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Re: [Wlug] reaching college students with linux

by Sean Corbett

To be honest, I think the overwhelming majority of non-technical students will not want to get involved with Linux, even with Ubuntu... even some of my fellow computer science majors will only use Linux for coursework and refuse to touch it otherwise, mainly because they don't want to have to worry about "learning new software" or dealing with the fact that, in some cases, there aren't enough drivers to support all their software. Even Ubuntu can be a real pain in terms of out-of-the-box hardware compatibility, especially with laptops (which for most students serve as their main machine of use). I'm sort of sad to admit that many of the kids I go to school with are, in almost all cases, looking for the easiest means to accomplish anything; anything that requires too much effort is bound to be ignored by the majority. I picked up Linux out of genuine interest, and because I knew it served as a very good platform for development (and thus a worthwhile thing to use), and especially because of it's compliance with my (mild) disdain of proprietary software. Also, because I look up to Linus Torvalds, and Richard Stallman, and all those great guys... but, I don't know anyone else at my school who shares my enthusiasm. Perhaps its a bit better at a purely technical school (like WPI)... In short, if students aren't pursuing Linux out of their own interest (or at least out of necessity), I wouldn't try much beyond what you've already attempted in order to get kids more interested... I don't mean to be discouraging or pessimistic, but I really think your efforts are better spent aiding students who've developed an interest in running Linux on their own, as opposed to trying to turn them on to it. Hope this helps, -Sean C. > Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2009 13:31:19 -0800 (PST) > From: Andrew Perry <perryand(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [Wlug] successful upgrade to openoffice.org 3.0 ; ubiquity of > .docx; reaching college students with linux > To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > Cc: Andrew Perry <perryand(a)gmail.com> > Message-ID: <377215.4592.qm(a)web35208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > > Hi Everyone, > > (1) Thanks a million for all of the help, especially the link to the fantastic tutorial, posted by James Gray, I think. I am in the process of installing hardy updates, and it appears that openoffice.org 3.0 is part of what's being installed, so it looks like everything is working perfectly. > > (2) To Greg: yes, I could ask students to submit all of their assignments in .doc or .rtf format (or even open office format), but they most wouldn't listen. Many can't figure out how to save to any format but .docx. It's a perpetual hassle to nag them. Besides that, I get many files from colleagues, professors at my college and other colleges and universities, as well as the Mass. Dept. of Education, and increasingly, most are in Office 2007 formats. It's hard to convert the whole world to linux. > > (3) Here is a new issue for everyone who is interested in commenting. I am a mathematician but besides math ,I also teach a computer literacy course each semester. You would all be proud: I do my best every semester to convert students to the linux religion, or at least to make them aware of linux and the evils of Microsoft. However, for every student who finds my linux modules interesting (about 2 hours of a 45-hour course on average), there are a dozen who get annoyed and find the material boring and irrelevant. > > Once I brought in a PC running compiz and they found that mildly intriguing. > > They absolutely hate the movie "revolution os". If I pass out ubuntu cds, I doubt they get used. > > Can anyone suggest teaching resources (videos, for example) that would be likely to make an impact for non-technically minded college students ? > > > Thanks, > Andrew > > -Dr. Andrew B. Perry > Dept. of Mathematics, Springfield College > Schoo Hall Room 123 > 263 Alden St., Springfield MA 01109 > Work Phone (413)748-3193 > >

Feb. 4, 2009

FOSS Gaming Survey

by Joseph Guarino

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all doing well. =) I'm looking for some input and help on my forthcoming FOSS Gaming presentation at SCALE. With that goal in mind I am running a survey to gather the perceptions of the community on the status/opinion of FOSS gaming. Respondents will be entered to win a $50 Amazon gift certificate and select a Open Source gaming project of their choice to receive a $100 donation. Soooo.... If you are a gamer, I am looking for your feedback with a short 10 minute survey. It is my hope that the survey results help reflect and constructively improve the state of Open Source gaming. The survey is not commercial in nature and the information will NOT be used for any other purpose other than solidifying community perceptions. FOSS Gaming Survey - http://www.evolutionaryit.com/limesurvey/index.php?sid=72676〈=en NOTE: The insights of this survey will be detailed in my presentation on FOSS games at the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) as well as archived online. For further details see the SCALE website: http://scale7x.socallinuxexpo.org/ Thanks so much, -- Joseph Guarino Phone - 617 953 9514 (Cell) EvolutionaryIT :: Best Practice IT http://www.evolutionaryit.com

Feb. 4, 2009

Re: [Wlug] RH Enterprise 5.0 Question

by Chuck Anderson

On Wed, Feb 04, 2009 at 11:27:27AM -0500, McDonald, Melissa wrote: > I need to determine the hardware configuration of a RH 5.0 Linux server. > Is there a command that will probe the hardware configuration and send > the output to the screen? I hear "sysreport" is what RH support asks for when you open a ticket.

Feb. 4, 2009

System 76: computers with Ubuntu pre-installed

by Richard Klein

Cory Doctorow recently got a new laptop and he gave a brief review of it in his most recent podcast. When he switched from MacOS to Linux he decided it was no longer worth paying the premium for Apple hardware. I think he said he went to IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads after that, and he's comparing his new laptop to his previous Thinkpad. He said the new laptop was a bit heavier than the Thinkpad, and he had some minor issues with the keyboard layout, but it came with Intrepid Ibex installed, and he was impressed that everything just worked, including his T-Mobile (London) 3G cell modem. The laptop he got was a System 76 Darter, and he seemed pretty happy with it: http://www.system76.com/ I think this is the URL for that podcast episode: http://craphound.com/?p=2166 -- Rich

Feb. 4, 2009

Re: [Wlug] RH Enterprise 5.0 Question

by Mike Leo

RH also have a /etc/sysconfig/hwconf you can look at ________________________________ From: Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 11:41:51 AM Subject: Re: [Wlug] RH Enterprise 5.0 Question Melissa, Are you looking foe something specific or do you just want a hardware overview? Here's a couple commands: "lspci" - will display all the devices on the various pci buses. "lsusb" - displays the usb devices. /proc/cpuinfo will display lots of info about the cpus on the system. /proc/meminfo - memory info. If the system is using lvm you can use the pvscan / vgscan / lvscan to determine you physical / volume group / logical volume config. Is that what you're looking for? Thanks, Tim. On 2/4/09, McDonald, Melissa <mmcdonald(a)centralfcu.com> wrote: > Greetings, > > I need to determine the hardware configuration of a RH 5.0 Linux server. > Is there a command that will probe the hardware configuration and send > the output to the screen? > > > > Thanks in advance. > > > > Melissa McDonald > > 508.841.0549 (Office) > > 774.275.4449 (Mobile) > > > > -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com I am weary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers". _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Feb. 4, 2009

Re: [Wlug] RH Enterprise 5.0 Question

by Tim Keller

Melissa, Are you looking foe something specific or do you just want a hardware overview? Here's a couple commands: "lspci" - will display all the devices on the various pci buses. "lsusb" - displays the usb devices. /proc/cpuinfo will display lots of info about the cpus on the system. /proc/meminfo - memory info. If the system is using lvm you can use the pvscan / vgscan / lvscan to determine you physical / volume group / logical volume config. Is that what you're looking for? Thanks, Tim. On 2/4/09, McDonald, Melissa <mmcdonald(a)centralfcu.com> wrote: > Greetings, > > I need to determine the hardware configuration of a RH 5.0 Linux server. > Is there a command that will probe the hardware configuration and send > the output to the screen? > > > > Thanks in advance. > > > > Melissa McDonald > > 508.841.0549 (Office) > > 774.275.4449 (Mobile) > > > > -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com I am weary of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Feb. 4, 2009

Re: [Wlug] RH Enterprise 5.0 Question

by Brian J. Conway

On Wed, 4 Feb 2009, McDonald, Melissa wrote: > > Greetings, > > I need to determine the hardware configuration of a RH 5.0 Linux server. Is > there a command that will probe the hardware configuration and send the > output to the screen? lspci (-vvv) is a good place to start for devices. 'dmidecode' will also give you a lot of BIOS/CPU/memory/chipset information. There's probably a few tools out there that combine them in a nicely formatted way. Brian J. Conway

Feb. 4, 2009

RH Enterprise 5.0 Question

by McDonald, Melissa

Greetings, I need to determine the hardware configuration of a RH 5.0 Linux server. Is there a command that will probe the hardware configuration and send the output to the screen? Thanks in advance. Melissa McDonald 508.841.0549 (Office) 774.275.4449 (Mobile)

Feb. 4, 2009

successful upgrade to openoffice.org 3.0 ; ubiquity of .docx; reaching college students with linux

by Andrew Perry

Hi Everyone, (1) Thanks a million for all of the help, especially the link to the fantastic tutorial, posted by James Gray, I think. I am in the process of installing hardy updates, and it appears that openoffice.org 3.0 is part of what's being installed, so it looks like everything is working perfectly. (2) To Greg: yes, I could ask students to submit all of their assignments in .doc or .rtf format (or even open office format), but they most wouldn't listen. Many can't figure out how to save to any format but .docx. It's a perpetual hassle to nag them. Besides that, I get many files from colleagues, professors at my college and other colleges and universities, as well as the Mass. Dept. of Education, and increasingly, most are in Office 2007 formats. It's hard to convert the whole world to linux. (3) Here is a new issue for everyone who is interested in commenting. I am a mathematician but besides math ,I also teach a computer literacy course each semester. You would all be proud: I do my best every semester to convert students to the linux religion, or at least to make them aware of linux and the evils of Microsoft. However, for every student who finds my linux modules interesting (about 2 hours of a 45-hour course on average), there are a dozen who get annoyed and find the material boring and irrelevant. Once I brought in a PC running compiz and they found that mildly intriguing. They absolutely hate the movie "revolution os". If I pass out ubuntu cds, I doubt they get used. Can anyone suggest teaching resources (videos, for example) that would be likely to make an impact for non-technically minded college students ? Thanks, Andrew -Dr. Andrew B. Perry Dept. of Mathematics, Springfield College Schoo Hall Room 123 263 Alden St., Springfield MA 01109 Work Phone (413)748-3193

Feb. 1, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Wlug Digest, Vol 63, Issue 16

by Karl Lind

As OpenOffice 3.0 is a DIFERENT branch from 2.4, the quickest way is to download and install 3.0. It is made to run in parallel and to allow you the chance to migrate anything that the install may have forgotten.All the data that is in your home directory will still be there and during the install you will have the option to use your old settings. Karl Lind On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 12:00 PM, <wlug-request(a)mail.wlug.org> wrote: > Send Wlug mailing list submissions to > wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wlug-request(a)mail.wlug.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wlug-owner(a)mail.wlug.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Wlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: problem upgrading openoffice.org to version 3.0 > (Gregory Avedissian) > 2. Re: problem upgrading openoffice.org to version 3.0 (James Gray) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:18:17 -0500 > From: Gregory Avedissian <avedis.g(a)verizon.net> > Subject: Re: [Wlug] problem upgrading openoffice.org to version 3.0 > To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Message-ID: <4981AC99.20403(a)verizon.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > > > Andrew Perry wrote: > > > [THE PROBLEM:] > > > > Unfortunately, I am at my wit's end to upgrade OpenOffice from 2.4.1 to > version 3 - which I need to open .docx and .xlsx files that my students at > Springfield College constantly send me. > > If these are class assignments that they're giving you, can't you specify > which file formats they use? > > Greg > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:22:16 -0500 > From: James Gray <jamespgray(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Wlug] problem upgrading openoffice.org to version 3.0 > To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Message-ID: > <1a6cab400901290722j306e156fp9033dc53e717fe22(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > There has been talk about getting ppa's signed, but you'll still need > to trust the signer. But that is always a problem with Free Software, > or anything else for that matter. > > On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 3:31 AM, randy cole <randyokc(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Andy, > > > > I am reluctant to add unofficial repositories, not wanting to "pollute" > my > > "pure" installation. > > > > More important question, how do you decide what repositories to trust? I > > thought I read something about launchpad apps being unsigned too... > > > > So, I downloaded the official package. (source tarball? I think?) No > > integration, grr! Worse, when I bring up my resume the indent & > pagination > > was off. That was a dealbreaker, so oo 2.4 for now on Linux. And I > don't > > see much difference. > > > > Randy > > randyokc at gmail dot com > > > > Andy Stewart wrote: > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > James Gray wrote: > > > > > > This should do the trick for Open Office 3 in 8.04 (code named Hardy > Haron): > > > > deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ppa/ubuntu hardy main > > > > Do you know how to add this repository in synaptic? Otherwise you can > > look here: > > > > > http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-To-Install-OpenOffice-org-3-0-in-Ubuntu-… > > > > *HOWEVER* in this example the deb line is for a different release then > > what you have so you need to use the line I provided above instead. > > > > Good luck and let us know how it goes, > > > > ~James > > > > > > HI Andrew, > > > > I'm not sure if it was clear, but the line that James suggested in his > > response needs to be added to the /etc/apt/sources.list file, if I'm not > > mistaken. You are telling the Ubuntu packaging system (apt) where to > > find the OpenOffice software package. There's probably a way to add > > this repository via the GUI as well. > > > > After you edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file, you need to update your > > package lists, and then if all works correctly, you should be able to > > install Open Office 3.mumble. > > > > Let us know how it goes, and then we'll know which blanks to fill in to > > help you further. Good luck! > > > > Later, > > > > Andy > > > > > > - -- > > Andy Stewart, Founder > > Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org) > > Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393) > > Amateur Radio: KB1OIQ > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > > Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) > > Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org > > > > iD8DBQFJf+94Hl0iXDssISsRAo9pAJ93oZbVjnrPTZXi2OUEzsR4VNxU8gCfaOC/ > > 4e1anUU1SiSPT/TFgFk6gns= > > =KnSY > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > End of Wlug Digest, Vol 63, Issue 16 > ************************************ >

Jan. 29, 2009