[plug] suggestion: PLUG 4 Schools

[Leon Brooks]

On Monday 06 May 2002 11:27, sol wrote:

First, go back and read the comments from Colin, Simon, Dennis, Justin and 
Alex, since they are all very insightful.

> "Our greatest resource is our local user group. We need to
> help schools and LUGs around the country make connections. Towards this
> end we're going to start promoting a July 4th. software freedom day.
> Sponsored by LUGs all over America, this event will bring together
> Unix/Linux experts and schools to establish local support connections
> for training and migration to GPL software."

Fabulous idea, but to actually work it will need:

* REAL BACKUP: Red Escolar will almost certainly fail because they
  basically just pressed a flock of CDs and sent them out. Microsoft
  will pick over the bones of that and deal yet another un-needed body
  blow to the Mexican economy; and

* REAL WORKERS: Traditional consultants are too expensive for many
  schools, students are too disorganised for many schools. We need one
  key person who will be a schoolie with some admin experience and well
  organised. We then need to accrete some students, recently ex-students
  and retirees around him/her who will be willing to put up with being
  organised by someone else. We will also need *some* consultants
  willing to provide limited amounts of help on difficult issues for
  free or extreme discount; and

* REAL TRAINING: The above group will need to play with at least a mock
  system together to see what really is hard, easy, automatic and
  impossible in a realistic situation, albeit one sans a flock of eager
  little vegemites throwing rootkits at you from within the firewall; and

* REAL FLEXIBILITY: Said group must be willing to put up with sites at
  which the only Linux machine hides in the server room at one extreme,
  and whole-of-school situations at the other extreme.

I believe that most schools should be charged for this service, even if only 
minimally, perhaps $200 per server plus $50 per workstation including 3 
months' more-or-less full support and another 9 months of telephone support. 
This money will go to needed equipment for the flying team, reimbursing 
transport costs and the like, and any spare change will be pooled for stuff 
like advertising. It may need to also feed, clothe and house our schoolie.

Being charged will also help the schools to take the idea seriously, and will 
quickly sort out the really-willing from the maybes. Down the track, the 
initial rates can be raised as needed or lowered as possible. A sponsor would 
be great (maybe a hardware supplier?) but shouldn't completely stop PLUG from 
charging.

Cheers; Leon