[vox-outreach] DCM Coordination

[Bill Kendrick]

On Tue, Apr 27, 2004 at 11:04:56PM -0700, Trevor M. Lango wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> I propose the following time line:
> 
> - - DSL/network setup by the end of this week.

I suggest contacting the folks at Omsoft to find out if they have any
info they can share, regarding what DCM has /now/.


> - - Hardware round-up and upgrades by the end of next week.

That might be a little fast. ;^)  We'll hopefully be providing donated
hardware (e.g., RAM), and that'll take some coordination.

(1) Find out what they have (what kind of mem slots, current mem configs, etc)
(2) Find people who can donate them :^)
(3) Install
(4) ???
(5) Profit!

Err... strike 4 & 5 :)


> - - Software setup/installation by the end of the following week.
> 
> Training...?  Bill, you mentioned possibly LUGOD hosting class(es) of
> some sort? (but not just for DCM, right?)  Further on this...?  I
> thought it sounded like a REALLY good idea!  And if not, any volunteers
> for an OSS crash-course for the Average Joe users that volunteer at DCM? :-)

I was thinking it'd be cool to have a "So you wanna use OpenOffice.org?"
class (or two or three) somewhere like the Computer Lab on A Street
(near city hall).

We have held some "Intro to Linux" style classes, open to the public
(with registration), via Davis Community Network.  (e.g., Richard Lowenberg
said 'hey LUGOD, wanna do a class?', and we said 'yes!')

The last time we did it was a while back.  Rod Roark is technically our
official 'project coordinator' for those.


However, I imagine THIS class would be specifically for the DCM folks only,
to get all of their volunteers in the room at once, and sit down and show
them the ins and outs of OOo.

We'll need to find someone very, very familiar with using OOo, so that we'll
be able to more thoroughly answer everyone's questions. :^)


> DSL
> ===
> I agree with Bill - DSL is first priority - un-utilized broadband is
> tragic! :(

Totally. :^(  It's becoming quite obvious that the folks at DCM
(specifically, Bill) just don't have time to deal with the upgrades
they need, since they're busy doing their job.

This makes me even more happy that we have the chance to help out.
IMO, one of LUGOD's purposes is to help the community.  As we do it more
(e.g., with DCM), more other orgs in need may come to /us/, which would be
great.


> So, does anyone have a router/cables they could donate?  And
> Bill, if not, do you know if DCM is able (or willing?) to purchase such
> things?

I don't know.  Time to email or call Bill Pride, I think, Trevor! ;^)
Hehehe...


> And is anyone interested in meeting me at DCM near the end of
> the week to setup their network?

Well, aside from the fact that I don't have the skill, and am not sure
even what they need, precisely (we should really find out before we go there!)
I'm also going to be busy working and relaxing, prior to my initial move
down to the south bay!


> HARDWARE
> ========
> If anyone has anything they want to donate - Please bring it to the
> upcoming Tuesday night meeting!  I can't stay for the duration of the
> meeting but if it is more convenient for anyone I could be there around
> 6:00 - 6:30 to collect any hardware donations.

Any response to this, yet?  I really, really think RAM is the #1 need they
have.  ~350MHz PIIs should be plenty to run most apps w/o being dog-slow...
as long as there's ram for it!


> SOFTWARE
> ========
> If we end up installing Linux on all/most of their machines, any distro
> suggestions?  Personally, I would go with binary Gentoo installs (but I
> might be biased ;-) )

Debian Woody.  (but I might be biased!)

I think a switch to Linux shouldn't be made too fast.
Their IMMEDIATE concern is keeping what they have working, and working well.
(RAM, I say!  RAM!)

A better understanding, and evaluation, of how they use their current
software is needed, I think, to figure out whether Linux will actually
be the most suitable.

It SOUNDS like it will be.  And the DCM folks don't exactly like Microsoft,
it seems. :^)  But we don't want to break what they have, just for the sake
of change.  Not if it means messing up their workflow...


> And if Microsoft Access is deemed necessary, we have the following two
> options:

Based on what I heard, I wouldn't worry about Access at this time.
It might be good to talk with the folks from Sac State to see wha they're
doing, how far they've gotten, and why the HELL they picked Access, over
something like MySQL with a Web front-end! ;^)


> 1. Keep one Windows machine on hand (as already suggested by Bill).
> 2. Use CrossOver Office, which currently retails ~$60 and ONLY supports
> Access 2000.
> 
> And if we end up providing them with a kiosk system for their clients, I
> will need your past experience with this Bill!

Will do!  I see this as a further-down-the-road project.
Or, at the most, concurrent, but not dependent on anything else
('cept the DSL, which should be moot in a week, I hope!)


Please keep in close contact with Bill Pride, Trevor.  Esp. if you hope
to get these things moving as quickly as it looks like you do. :^)

And be sure not to schedule too many meetings and volunteer sessions until
we actually wrangle up some volunteers!

(Sometimes private emails to folks, like, say, Mike Simons, helps. Muwhahahah!)

-bill!