[Infopoint] Manchester InfoPoint

[John]

I turned up late to the Manchester Bowlers computer fair on Saturday.
Plenty of empty stalls. Even more than my last visit a month ago. They even sell fridges now.

Wandering around I could not see anything Linux related.

On the off chance I asked one of the NCM organisers if they had a spare table and was given one instantly in the second hall. I was expecting a No answer and hoping to arrange a date in the future.

As I was not prepared, I only had Knoppix and Ubuntu CDs. I had actually turned up to try and get a graphics card and ask for help on an MS problem.
In the last ninety minutes of the show while most stalls were packing up, I managed to hand out all fifty CDs and talk myself hoarse showing off KDE and Gnome. Many had tried in the past and were happy for the latest Knoppix.

One, Steve, even stayed to help and promised to attend the next ManLUG meeting.

Obviously it would have been better with a little preparation/ posters/ others/ CD burner etc., but considering it was a spur of the moment thing it went OK.

Problems encountered :-

Power. I had to buy an extension cable as the socket on the next stall was not close enough for my laptop.

I had no games installed and lots asked about games.

Everyone seemed convinced that they saw Linux as a means of utilising old hardware. This I thought was a bad idea, as if this is all you are trying Linux on, your new shiny XP box will obviously seem better.

No web access and I do not know how to arrange at a show.

Only one screaming lunatic. Shouted at me for giving Knoppix away for free after he had paid a fiver for an older copy off a trader. This was all a conspiracy against him and he was a Linux expert with twenty years experience of programming for Linux Limited. Why was I not selling it and why did I not have a Pingu logo to show I was from the official Linux company !!!

I suppose everyone on an Infopoint gets one of these, but why are they always
a) So loud
b) Obviously mad
c) Always have that gleam in their eyes that says they have sharp kitchen implements in their pockets and are stupid enough to use them if you so much as laugh in public at them.

I have to be honest, I smiled weakly at him and was not really willing to argue. Next time I need some leaflets giving some information.

John

Off Topic aside.
I bought the graphics card for £25 (ATi Radeon 9250) what is good hardware to buy at the moment?
I found no way to get help on an MS issue. Linux has a helpful community. Does MS have anything similar?
The problem was a virus and Spyware checked machine randomly deletes data from an Excel spreadsheet. Worksheet remains, just full of empty space.