[Glastonbury] Just a little idea

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

On Sat, Nov 06, 2004 at 01:09:52PM +0000, tim hall wrote:
> 
> Great, the more the merrier, I say!
> 
<big snip>
Always on the end of an email/phone. If you're going to install, I might 
suggest "pure" Sarge. If it takes you a while Debian might even have
released it as stable :)
> 
> Once I get my CD burning sorted, I'll put the OpenCD on the Windows machine, 
> just to get them used to the software. They've been using Mac OSX for the 
> last two years, so it may not be so hard to get them used to GNU/Linux. 
> They're already learning to hate Windows XP ;D
> 
Should be OK. OpenCD is not _absolutely_ up to date so you may still
want to go and grab the latest Firefox, for example, and the latest
OO.org.
> The first stage is to network up the building. I'll get back in touch with 
> everyone when I've got enough network cable to play with.
> 
You can never have enough flexibility or enough cable: if you're wiring
up and terminating your own cable try and get some crimping practice and
build up your wrist strength :)
> Next, I want to set up an intranet server for day-to-day business - basically 
> so I can write a Python-driven Bookings system - and a couple of client 
> machines for the Cafe and Office. This can all be done piecemeal according to 
> the availability of hardware. I can do all this myself, I'm intending to use 
> the AGNULA/DeMuDi installer for a base system - this will give all the 
> machines multimedia kernels, which could come in handy later on - and then 
> install relevant extra bits from Debian Sarge. If I'm maintaining it, I need 
> to use a system I know.
> 
When you've done that one, get Steve to move the school from Mandrake :)
> 
> Long term, I'm looking at being able to webcast gigs and conferences and 
> record events using entirely Free Multimedia software, if I have my way. I 
> have a vision of the Assembly Rooms becoming a multimedia playground, which 
> could be achieved very cheaply (i.e. on the budget that we actually have), 
> built up gradually and has the potential to be a rather fun way of showcasing 
> GNU/Linux for the Glastonbury High Street public.
> 
> I also wish to present an alternative to the culture of software piracy and 
> offer some free creative tools and basic training to people looking for 
> something positive to do, show how computers can help people with 
> 'disabilities' - we've had great success with some of our dyslexic staff 
> already learning to use Photoshop, so perhaps I should introduce GIMP and 
> blender. 
> 
Late model KDE and Gnome both have significant disability mods: screen
magnifiers, audio output and so on. Links/lynx are useful text mode
browsers which can be made to work with text/speech ... and so on :)
> The more GNU/Linux savvy people the staff of the Assembly Rooms get to meet, 
> the more confident they will be. I do think that once they've started using 
> it for email & browsing, they're unlikely to look back ;)
> 
> Thankyou for your support! The fact that I've been able to go back to the 
> Assembly Rooms with such an enthusiastic response from  the group has moved 
> this on from being just 'my' little idea.
>
Spike Milligan - "Thank you for your support - I shall wear it always :)

All the best,

Andy