[Sussex] Open day outline

[Steve Dobson]

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Hi Gavin (and all interested in the Open Day idea.

I delayed posting so that it would give my brain time to think of as
many things as possible.

Reading the agenda I get the impression that you plan an event people
would be expected to attend for the whole day.  This I have to question.
 Why does the average person in the street want to give up a whole day
to this?  To most a computer is a tool and when it goes wrong you either
pay someone to fix it or you buy a new one.

I personally believe that this should be have a "dip in and out" type of
structure.  We should expect the "punters" to just drop in.  So my idea
into the melting pot would be to have a number of themed stalls where
people could just drop by.

I also think we need a door man or two to welcome the people, take their
entrance fee and hand them a Live CD.  A quick chat to find out their
computational skills level and to direct them to the appropriate stall.

Gavin Stevens wrote (and heavily edited by me):

> Seminar/Stall: Welcome & What is Linux
>     - explain to those who are new to computers that Linux can offer
>       them a low-cost & user-friendly passage into home computing.
>     - what is Linux & where does it come from? Simple overview of the
>       origins of the Linux kernel & the GNU OS - nothing too deep at
>       this stage. (A compare & contrast of Windows & Linux will
>       follow).
>     - Compare & contrast Windows & Linux. A "translator" between
>       Windows & Linux apps.(e.g: MS Office/OpenOffice.org; Image
>       editing etc.) Finish this section by contrasting the licences
>       for Windows & Linux. Informative but simple - doesn't need to
>       be an in depth analysis of the GNU GPL or MS licence agreement.
>     This first seminar sets the scene for subsequent seminars of the
>     day which will deal with comparing & contrasting Windows & Linux
>     apps for specific tasks.

For a stall I think this will need to be reworked, as a seminar it is fine.

> Seminar/Stall Office applications:
>     MS Office compared with OpenOffice.org for essential office tasks
>     (maybe also mention AbiWord & Gnumeric).

For these "common" areas I think it would be best to pick one
application that can runs multi platform to provide a migration path for
those that don't want to go the whole hog.

> Seminar/Stall Internet & E-mail applications:
>    Should be fairly easy to compare Firefox on Windows with Firefox
>    on Linux or Seamonkey with Seamonkey. Oh, did I forget Internet
>    Explorer? Also, Outlook Express/Windows Mail compared to a Linux
>    standalone like Claws Mail.

It would be really nice if could have internet access here, if not we
could set up a webserver with a few "dummy" sites.

> Seminar/Stall Image editing:
>    Could be quite a popular one this, as most people have at least a
>    semi-regular need, in this age of digital photography, to edit &
>    print images. Compare a couple of Windows image editors with
>    the GIMP &/or Inkscape.

This is the stall/seminar I'm most interested in running.  I would
target this more at photo handling and manipulation.  Digital
photography has taken the photo world by storm (Jessips no longer sell
wet film cameras, at least not here in Eastbourne).  The big photo
handler and editor on Linux is Photoshop.  Adobe have now paid the WINE
people to support Photoshop so maybe we can show Photoshop running on Linux.

I also think applications like F-Spot for handling the photos should be
demonstrated.

> Seminar/Stall Music listening & recording

I guess this is Gavin's baby as he is the musician.

> Seminar/Stall  OK, I like this Linux thing - how do I install it?
>     Maybe do a real installation of Ubuntu (which was agreed at
>     the moot as a representative & popular distro).

I agree that we should pick one distro and promote it.  From the
Worthing Stall that we run my impression was that most people having
accepted that they now have a choice other than Windows then want firm
answers to how to move forward.

I think we also need to show backward compatibility with their current
investment in Windows software.  Virtualisation could be big here as it
allows the old applications to run along side the new.

> Notes: For all of the above, I would suggest only using a comparison
> with Windows apps briefly, the main purpose being to promote &
> demonstrate the Linux apps.

I would say there is no need to compare.  The punters can compare what
we demonstrate themselves rather than being shown some WinApp they
haven't used before.  My view is not to confusing things, keep things
simple.

> Also point out that there are Windows versions of most of the apps
> mentioned as being for Linux. In fact most of them are equal in
> support for Windows & Linux. Suggest that the Windows version of an
> app that you would use on Linux is a good way to become familiar
> before installing Linux itself.

Agreed, if we can get them to switch to Linux at least get them to
switch to FLOSS where they can.

Well that's all I can think of for now.
Steve

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