[sclug] Helping others into FOSS/Linux

[Dr Adam J Trickett]

Hi HANTS and SC LUGs,

Apologies for the cross post, but this email applies to both.

Like may Linux/Free & Open Source Software evangelists I do my bit to
encourage Linux/FOSS at work, amongst friends and so on. I'm not a
serious hacker, so my contribution has been as some Perl modules, and
some short articles targeted at "normal" people.

Recently my "Desktop Adapted for Dad" article generated a lot of
interesting feedback - I wish to thank everyone for their
contribution towards this. The up-shot of this, is that I've been asked
to write some more stuff, and a nice chap from Bracknell who works with
Help The Aged/Age Concern has asked for help and more information.

I suggested that he should join a LUG, and he already knows about both
SC & Hants LUGS, but doesn't want to meet in a pub. I was wondering if
it would be possible to organise a joint bring-a-box day on steroids.
Where we, as a community could perhaps hire a community centre type
room, and show a bunch of keen retired (or other normal non-hacker
people) Linux, help them with setup - many have donated hardware from
family/friends, and do a Q&A, where normal people ask us about
Linux/FOSS, and we ask them what would make it better for them.

I know this is a logistic nightmare, but there are a lot of people out
there running Windows and they are starting to worry, but they don't
know what to do.

As ever thanks in advance.

-- 
Adam Trickett
 http://iredale.dyndns.org/
  Overton, HANTS, UK

A people that values its privileges above
its principles soon loses both.
	-- Dwight D. Eisenhower