Dear AntiX Advocates --

My name is Larry Cafiero of HeliOS Solutions West, and I would like to invite you to participate in a project in which, together, we can uplift Linux and FOSS both locally, where I live and work, and uplift Linux and FOSS in your own communities whenever and wherever the project is repeated.

Lindependence 2008 introduces Linux to the town of Felton, California -- about 6,000 people who live at the foot of the San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County, California, U.S.A. The plan behind Lindependence 2008 involves assisting those wishing to participate in the project to go"proprietary free" for an entire week -- starting on Independence Day (July 4) 2008 -- using their choice of distro and FOSS programs.

I expect that most of the people who participate in this project will continue to stay"proprietary free" after the week is over, because they will discover what we already know: Linux, FOSS and the freedom to choose in our digital pursuits far outweigh the digital hegemony forced on us by the digital mandarins in Redmond and Cupertino.

A bit of history: Lindependence 2008 has been underway since last autumn, when I established HeliOS Solutions West as an evangelical springboard for spreading the FOSS gospel on the central California coast. The project reached fruition after lengthy discussions with The Tux Project and other FOSS advocates. The idea for the project takes its cue from a recent Nikon television ad campaign in the U.S., where the Japanese camera maker gave digital cameras to a small town in South Carolina and promoted the results.

Replacing cameras with LiveCDs and thumb drives, this project introduces people to Linux and FOSS programs and allows them a chance to have a computing experience that we currently have and that we all know is superior to what most people are forced to use because they're unaware that they have alternatives.

Town meetings and installfests are planned to be held during May and June of this year to familiarize the people in Felton with Linux and FOSS programs and, as stated, those who participate start a week of Linux and FOSS use from July 4 through July 11, and possibly longer. We have the media involved and two documentary makers have already expressed an interest in taking footage in the area between now and July with the intention of making a documentary.

Here's where you come in:

-- Represent your distro or software program: We invite AntiX to have representatives at the meetings and installfests with LiveCDs and other relevant materials, as well as to stick around for the week to see how this develops. While we are currently working on getting discounts for lodging, hopefully your representatives live close to here -- we are just"over the hill" on the other side of a small mountain range from the Silicon Valley. They can either be people from AntiX, or people from your user group who live nearby.

-- The"d" word: Donate. One of the larger distros had proposed to foot the bill for this project, under the provision that the project would be distro specific for the sponsor. We wanted the concept of choice to prevail, so we graciously turned them down (although I am expecting this distro to participate anyway). For the media events, town meetings, local/regional advertising and other expenses, we have earmarked a budget of close to $25,000. We will maintain a list of distros/FOSS programs and their donation totals on our Web site -- with ad space and links on the page ranked in order of which distro/program has donated the most. These donations are tallied as donations by the distro/program itself and donations by individuals who will be asked to name a distro/program on whose behalf they are donating.

You may have questions, observations and comments, and because this e-mail only scratches the surface, I welcome them. Please contact me with any questions, observations and comments at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and I hope you will help us uplift Linux and FOSS going forward.

Sincerely,
Larry Cafiero (AntiX user No. 100)
HeliOS Solutions West
6116 Highway 9, Suite 4B
Felton, California 95018 U.S.A.
1-831-335-7303
lcafiero@fixedbylinux.com

What you're doing, Icafiero, could prove to be a real advance in Linux advocacy. Keep us posted on the results.

As I read your post, one thought came to mind that I've posted on occasionally: new users feel a lot safer trying Linux when they have someone to latch onto when things go snafu, or when they have a"small" question that turns out to be a brick wall for them.

So I've often thought that somehow a list of Linux coaches in any specific area would be a good idea. I know we have lUGS, but they can seem unapproachable to noobs. Instead, I'm thinking of a way for a"linux buddy" to be available for easy questions and even moral support.

I'm wondering, therefore, if a way of supporting your project would be for linux users to"sign up" for a Linux Buddy user list, but here's the catch: it would be great if it were someone local who could be called up at those horrendous moments when you just need someone on the phone while you're staring at a garbled screen.

I'm not sure how the logistics of this would work, and of course there would be potential for abuse. Still, it could be relatively simple for the concept to catch on. Linux users may not be able to help with donations or showing up at an expo. But they could spare the time now and then to answer questions of someone who lives relatively close by.

I'm suggesting this to you because your expo might be an occasion for getting something like this off the ground, or at least testing it out as a concept.

Ether way, good luck!

Malanrich --

Thanks so much!"Linux Buddy" is an EXCELLENT idea (sorry for the shout). We originally planned to have an e-mail list, but a forum would be a much, much better idea.

Also, pairing up an experienced (to whatever degree) Linux user with a complete newbie -- yes, LUGs can be intimidating (I am the president of the Cabrillo College GNU/Linux Users Group, and I am sensitive to that) -- is an excellent idea, too. In fact, we will probably have folks at the meetings -- experienced users -- split off with people so the groups are smaller.

Incidentally, we're only about 350 miles away from L.A. -- straight up the 5 and hang a left at San Juan Bautista at the 156 -- if you feel like coming up to visit the towering Redwoods . . . and convert a person or two to Linux __{{emoticon}}__

Larry Cafiero
HeliOS Solutions West
6116 Highway 9, Suite 4B
Felton, California 95018 U.S.A.
1-831-335-7303

lcafiero wrote: Incidentally, we're only about 350 miles away from L.A. -- straight up the 5 and hang a left at San Juan Bautista at the 156 -- if you feel like coming up to visit the towering Redwoods . . . and convert a person or two to Linux __{{emoticon}}__

Ha Ha [a hollow laugh...]. *Last* time I tried driving up there was using my '69 VW Bug to get to a Dickens conference at UC Santa Cruz. My starter went out at the bottom of one of those hills on the 5. Must have been in '91 or '92.

I'd better not tempt fate...since I'm still driving the same car!

You have a '69 bug? Interested in selling it?

Don

malanrich wrote:

lcafiero wrote: Incidentally, we're only about 350 miles away from L.A. -- straight up the 5 and hang a left at San Juan Bautista at the 156 -- if you feel like coming up to visit the towering Redwoods . . . and convert a person or two to Linux __{{emoticon}}__

Ha Ha [a hollow laugh...]. *Last* time I tried driving up there was using my '69 VW Bug to get to a Dickens conference at UC Santa Cruz. My starter went out at the bottom of one of those hills on the 5. Must have been in '91 or '92.

I'd better not tempt fate...since I'm still driving the same car!

dieselbenz wrote:You have a '69 bug? Interested in selling it?

Oh no, I couldn't sell it. It's the only thing I got out of the divorce...(!!!)

[But there are lots of them out there. Anything special about a '69?]

dieselbenz --

Two words: Road trip. __{{emoticon}}__

From Iowa, it's only about 1,800 miles west on I-80, then left at San Francisco. We're actually talking to some hotels in the area for discounts for those coming for Lindependence 2008.

Are there any AntiX users in California (other than me) or in the western U.S. who might want to help promote AntiX?

Larry Cafiero

lcafiero wrote:Are there any AntiX users in California (other than me) or in the western U.S. who might want to help promote AntiX?

Well, maybe we should all kick in a few bucks and fly anticapitalista out to Santa Cruz from Greece. It would make for some great photo-ops. And those of us with a journalistic flair could plant features in all the Linux mags. *That's* how you make a distro famous.

The hardest thing would only be getting anti a visa, what with that name and all...

malanrich wrote:

lcafiero wrote:Are there any AntiX users in California (other than me) or in the western U.S. who might want to help promote AntiX?

Well, maybe we should all kick in a few bucks and fly anticapitalista out to Santa Cruz from Greece. It would make for some great photo-ops. And those of us with a journalistic flair could plant features in all the Linux mags. *That's* how you make a distro famous.

The hardest thing would only be getting anti a visa, what with that name and all...

I've heard the weather at Guantanamo Bay is lovely at this time of year.