[Klug-general] Faversham Linux Users Group - workshops

[james morris]

On 17/2/2010, "Karl Buckland" <karl at digital-end.com> wrote:

>Frankly, even if the charge was higher and some profit was being made,
>I still fail to see the problem. People have to make a living and open
>source should still support that; You can get it for free if you want
>to invest the time, or you can pay a premium and get some help.

I did not comment, but I did not get a good impression after reading it
was £20 to attend and then viewing the website which seemed closed off
(but I guess this as unfinished). Now things have been made clearer, I
don't really have a problem with it.

>In my opinion, the attitude Jake has received with regards to this
>topic actually supports the need for these kinds of workshops. A lot
>of experienced Linux users are particularly unfriendly when it comes
>to doing things in a simple, beginner-friendly way.

Maybe it's because the experienced users have been through the pain of
learning the basics of Linux, and then the pain (and joy!) of learning
the more powerful stuff, and forgotten what it's like. I get very
impatient with my parents, repeatedly telling them how to copy and paste
and inevitably hearing "i don't want to do any wallpapering!"

>Jake, I may be able to come along to one of the sessions and lend a
>hand. It'll be interesting to see how you do things and if I can give
>anyone some guidance when they're starting out then that would be
>great. Obviously if you can keep us updated with how many people you
>have attending (beginners, that is) that would be great.

I could possibly attend a meeting too. Though, I have to admit, that
while I can do things like write programs for Linux and configure the
Linux Kernel, and have a reasonable knowledge of the / file system,
getting sysinfo from /proc and /sys /etc /etc, I don't have any idea
how to configure email :blush: !

james


>Karl
>
>On 17 February 2010 15:21, Dan Attwood <danattwood at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> By charging them for support? Why not just organise a car pool to the
>>> usual meets?
>>>
>> You're missing the point
>> What Jake is working on is a short introduction course to linux. Regular
>> sessions to cover the basic needs of a user either switch from windows to
>> linux or with very little computer experience to begin with. These are not
>> aimed at uber geeks or power users of either linux or windows. Think ECDL
>> but with a Linux slant.
>> The usual klug meets probably aren't the right place for this. Talks on xen,
>> hackable laptops and ebook formats are way over the head of users who just
>> what to check their email and play a movie.  IMHO mailing lists and IRC are
>> also pretty useless for this kind of user (I think their are several lurkers
>> on this list who will agree with me). It's a different target audience and
>> one that is growing thanks to the exposure of distros like ubuntu and mint,
>> and due to the popularity of netbooks.
>> If further down the line klug gets some more members as a result of this
>> then even better and certainly klug will try to support and help out were
>> possible.
>> Jake is charging to cover the room hire as finding suitable free places to
>> meet is incredibly hard. Anyone who has actually tried to find a room for
>> klug will agree with this.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Kent mailing list
>> Kent at mailman.lug.org.uk
>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/kent
>>
>
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