Installfests?

[Robert Brockway]

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006, Evan Leibovitch wrote:

At the risk of this sounding like a "me too" post...

> In other words, I would submit that utility of the installfest has peaked. 
> There is still a need for it, but the need is far less than it used to be. At

I agree.  These days installfests are more about hand holding than 
defeating mighty installation problems.  Of course given that many of the 
boxes will have MS-Win installed already care needs to be taken to retain 
data (evening after considering a solid lawyer-written disclaimer).

> a technical level, Linux simply isn't as intimidating any more.

As far as the installation goes, agreed.  It's a much more complex beast 
than it used to be but users do get the opprotunity to ignore much of that 
complexity if they want to.

> IMO this requires an examination of tactics -- if not the installfest (or the 
> installfest alone), then what? I would suggest that newcomers to Linux need 
> more than handholding at install time, indeed they need to be better armed 
> before even deciding to install.

I'm a great believer in informed choice.  I never tell anyone that Linux 
is something they must use or that they'll like it more than what they are 
using now.  I suggest they consider their options and remain open to the 
possiblity that Linux could be very beneficial to their use of a computer.

I also strongly encourage people to consider what open standards mean for 
freedom and the future but that's another topic.

> Our Québecois friends are planning an event, the Quebec Free Information Week 
> (SQIL), the week of November 12-20, that has been successful in its last two

Nov 11-19 according to the page.  Perhaps QC is across the international 
dateline ;)

Based on new user talks I've done in the past it seems alot of people 
don't know what apps are out there in FOSS land and they would like to see 
them in action.

Open Office
firefox
GIMP
Other apps that are more eye catching on the big screen.

Cheers,

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc.        Phone:          +1-905-821-2327
Senior Technical Consultant  Urgent Support: +1-416-669-3073
OpenTrend Solutions Ltd      Email:          support-wgAaPJgzrDxH4x6Dk/4f9A at public.gmane.org
                              Web:            www.opentrend.net
We are open 24x365 for technical support.  Call us in a crisis.

If you are emailing regarding an open ticket please consider
mentioning the ticket ID as this will assist us in responding
as quickly as possible.