at the student association (they actually use linux, (pro-left group)).

Now the hurdle is convincing Ubuntu to give me about 6000 cds for next year and for the cheapest price possible.

On the flip side the project will be monitored and reviewed for a whole year and afterward if the results are really positive it could be presented to any school as a good elements for the students knowledge.

I might be seeing a little big but I do believe that it is a great way to do open source propaganda

Collin
October 9th, 2005, 08:05 PM
Ubuntu's live CDs are already provided for free:

https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

The FAQ (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/support/documentation/faq/shipit/) says "If you order a large number of CDs, you will be automatically contacted by Canonical staff to confirm who will ask about how you intend to use the CDs and to confirm the order."

well there's a difference between ordering 40cds and 6000, that's my concern.

and for the FOSS propaganda that is what my paper is about I have to make a presentation for my class and teacher get it approved then I have to do a version for the school board, student association and student body. I might get some help from the GULUS (groupe d'Utilisateur de Linux de l'Université de Sherbrooke)

Kimm
October 9th, 2005, 09:22 PM
if there is some type of open source mp3 codec (ffmpeg?) you might want to find a distro that includes it. Generaly when people find something that is unfumiliar to them is pretty much anything, if they arent realy interested in it they will just push it away and claim that is sucks, so, the ability to play mp3's might be rather important.

But if you inform the students that its free and that it is perfect for schience and all other types of school work, they might still develop an interest for it, after all, not all students are rich and a free top class OS might seem very tempting.

Collin
October 10th, 2005, 01:56 AM
But if you inform the students that its free and that it is perfect for schience and all other types of school work, they might still develop an interest for it, after all, not all students are rich and a free top class OS might seem very tempting.

Well I don't know about the full OS, but I do know that alot of student would be interested in a free open source office suite. Of course some are always going to argue that they can get M$ office for free (pirated) but alot of the students are not tech savvy enough for that or think that pirating is bad so at least I know that I do have a market.

Well I'll keep working on the project with the one live cd with M$ win open source software.

I wonder how much it would cost to ship 6000 cds ....

az
October 10th, 2005, 02:24 AM
You could do this:
http://www.freedomtoaster.co.za/

What is the Freedom Toaster
The Freedom Toaster is a conveniently located, self-contained ‘Bring 'n Burn' facility, where users bring their own blank discs and make copies of the open source software they require.

Perhaps you can find a computer store to sponsor you. They can provide the hardware (maybe even the blank cds)

I think ubuntu is perfect for you. Thw two-pack of live and install cd is the perfect thing to distribute. It has a lot of the open cd Windows-version software on it.

At the last CC meeting, one of the loco teams had asked for 10000 cds. I think the CC mentioned that that represented about 10000$ US. One option was to create a Do-it-yourself kit, where the artwork would be made available and you could find your own company to create your cds locally.

In that respect, perhaps the freedom toster would be a better idea. Gulus would be happy to see you pimping Edulinux since they help make it.(http://www.gulus.org/article.php3?id_article=123)

aysiu
October 11th, 2005, 01:49 AM
In case anyone's interested, a little snippet about the live CD from the CD case itself says


The CD also contains Windows versions of some of the programs included in Ubuntu. To try these programs, put the CD in the drive while Windows is running.

When you do so, it looks like this (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b337/psychocats/7d74d168.png)

az
October 11th, 2005, 02:04 AM
It just occurred to me that I did not mention that I do not think you need a whole Freedom Toaster setup in the university, just a box that does the same thing. So, if you set this box up somewhere (like the GULUS office or a library - somewhere it can be watched) with links on the desktop to burn various cds full of free software, you can accomplish the same thing. That's what I meant about getting sponsoship from a local computer store. Heck, you can even run it with an old pII and a decent cd writer.


Instead of distributing the cds with the registration pack every student gets, maybe you can put in an advertisement for the thing.

Collin
October 11th, 2005, 03:43 AM
The only problem with that is the fact that le "CEGEP de Sherbrooke" compared to the University of Sherbrooke is like comparing a community college in el paso to a state university in regard to getting subvention.

The good thing though is that every student in quebec have to go through those "CEGEP" institution before university. That's where I'm trying to get the public cause once they are a university you can only get a handful of people that are curious enough about the open source concept.

Get them young that is the key

edit: Oh you're from montreal, so you most likely know what CEGEPs are