[dundee] Installing a Free WIFI Hotspot at the DCA
Rick Moynihan
rick.moynihan at gmail.com
Fri May 2 13:26:26 BST 2008
2008/5/2 R J Ladyman <it at file-away.co.uk>:
> I was not really emphasising the money, just the expectations of the user
> <scratches previous bite-marks and old scars>. If it stops working, who do
> they call, that sort of thing.
>
> RJL
Absolutely! The conundrum is that the more you involve money, the
greater the users expectations! Hence why I feel it might be better
to de-emphasise that aspect.
This said I suspect that ZoneCD and the members of the LUG could do a
reasonable job here, which fingers crossed wouldn't require too much
support. But what happens when the router dies, or their broadband
connection is down? The expertise to diagnose these things might not
exist within the DCA.
There's a lot to consider.
R.
> On Friday 02 May 2008 12:43:16 Rick Moynihan wrote:
> > 2008/5/2 R J Ladyman <it at file-away.co.uk>:
> > > I would make a suggestion here - if you are going to contract to look
> after
> > > it, an annual fee paid to the LUG (or the charity, or whatever) is a
> better
> > > idea: you might find that the system requires maintenance in future, and
> that
> > > the original installers have perhaps moved on. If the 'contract' is with
> the
> > > LUG then there is continuation for the customer: plus, new members get to
> be
> > > trained on an existing system. You might also want to state what the LUG
> is
> > > and is not prepared or capable of doing.
> > >
> > >
> > > RJL
> >
> > Agreed. I don't know anything about how the LUG/DCA are setup to
> > handle such things though. After my brief discussions with Clive it
> > seemed that he was primarily just concerned with setting the thing up,
> > we never spoke about support.
> >
> > I have a feeling that a recurring contract may be more than the DCA
> > are willing to commit to; particularly with an adhoc organisation like
> > the LUG. If they had the budget and were willing to contract for such
> > things, wouldn't they just seek a commercial organisation to do this,
> > rather than look at free alternatives?
> >
> > Anyway, as far as I'm concerned the main point isn't the money. The
> > point is to build a mutually-beneficial relationship between the LUG
> > and the DCA. The DCA could conceivably do a lot for the LUG,
> > providing more exposure, etc... By helping them use free software we
> > further the agendas of both the LUG and the DCA.
> >
> > So it might be easier to enter into an informal agreement, where
> > perhaps the DCA negotiate a small donation each time their is a need
> > for another body of work.
> >
> > Anyway, this is all just speculation. If we can discuss each of these
> > possibilities openly here, then I can refer Clive to the thread and
> > see what sort of arrangement (if any) he thinks would best suit them.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > On Friday 02 May 2008 11:45:08 Rick Moynihan wrote:
> > > > Hi, everyone
> > > >
> > > > After Magnus and Arron's presentations at the DCA Upgrade event on
> > > > Wednesday; I spoke briefly to Clive Gillman (Director of the DCA).
> > > >
> > > > It seems that Clive wishes to provide free wireless internet access at
> > > > the DCA as part of their role within the community.
> > > >
> > > > Being an institution in a public space however their is a requirement
> > > > that they ensure (or at the very least strongly encourage) responsible
> > > > usage by their customers.
> > > >
> > > > Hence they want to:
> > > >
> > > > 1) Ensure connecting clients are first directed to a DCA splash page,
> > > > informing them of events at the DCA etc...
> > > > 2) Provide a level of content filtering
> > > > 3) Ensure fair use of a limited resource (by time/download limits)
> > > >
> > > > The main concern here though is to provide open access.
> > > >
> > > > Clive had mentioned taking a look at ZoneCD ( http://www.publicip.net/
> > > > ) which is a Linux LiveCD for doing precisely this. I'd agree with
> > > > his assessment that it looks like a near ideal solution for this
> > > > problem, being both low cost and easy to deploy.
> > > >
> > > > Clive's a busy guy however and doesn't have time to set this up
> > > > himself, though he has already provisioned the hardware. Having
> > > > spoken to Clive over the years, he asked me whether I would be willing
> > > > to do this for him. Though it looks like an easy job and their may be
> > > > a small pot of money involved, I'm conscious that my free time is
> > > > limited and that I'd rather not personally be responsible for
> > > > maintaining and supporting this system.
> > > >
> > > > So it occurred to me, maybe a better solution for the DCA would be to
> > > > have the LUG itself maintain and support this. That way the DCA get
> > > > some notion of ongoing support and assistance and perhaps some of the
> > > > younger members of the LUG get some valuable (CV worthy) experience.
> > > > Plus I think it's good for the LUG to engage with such things.
> > > >
> > > > I'm thinking maybe a few LUG members could set this up & perhaps
> > > > document it on the website.
> > > >
> > > > I'm not sure how much money Clive had in mind, but after some thought
> > > > it seems there are 2 options:
> > > >
> > > > 1) Pay the individual(s) who do the work
> > > > 2) Donate the money to the LUG or another good cause.
> > > >
> > > > I personally have a preference for (2) but I'd be happy to see what
> > > > other people think of this. I don't know yet what the implications
> > > > are for the DCA or the LUG, but it seems like it's a discussion worth
> > > > having.
> > > >
> > > > Interested in your thoughts,
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Rick Moynihan
> > > > rick.moynihan at gmail.com
> > > > http://sourcesmouth.co.uk/blog/
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > Robert Ladyman
> > > File-Away Limited, 32 Church Street,Newtyle
> > > Perthshire, PH12 8TZ SCOTLAND
> > > Registered in Scotland, Company Number: SC222086
> > > Tel: +44 (0) 1828 898 158
> > > Mobile: +44 (0) 7732 771 649
> > > VOIP: 7714336 at sipgate.co.uk
> > >
> > > http://www.file-away.co.uk
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Rick Moynihan
> > rick.moynihan at gmail.com
> > http://sourcesmouth.co.uk/blog/
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > dundee GNU/Linux Users Group mailing list
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> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/dundee
> > Chat on IRC, #tlug on dundee.lug.org.uk
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> Robert Ladyman
> File-Away Limited, 32 Church Street,Newtyle
> Perthshire, PH12 8TZ SCOTLAND
> Registered in Scotland, Company Number: SC222086
> Tel: +44 (0) 1828 898 158
> Mobile: +44 (0) 7732 771 649
> VOIP: 7714336 at sipgate.co.uk
>
> http://www.file-away.co.uk
>
>
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