guy keren wrote: > > During the party, small booths of PF1, Sivan and Mutag computers, thought > i didn't pay enough attention to the activities that occured there (i did > catch at a glance some 'linux demonstration lecture' that was carried out > near the boothes). > is that the one being showed with power point? notice the blackout that occured minutes after... (compare it to the comdex remark by linus...) > 1. at least initially, there was a complete administrative mess down at > the installation tables - it was impossible to see who to refer to, > who is an installer, who is just part of the cround, who came to get an > install done, and who are the people from the various companies around. > > i'd think that it'll be a good idea to have for the next time someone > to work as a 'sadran' (i.e. direct people to free install locations, > if there is a queue forming up, handle it somehow, etc.). > There were a few problems in that case. 1.1 No defenite queue caused people to wander between tables and installers, carrying computers and waiting on different places. A better solution would be to have one queue where one person would redirect "victims" to the tables and installers. to an extent one can just line up computers, with numbers on them, then the "sadran" will announce the number and the "victim" will take his computer to the installer, very similar to restaurants. while they wait to be served the people will learn how to use linux. (a demonstaration showing how to boot, login, and startx, maybe even administrative jobs such as adding users) 1.2 People took installers chairs while watching. from what i've been told, chairs are installers-only, and the people who took them both annoyed installers, and made no appearant difference between installers and "victims". maybe installers should wear a tag with "installer" on it. (while consultant or gurus wear a "guru" tag - see below) 1.3 People from dizingof center went to the computers and inquired installers about "what is linux", someone even asked me if i can help him with a win98 problem) that's why we need gurus and consultants to explain several things, while installers install, "victims" and random people will ask the gurus. 1.4 one factor that slowed down everything (on my "station" anyway) was that people came with unpartitioned drives, they sat for a long time deleting and compressing files and only then found out that they have ez-drive and can't use fips. (or had a antivirus that sits on the last sector) > 2. Media verification. > various CDs were defective (few weren't bootable, one appeared to > cause a problem during install, while installing the 'rpm' package and > then dying off, unable to continue the installation), few boot > floppies were defective, etc. i'm not sure if it's possible or not, > but it might be a good idea to somehow verify the media before the > party (e.g. make a raw comparision of the floppies, using a > combination of 'dd' and 'cksum' to checksum the floppy, as well as the > image installed on the floppy), etc. I noticed that boot floppies were scarce and needed. although used only for a minute while installing, nobody puts them in "central hubs" or so, and nobody can find them. they are required since many old computers can boot from CDs. on the same note it would be better if we actually installed other distributions, such as suse, rh6, caldera (the so called easiest), maybe debian for thrill seekers. > 3. Hang the D.J (well, it's not his fault..) > > i don't have anything against music, and it's actually nice to have it, > as long as it's in the background. but bringing in a D.J with a full > set of equipment (equalizers, amplifiers, etc. etc.) is a script for > semi-disaster - it was almost impossible to hear people talking around, > and people ept complaining about this (at least those that i've heard). > perhaps next time just settle for some background music, that will > indeed make it nicer, and yet allow people to talk? > I partialy disagree, altough the music was too loud (and for some quite annoying), it brings life and attention from people passing by, hence party. > 4. this one seems to be a starting phenomena of the way linux is being > promoted - some people expect it to be "very easy to intall, require no > reading of documentation, etc. this appears to stem from the way linux > is being lately exposed in the media. i'd suggest that we all try to be > a little more carefull in the way we advocate the usage of linux. the > mantra should be "It's fun _because_ you need to learn about your > system", rathern then "it was once hard to install, but now it's easier > then win*". > I think linux is quite easy, once you understand it. true, many people had no unix background, but it doesnt mean they won't understand. again demonstarations and tutorials should cover that up too. Cheers, Yoni. -- The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck, is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners...
