15 September 2007 - Software Freedom Day

Topics

Software Freedom Day

Pictures

Meeting Notes

Friday At UT

The event on Friday was a great success. We set up our free software table at the north end of the Student Union, and started at 11:00am, right on time. It was a little slow at first. After a short time, the first interested person approached the table all on his own and asked what it was all about. He was new to the concept of Free Software, so but we discussed it with him and answered his questions. He left with some CDs.

There was only one person who was openly suspicious about the contents of the burned copy of TheOpenCD. On the other hand, she was in a hurry and may have just been kidding.

It was surprising how many people were already familiar with Ubuntu and had even run it (perhaps just off and on) on their own system. A couple said that they were already on the TALUG mailing list and run Ubuntu. One said his roommate ran it and he had dabbled with it briefly due to that exposure. Even those who hadn't heard of Ubuntu or Linux were familiar with either OpenOffice or Firefox. This is a good sign that Free Software is making inroads into the desktop.

The event lasted until 3:00 PM, one hour longer than it was "supposed" to. On the whole, it was a quite successful event and would be a good event to repeat in the future. It was estimated that we talked to approximately 30-35 interested people.

Saturday At The Library

The Saturday Event for Software Freedom Day was at the West Toledo Branch Public Library. We got there around 11:00, and began to set up. Matt Neilson brought his laptop running Ubuntu Feisty (which could run XP in virtualization), Abdul Dakkak brought his tablet PC running Ubuntu Gutsy, Jason Bechtel brought his tower (seriously...tower) running Windows XP and a laptop running Feisty, Adam Shea brought his laptop with Kubuntu Feisty, Gary Grady brought his laptop running Feisty, and Andrew Grieser brought a tower running Feisty. All in all, a rather *buntu crowd.

The room was located in the lower level of the Library, and was a very good room for presentations. Lots of room, tables, chairs, power outlets, a lectern, and a projector with a conveniently located video in port. It was suggested to have our regular meetings there. Unfortunately, the projector only went to 640x480 resolution, but everyone seemed unaffected except Andrew, who's computer insisted on automatically setting the screen resolution to 640x480. On the other computers it didn't seem to affect presentation quality. Around 12:00, a number of other TALUG members drifted in. Initially, turnout was a little bit thin, but we decided to start presentations anyway.

Shortly after 12:00, Matt asked about making an announcement to the library patrons at the info desk. One of the staff members there patched her desk phone into the PA system, asked for everyone's attention, and then handed the phone to Matt. Matt invited everyone downstairs to our room to learn about free software and see our presentations.

Abdul kicked off the presentations with Inkscape on his tablet PC, and showed how to create vector drawings, how to layer, shade, group, and even write calligraphy. Toward the end of this presentation, our first visitors came, and were interested in the multimedia aspect. Abdul and Matt presented the Gimp, starting with a picture of a cat, adding fog and a butterfly, and removing an unsightly cord. At this point, a few more people had come, and Andrew presented Games, with the crowd favorite being Flightgear.

Matt then presented NVU (a web development program), followed by Jason presenting Stellarium (astronomy program). Jason then gave his office presentation, and then Andrew gave a brief intro to Ubuntu to a visitor interested in Linux.

By this time it was 3:00, and time to head out. The TALUG group went to the Golden Corral for a late lunch / early dinner. Dinner topics ranged from software virtualization to cell phone (non)standardization to PGP encryption.

All in all, Software Freedom Day was a success, the highlight of the weekend being UT on Friday. There were a number of things to be learned from this experience. Below is a list of things to remember for next year:

• Planning needs to start early
• Register early with SFD to make sure we get a team pack (with balloon, posters, CD's, etc.)
• Teams dedicated to each aspect of the event...one team for presentations, one team for event planning/scheduling, one for advertising. This might lighten the individual workload, and encourage more people to get involved.
• SFD needs to be held in a high traffic area
• Register for presentation location far in advance
• Order plenty of pressed CD's

After the event, the advantages of targeting the University crowd was discussed: While we limit ourselves to a certain demographic by tabling on campus, it is a demographic that has the following advantages:

• Young and therefore far less likely to be computer-phobic or paranoid
• Open-minded, willing to try new things, and not necessarily stuck in a "comfort zone"
• Open to sharing software with friends and family, etc

On the disadvantages (of students):

• Get proprietary software at academic discounts

On the whole, it's probably our best target demographic. And that also makes it the most likely group where we'll find new TALUG members...

Even those who hadn't heard of Ubuntu or Linux were familiar with either OpenOffice or Firefox. This is a good sign that Free Software is making inroads into the desktop, but it's also a sign that we were mostly talking to a self-selecting audience. The people who were open to talking with us were already open to Free Software, or at least willing to try software without the imprimatur of a large corporation with a big marketing budget. It's still good news overall, but we also have to be aware of this self-selecting group of people and try to maintain a realistic perspective as we plan for the future.

The final count of CD's is as follows: