Re: LUG: Schedule for the coming semester - ideas - Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:54:11 -0500

Subject : Re: LUG: Schedule for the coming semester - ideas

From : jpgoel@ncsu.[redacted]

Date : Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:54:11 -0500

1. I definitely like the idea of an E115 thing.

I TAed for CSC 116, and we had to spend a few weeks at the start of the
semester ramping up students on linux proficiency.

It would be nice to teach things like "tab for auto-completion", "up arrow
to repeat history commands", tricks like "!javac", basic editing (vim or
even pico - so they can work on this stuff more easily at home), and maybe
a clearer explanation of what it means to "SSH" into something and how
that's related to "WinSCP".

It might also be nice to cover more Windows basics - what are directories,
the Win analogies to linux commands (ls-dir, clear-cls, etc) so that when
they do work on their home computers, it isn't such a huge black box as
compared to the lab machines.

I realize that the above contrasts with "teaching what linux really is",
but it would be very pragmatic and useful for csc/ee people in terms of
teaching a course which will be useful for subsequent courses.

Jay

2. I also like the chalking idea! All of us have seen chalked billboards
in the FE Tunnel and that whole path from the tritowers, through the
tunnel, on the brickyard, up to the library. Along with outside
sullivan/lee/fountain. That seems like fertile ground for advertising this
kind of thing to newbies.

You could even make them clever. "`cat /dev/urandom | write jpgoel` What
does this mean? Find out at the next LUG meeting!"

Cheers!

Jay

On Fri, January 8, 2010 3:59 pm, Alexander Ray wrote:
> Time to start talkin about what we're doing this semester. Here's my
> thoughts on it
>
> Realm Linux - Dr. Warren Jasper. This needs to be later in the semester
> so
> Dr. Jasper can reserve a room in CoT (they need adequate warning). This
> is
> where its been tested and developed and means no demo failure! come out
> and
> see the future of ncsu-flavored linux.
>
> Not a presentation but related:
> FOSS Fair - Dunno if Jack Neely's doing this again this year, but we
> should
> *probably* show up and do something to support it this year. Personally
> I'd
> be all for volunteering/helping if it got me outta class for the day
> (which
> means i can see *all* the talks i want to, instead of the ones i could
> make
> like last year).
>
> Possibly related to the above:
> ANTI-E115/ Linux101/ whatever: Freshmen enter the college of engineering
> forced to learn a kludgy, text-based interface to old legacy
> infrastructure
> that generally leaves the impression that Linux is for the intensely
> masochistic. while this may or may not be the case, we could at the very
> least put some kind of presentation/demo/learning experience together to
> show people what Linux *really* is. This could be in conjunction with a
> talk, with an installfest, with the FOSS Fair, or completely standalone.
> Regardless of how it's done, my vote is that we need this, at the very
> least to get more exposure to the broader campus.
>
> Not a talk (but maybe a possibility):
> Whether you like or dislike RHEL and/or Fedora, you have to admit Red Hat
> is
> one of the most well-known and successful Linux-based companies. And
> their
> global HQ is right next to us! *They* have an interest in getting Linux
> more widely accepted in the community. *We* have an interest in getting
> Linux more widely accepted in the community. Maybe we should work
> together.
> (I know we have more than a few LUGgers and Alumni who worked/work for
> RedHat, maybe they can help).
>
> ADVERTISING!
> we need moar ads. personally i wouldnt mind carrying chaulk with me and
> chaulking upcoming LUG meetings around where I go to class. Better than
> that are pretty print ads we can post, and pretty HTML ads we can email.
> Most colleges/departments have some kind of 'announce' mailing lists, and
> we can take advantage of these for big talks (like LaTeX last semester ...
> heh... ). Break out of that nerdy shell, and get us some newbs!
>
> Projects!
> New idea (sorta): LUG Projects. A lot of us work on random little things
> anyways (checkout all the bots in our IRC room), so why not make them lug
> events? "Get together and hack on project X". yes/no/maybe? Maybe this
> would be better titled Hackfests. this (to me) is more of 'we shall see'
> for
> the coming semester.
>
> TALKS- what i remember getting bumped, or just talked about:
> Encryption&Linux - Mark (_ohm)
> ...
>
> ~AlexR
>