October 2005 - Announce

Conference: Open Source Choices and Resources for Schools
by MJ Ray 18 Oct '05

18 Oct '05

Small reminder: ALUG meet at UEA on Sunday. See www.alug.org.uk Now a message that MK LUG asked us to pass on: Note that "services need to be clearly relevant to education." -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Open Source in Schools Event From: David Willington <david.willington(a)ntlworld.com> Dear All I've been asked by Hemel Hempstead School to help organise a conference putting together schools with an interest in Open Source software with businesses and individuals that can offer support and advice. I'm based in Sheffield where I've just organised one for schools up here. I called the event OSCARS (Open Source Choices and Resources for Schools) and it came about as a result of this year's FLOSSIE (Free, Libre and Open Source Software in Education) conference in Bolton where the view was that everyone there already know about FLOSS and what was needed was a conference to inform people who don't know about FLOSS. The reason for Hemel Hempstead is that I know the new Head there and she said that Sheffield was too far to come. This is the second OSCARS. I learned a few lessons from the first one. Firstly I'm going to try to keep a clear focus on education - the school's getting the schools together, and I'm approaching the Linux community. I'm keen to avoid a room full of Open Source converts, which is what happened at FLOSSIE. I'm planning to get about 10 businesses offering a range of solutions that are directly relevant to education and which are open source based, and ask the school to guarantee at least 25 schools. One of the companies that came to the first one was (as far as I can tell) offering Open Source on the back of a proprietary package. There's nothing wrong with this, but I'm eager to point out to schools that Open Source can come without ties. In other words, an exclusively Open Source event, although companies and businesses working with proprietary software are welcome along so long as they're demonstrating their open source options. From the businesses' point of view, experience in schools is good, but I don't think it's essential. However services need to be clearly relevant to education. If anyone would be interested in being involved I'd be delighted to hear from you. The proposed date is Fri 27 Jan 2006 and the venue is Hemel Hempstead School, Heath Lane, Hemel Hempstead. Thanks David Willington

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[ALUG] 2nd Thursday Norwich Meet : Reindeer, Dereham Road
by Jonathan McDowell 13 Oct '05

13 Oct '05

The monthly "Second Thursday" ALUG Norwich Pub Meet is *tonight*, 13th October. Apologies for the lack of notice - it's been on the website for a while now, but I forgot to send the reminder mail at the start of the week. It's at the Reindeer pub on the Dereham Road, just opposite the City Gate. We'll be there from 8pm-ish, though there may be a few people there earlier. Topics for discussion will no doubt be as varied as ever. Directions to the Reindeer can be found at: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/reindeer.html Pictures of some of the regulars, and irregulars, and, well, just some pictures of people that might or might not turn up are available from: http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2004-08-ALUG/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2005-01-ALUG-Xmas/ http://the.earth.li/~noodles/stilvoid-alug/mp20050811/ Which should hopefully aid those of you wondering who to look out for. We're /normally/ just to the left of the main entrance. J. -- /-\ | 101 things you can't have too much |@/ Debian GNU/Linux Developer | of : 30 - Comfy sofas. \- | _______________________________________________ main(a)lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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LOCAL: Norwich, Sun 23 Oct 2005, ALUG
by MJ Ray 06 Oct '05

06 Oct '05

ALUG @ Nelson Court B Common Room, UEA, Norwich Weekend meeting: Sunday 23rd October 2005 Plan for the meeting We will meet up from 2pm onwards; we have the room until 6pm. The meeting is open to anyone interested in GNU/Linux or any Free/Open Source software. This meeting is particularly suitable if you want to bring along kit for hands-on help with installing, configuring or using linux distributions or applications or if you have something interesting that you'd like other people to see. It's also an opportunity to bring along old kit that's looking for a new home. There will probably be coffee and cake available; feel free to bring along a donation. Assuming the college bar is open we'll head there around 6ish. If you would like to get some help at the meeting, it is a good idea to mention it on [3]the main ALUG mailing list beforehand, although it is by no means a requirement. Please note we won't have internet access available. How to get there For directions, please see [4]the UEA venue information page. There are offers of carshares from the west and south. Please ask on the mailing list if interested. People at the meeting If you will be coming to this meeting, please try to say so on the mailing list, so we can have some idea of how many people may be there. Someone needs to bring biscuits - or home-made cakes - of course :-) Equipment Important disclaimer: Equipment is brought at your own risk. We strongly suggest that you tag or label your kit. No known thefts have occurred at our meetings, but there is ample scope for going home with the wrong cables, etc. Be sure to bring all appropriate power cables etc. An extra extension lead will also be a good idea. Discussion For information about this meeting or venue, please [5]use the mailing list. References 1. http://www.alug.org.uk/ 2. http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/ 3. http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main 4. http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/uea.html 5. http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main

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