- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Stephen C. Daukas

Not to trigger a full blown debate... It doesn't matter what point *we* are at, it matters what point anyone who decides to show up is at. It also doesn't matter what can fit on a flash drive... You have to ask yourself who the intended audience is. If it is techies who already know what a home directory is and might end up playing with Linux without WLUG's help, then it doesn't matter what you show, or if you demo more than one thing. If, however, you are trying to interest newbies who might decide to stay with what they already have if the alternative is perceived as a lot of work, then I would advise skipping the discussion about how cool the technology is and focus on why a standard Linux distro is useful. As I keep reminding my students - the technology is meaningless, the important questions to ask is "what can you do with it". If you really want to excite a lot of students, show them how they can save money and, more importantly time, and still turn their assignments in on time in a format acceptable to their professors! The reason for my initial comment in this thread was simple: In my experience at WPI, a non-trivial minority of students do not have a tremendous amount of experience with computers - even the self professed "programmers." Students new to WPI are already overwhelmed with some 30-40 hours a week of school work outside of class time. If they are "into computers" then they are already interested enough to invest their time based on the "technology is cool" camp. If, however, they are interested in technology as a tool, they will look at the demo, size up how much effort is involved (and that includes how readily available the necessary information is and how easy that info is to use), decide how helpful the venue is to trying Linux, assess if Linux/WLUG/whatever is worth it to them, and make a decision. If, as you say, the commercial distributions are no more difficult to install than windows, then that is what we should be showing, as well as OpenOffice, Mozilla, and so forth. Steve Matt Higgins wrote: >My 2 cents or less if you will. > >I think Knoppix is the way to go! The point is to showoff Linux-wares not to >teach about a particular distributions configuration mechanism or file system >layout. Knoppix is clean and impressive in many ways and does a great job at >showing off what Linux can do. Furthermore we are to the point were a Linux >install is no more difficult then a Windows install, particularly the commercial >distributions; Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Yellow Dog, etc... > >So thats my 2 cents or less, long live Slackware! > >Matt > >Quoting Steve Freitag <Steve.Freitag(a)alum.wpi.edu>: > > > >>I've recently spent a small amount of time playing around with both the SuSe >>8.2 Live Eval, and Knoppix 7-26-03, so I thought I'd pass along my >>observation >> >> >> >>Both default you into KDE and have a similar selection of apps (Like >>OpenOffice, Mozilla, the GIMP etc). Knoppix happens to be based of Debian. >> >> >> >>There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first is that you >>don't have to go through all the YaST screens when you boot, Knoppix just >>boots right up to KDE and logs you on as user knoppix. The other neat thing >>about Knoppix is that you can save your configuration and home directory of >>the size you specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save >>your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your hard drive (and >>another 100MB for swap if you want). With Knoppix you can carry a cheap >>($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and >>boot a PC into your personal environment without touching the hard disk. >> >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: wlug-admin(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf >>Of Stephen C. Daukas >>Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 4:23 PM >>To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting? >> >> >> >>Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what you >>are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to my mind >>was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux distro"? >>(The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it be confusing to >>the people looking at is verusus what they see when they look at SuSe, Red >>Hat, etc.? >> >>Andy Stewart wrote: >> >> >> >>On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: >> >> >>Andy, >> >>I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track >>to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your >>favorite tools and utilities. >> >>Al Butler >> >> >> >>HI Al, >> >>My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, >>WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who >>want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard >>drives to Linux. >> >>One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and >>GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I >>go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for >>people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. >> >>How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! >>:-) >> >>Later, >> >>Andy >> >> >> >> >>__________________________________________________________________ >>McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. >>Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial >>today! >>http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 >> >>Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! >>http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Wlug mailing list >>Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>-- >>Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/ >> >> >> >> > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Wlug mailing list >Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > -- Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/

Sept. 3, 2003

RE: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Karl Hiramoto

USB flash drives now are in sizes from 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB AND 2GB. They sell them online and as places like BestBuy, circit city, and most places with electroinics. They are replacing floppies for removable storage. Whith all this talk about Knoppix i'm downloading the ISO now :) On Wed, 3 Sep 2003, John Stoffel wrote: > > Steve> There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first > Steve> is that you don't have to go through all the YaST screens when > Steve> you boot, Knoppix just boots right up to KDE and logs you on as > Steve> user knoppix. The other neat thing about Knoppix is that you > Steve> can save your configuration and home directory of the size you > Steve> specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save > Steve> your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your > Steve> hard drive (and another 100MB for swap if you want). With > Steve> Knoppix you can carry a cheap ($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash > Steve> drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and boot a PC into your > Steve> personal environment without touching the hard disk. > > So where did you find this flash drive? It sounds like a great way to > have Linux available when you don't want to screw with someones > computer! And what sizes do they have supported? > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø Karl Hiramoto <karl(a)hiramoto.org> Work: 978-425-2090 ext 25 Cell: 508-517-4819 http://karl.hiramoto.org/ AOL IM ID = KarlH420 Yahoo_IM = karl_hiramoto ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø "There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum." --Arthur C. Clarke

Sept. 3, 2003

RE: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by John Stoffel

Steve> There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first Steve> is that you don't have to go through all the YaST screens when Steve> you boot, Knoppix just boots right up to KDE and logs you on as Steve> user knoppix. The other neat thing about Knoppix is that you Steve> can save your configuration and home directory of the size you Steve> specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save Steve> your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your Steve> hard drive (and another 100MB for swap if you want). With Steve> Knoppix you can carry a cheap ($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash Steve> drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and boot a PC into your Steve> personal environment without touching the hard disk. So where did you find this flash drive? It sounds like a great way to have Linux available when you don't want to screw with someones computer! And what sizes do they have supported?

Sept. 3, 2003

RE: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Matt Higgins

My 2 cents or less if you will. I think Knoppix is the way to go! The point is to showoff Linux-wares not to teach about a particular distributions configuration mechanism or file system layout. Knoppix is clean and impressive in many ways and does a great job at showing off what Linux can do. Furthermore we are to the point were a Linux install is no more difficult then a Windows install, particularly the commercial distributions; Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Yellow Dog, etc... So thats my 2 cents or less, long live Slackware! Matt Quoting Steve Freitag <Steve.Freitag(a)alum.wpi.edu>: > I've recently spent a small amount of time playing around with both the SuSe > 8.2 Live Eval, and Knoppix 7-26-03, so I thought I'd pass along my > observations. > > > > Both default you into KDE and have a similar selection of apps (Like > OpenOffice, Mozilla, the GIMP etc). Knoppix happens to be based of Debian. > > > > There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first is that you > don't have to go through all the YaST screens when you boot, Knoppix just > boots right up to KDE and logs you on as user knoppix. The other neat thing > about Knoppix is that you can save your configuration and home directory of > the size you specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save > your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your hard drive (and > another 100MB for swap if you want). With Knoppix you can carry a cheap > ($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and > boot a PC into your personal environment without touching the hard disk. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: wlug-admin(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf > Of Stephen C. Daukas > Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 4:23 PM > To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting? > > > > Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what you > are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to my mind > was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux distro"? > (The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it be confusing to > the people looking at is verusus what they see when they look at SuSe, Red > Hat, etc.? > > Andy Stewart wrote: > > > > On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: > > > Andy, > > I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track > to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your > favorite tools and utilities. > > Al Butler > > > > HI Al, > > My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, > WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who > want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard > drives to Linux. > > One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and > GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I > go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for > people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. > > How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! > :-) > > Later, > > Andy > > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. > Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial > today! > http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 > > Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! > http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > > > > > > -- > Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/ > >

Sept. 3, 2003

RE: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Steve Freitag

I've recently spent a small amount of time playing around with both the SuSe 8.2 Live Eval, and Knoppix 7-26-03, so I thought I'd pass along my observations. Both default you into KDE and have a similar selection of apps (Like OpenOffice, Mozilla, the GIMP etc). Knoppix happens to be based of Debian. There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first is that you don't have to go through all the YaST screens when you boot, Knoppix just boots right up to KDE and logs you on as user knoppix. The other neat thing about Knoppix is that you can save your configuration and home directory of the size you specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your hard drive (and another 100MB for swap if you want). With Knoppix you can carry a cheap ($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and boot a PC into your personal environment without touching the hard disk. -----Original Message----- From: wlug-admin(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf Of Stephen C. Daukas Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 4:23 PM To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting? Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what you are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to my mind was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux distro"? (The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it be confusing to the people looking at is verusus what they see when they look at SuSe, Red Hat, etc.? Andy Stewart wrote: On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: Andy, I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your favorite tools and utilities. Al Butler HI Al, My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard drives to Linux. One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! :-) Later, Andy __________________________________________________________________ McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial today! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/

Sept. 3, 2003

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Stephen C. Daukas

Hi Andy! Sounds good to me! I think that would be a better transition for anyone who ends up installing the real thing (so to speak). Steve Andy Stewart wrote: >On Tuesday 02 September 2003 4:22 pm, Stephen C. Daukas wrote: > > >>Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what >>you are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to >>my mind was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux >>distro"? (The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it >>be confusing to the people looking at is verusus what they see when they >>look at SuSe, Red Hat, etc.? >> >> > >Hi Steve, > >OK, point taken. What if I were to demo the SuSE Live Eval CD instead? It is >actually quite close to a fully installed SuSE distribution. > >Andy > > > -- Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/

Sept. 3, 2003

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Andy Stewart

On Tuesday 02 September 2003 4:22 pm, Stephen C. Daukas wrote: > Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what > you are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to > my mind was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux > distro"? (The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it > be confusing to the people looking at is verusus what they see when they > look at SuSe, Red Hat, etc.? Hi Steve, OK, point taken. What if I were to demo the SuSE Live Eval CD instead? It is actually quite close to a fully installed SuSE distribution. Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

Sept. 2, 2003

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Stephen C. Daukas

Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what you are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to my mind was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux distro"? (The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it be confusing to the people looking at is verusus what they see when they look at SuSe, Red Hat, etc.? Andy Stewart wrote: >On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: > > >>Andy, >> >>I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track >>to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your >>favorite tools and utilities. >> >>Al Butler >> >> > >HI Al, > >My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, >WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who >want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard >drives to Linux. > >One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and >GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I >go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for >people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. > >How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! :-) > >Later, > >Andy > > > > >>__________________________________________________________________ >>McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. >>Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial >>today! >>http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 >> >>Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! >>http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Wlug mailing list >>Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> >> > > > -- Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/

Sept. 2, 2003

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Andy Stewart

On Wednesday 05 January 2000 11:09 pm, donald vitkus wrote: > > i agree since i get lost with linux > > HI Don, When you say that you get lost with Linux, to what precisely do you refer? I suspect you may be referring to the command line interface vs. the graphical interfaces like KDE and GNOME which bear many similarities to Windows. Later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

Sept. 2, 2003

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by Andy Stewart

On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: > Andy, > > I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track > to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your > favorite tools and utilities. > > Al Butler HI Al, My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard drives to Linux. One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! :-) Later, Andy > > __________________________________________________________________ > McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. > Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial > today! > http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 > > Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! > http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

Sept. 2, 2003