[HLUG] Something to think about over Christmas

[Noel McG.]

Hello,

> > So the question is; in what way could the skills we have in the LUG be
> > made to benefit the wider community? Would we be able to bring
> > positive benefit to Charities, or Local Government, or Schools? Where
> > are the people that need us, and how can we help them?

Now what you seem to be thinking about is very laudible, however the
question of ouside funds brings things to mind.

To obtain funds you normally have to 'match fund' that is you need to show
that you have say £100 for each £100 that you are asking for.
You also need either a running project or a business plan to show that you
are serious.In due course you will be expected to account for how the monies
have been spent.

If HLUG itself were to get involved in this we should need a Committee,
Treasurer, Secretary et al.just to keep things straight.  You may remember
that we had a meeting earlier in the year where this came up and the members
decided that they did not wish for that sort of formal setup.

There is also the matter of the HCT who kindly let us use their facilities
free at present.   Should we become fund supported, for whatever reason, we
might well find ourselves without a home.

The alternative seems to be for those that are interested to set up a
Charitable LUG to run separately and take on board the points mentioned
above.

Julian clearly shows below, that there is already a charity doing this and
they no doubt would be only too happy for further help as necessary.

As you say 'thoughts for the New Year.'

Regards,

Noel.



>
> Hi Dave
>
> Well the good news is that the LUG has already helped Community First, a
> Herefordshire based charity to help get the most out of IT for voluntary
> and charitable groups. Sian Basker, (a member of HLUG), last year asked
> me if the LUG could help with a project she started where 6 low spec
> 'redundant' PC's, could be re-invigorated with Linux then either sold
> very cheaply, or freely to charities or organisations around the county.

> The PC's were fairly low spec, 350 PII, and only 64MB RAM, but after a
> while, myself and Matt RR got them set up with Vector Linux, a distro
> especially for low spec PC's.
>
> Altogether, the PC's went quite well, with full web and email access,
> graphics and word processing capabilities for no cost. The setup was the
> most difficult and time consuming part. One went to a community group in
> Hinton and another to a playgroup, not sure what happened to the others .
>
> So, all in all a successful project.
>
> Sian is _very keen_ on promoting OSS, and this featured in her ICT
> Conference that I attended on behalf of the LUG a few weeks back. She is
> hoping to get more funding to allow another stab at the Linux PC's
> project with better spec PC's - RAM was the biggest issue.
>
> The feedback on the 'Introduction to Open Source' was especially
> positive at the Conference, and there is another event solely about Open
> Source in Hereford on January 26th, check out www.most.org.uk/events for
> details. M.O.S.T. - Midland Open Source Technology - a not for profit
> organisation set up to encourage the use of Open Source throughout the
> Midlands. A bit like Open Advantage, but for the Voluntary and
> Charitable sector. Hopefully, a few HLUG members can go along - should
> be interesting.
>
> Hopefully, Sian, ( a very busy lady ;-) ) will have time to add any
> comments to this thread, as i know she still reads many of the postings
> to the list.
>
> In my opinion, you must strike at the easiest targets first. Many of the
> Schools sadly have Microsoft  as absolute bed fellows, and there is only
> limited interest in OSS here it seems, at present.
>
> Charities may be the best target, led by groups like Community First and
> Herefordshire in Touch (HIT), with local 'grass roots' groups like ours
> to help support where we can. Charities usually have low IT spend, and
> need to get high value for money. With MOST now around, the excuse
> 'there is no local Linux Support avaialble' isnt so true.
>
> OpenOffice is the easiest way to demonstrate why you really don't need
> to shell out your hard earned cash, and yes; 'Free Software' doesn't
> necessarily mean 'crap software'.
>
> But there is generally so much resentment of Microsoft these days by the
> public, that Linux *is* getting a small foothold. I was talking to a
> mechanic at Ace Motors in Hereford, who mentioned that he had tried a
> Live Linux CD and was really impressed, and didn't have too many good
> things to say about Micro$oft. Again, please, if you're in this
> situation, mention about the LUG, and the growing community we have in
> the County; it helps make newcomers feel that Linux usage isn't so
> nerdy, unusual, or isolated as they might think.
>
> Another tried and tested route into making Linux more widely known, is
> through the use of a 'Linux Install Day'. The Shropshire LUG have done
> this, and if its well organised, can be useful. Something we could think
> about .... ??
>
> Julian
>
> >
> > Peter also mentioned that European funding is available if a case can
> > be made. We normally don't think about money much, because our
> > software comes at no cost. But how would we use funding if we had it?
> >
> > If over the festive season you get bored with Carol Vorderman's DVD
> > Cluedo and you need to escape the family members you've been avoiding
> > all year, come and post on this thread about how we can use all this
> > energy.
> >
> > Right, I'm off to grab the sherry bottle. Have fun!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Dave.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Herefordshire mailing list
> > Herefordshire at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herefordshire
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Herefordshire mailing list
> Herefordshire at mailman.lug.org.uk
> http://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herefordshire
>