Suggestions please...

[Charlotte Curtis]

What sort of demographic are you teaching?

If I can make one suggestion (depending on the willingness of your
students), I'd say try and introduce people to the command line and show
then how it can be useful and not scary.  I think the command line can be so
much easier than gui tools for a lot of things, but it is intimidating at
first.  Good luck!

Charlotte

On 2/25/07, Fabian Rodriguez <magicfab at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
> Scott Blayney wrote:
> > I'm getting ready to teach a class on Linux on Monday night. [...] I'm
> > going to be handing out free CDs from the Shipit service, although
> > they haven't arrived yet!
> I wouldn't count on the shipit CDs arriving on time. They are most
> likely being shipped from South Africa and may take months to get to
> you. I would actually show them how to download the ISO files, and burn
> a CD themselves. That would prove most useful if they want to share
> LInux / Ubuntu later on. I would have an ISO file handy (instead of
> trying to download it during class).
>
> > My plan is to follow the "Working with your Desktop" guide that comes
> > with Ubuntu.  I also plan to show them how to use Easyubuntu so that
> > they can set themselves up for MP3, DVD, and other propietary
> > formats.  The goal is to educate them enough to set up a working
> > computer with most of the functionality they expect from a modern
> > operating system, and with the knowledge of where to go to find more
> > help.
> I think using EasyUbuntu introduces several problems, including possible
> future update problems and also legal issues. Their legal disclaimers
> are really far from giving any useful information regarding the use of
> patented, copyrighted and in some cases illegal-to redistribute
> technologies, fonts, etc. Normally an individual / end-user of
> EasyUbuntu would have to accept all the agreements for each one of those
> technologies/ fonts/etc., which is also a problem for someone that would
> want to make an install on more than one computer (like computer labs,
> cafes, etc).
>
> You will have to spend some time explaining those issues but most
> importantly any bugs coming up because of the installation of
> non-supported packages. I think it's best to let people know why
> proprietary formats are not supported out of the box in Ubuntu alorg
> with a bit of history[1], give them a resource to find out more about
> using proprietary vs. open formats[2]. Then also show them that there's
> an automatic, unsupported way to install that support[3] or antoher
> manual, documented way [4]. Finally, I'd mention that the upcoming
> Ubuntu 7.04 in April will make use of proprietary formats much easier,
> probably making EasyUbuntu obsolete.[5] Here's some URLs that may help
> with that:
> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28Linux_distribution%29
> [2] http://www.openformats.org/
> [3] http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/
> [4] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RestrictedFormats
> [5] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EasyCodecInstallation ,
>
> http://ubuntudaily.blogspot.com/2007/02/automatic-codec-installation-in-ubuntu.html
> , http://icanthack.com/?p=50 ,
>
> http://sheeped.com/2007/02/01/ubuntu-704-feisty-fawn-supports-proprietary-codec-support/
>
> At that point and if you really want to address the issue, some people
> may ask why Ubuntu supports some proprietary drivers and, in the close
> future, software (with Linspire's CNR). That's a different question, we
> can also discuss that here :)
>
> >
> > What I would like to ask the group is what you think would be good
> > advice, pointers, gotchas, etc. to give them?  This is the first time
> > I am teaching this class, so I am totally open to suggestions.  I will
> > also be soliciting direction from the class as to what they expect to
> > learn so that I can tailor it to their needs.
> >
> > Scott Blayney
> >
> > ps. I also plan to show them "Just Say No To Microsoft, How To Ditch
> > Microsoft And Why It's Not As Hard As You Think
> > <
> http://www.amazon.ca/Just-Say-No-Microsoft-Ditch/dp/159327064X/sr=8-1/qid=1172352966/ref=sr_1_1/701-7389600-5785908?ie=UTF8&s=books
> >"
> Well, since you ask, I would only add that I don't like any
> anti-Microsoft bashing. I think educating about tech, formats, and
> licence freedom importance takes care of and brings up the discussion
> about Microsoft's practices but many other too. Focusing on Microsoft
> just seems too easy and distracting from broader issues. It's also
> important to keep in mind that many people don't like to spend too much
> time on these ethical / philosophical / political / social issues. They
> just want the software to work. So, for them, just tell them "here's
> somethin *I think is important*, if you feel anything like reading this,
> go ahead", but don't force it.
>
> I hope your class goes well, most of my advice may prove irrelevant
> depending on your student's background - so come back and let us know
> what you observed :)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Fabian
>
>
> --
> ubuntu-ca mailing list
> ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-ca/attachments/20070225/09b51bbc/attachment.html>