[Ilugc] [OT] Making SREC LUG active..
- From: base16@xxxxxxxxx (Arvind Kalyan)
- Date: Wed Aug 10 17:06:40 2005
On 8/10/05, Archana.S.R <archu.oct@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I thought he was there for 10 days for the training programme there.
Since iam stil not in coimbatore iam not in a position to make that possible
Yes 10 days. I would have stayed if you wanted me too. May be next time :)
Now i jus saw the srec-lug mail list and one of the studs there asked
about the LUG thing to HOD and he was telling there was no lab
technician to set up gnu/linux lab. Well i jus know the installation
works. If any of you could jus help me with how to go around for the
lab installation i can talk with HOD for the same.
Train a couple of students to take charge. They inturn will help the
technicians over a period of time.
Changing the operating systems in college labs should not be done in a
day or even a week. People seldom like large scale changes.
Couple of systems first. Then couple of systems in a couple of labs.
Make sure your 'crew' is very familiar with the most frequently
encountered issues. Then 'Linuxize' one of the labs completely,
tabulate the alternatives for the software expected in that lab (ie,
if it is C programming lab, have a notice of some sort that tells them
to use vi, gcc and tools with also the example commands)
Leave a gap of few days. During your LUG meet ask them what were the
issues the users (staff/students) faced. You can not expect all the
users to come to your LUG meet. So your 'crew' should visit the lab
once in a while and ask if there were any issues, note them down if
they themselves are not familiar with that situation. Then during the
meet the issues need to be discussed and solutions must be formulated
on printed material so that the staff can go through them at their
leisure.
Through out the various stages of migration, never talk to anyone with
the motive of eradicating Win32 - even if that thought lingers deep
within. Tell them how OSS is beneficial and let them decide if they
want to continue using Win32 or move on to OSS. This is the purpose of
awareness programmes. Please time them appropriately and have someone
experienced in these things to help you organize them if you are
concerned.
Apart from the above situation, there are quite a few issues you will
face while trying to migrate. Unless your college staff/students never
use the lab, it could be an ordeal to get the whole college know what
exactly is this Linux thing and to get linux installed even as a dual
boot.
Have a very crisp and clear objective why you want to move on to OSS.
The person or the bunch of people involved in this activities are
usually confronted with a lot of questions from many perspectives. So
to answer them without discrepencies in the stated objectives you must
be clear with the details. Frequent discussions with your mates and
outside people will come to your rescue at this point.
If you have even one person who is able to plan well and handle the
people's questions the right way, you should be able to infiltrate the
usage of OSS in your college.
After this comes your ability to handle people's problems. "Hey, I am
unable to install Linux on my computer! It doesn't work!" You can not
ask them to go online and read the man pages. Not every one is a
computer science engineer. If it is a EEE student, ask one of your CSE
juniors to help them. Delegation is essential. When you give someone a
bit of responsibility, they feel recognized and important. Ultimately
they will try spending more time in learning and trying to help. They
will start frequenting LUG meets to be able to handle future problems.
What I mean is, after this point it is your leadership qualities that
will bring in a momentum. A little bit of it is enough. Then the
students will catch up.
All the best,
--
Arvind Kalyan
http://www.devforge.net/~arv
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