Linux - Where do you want to go tomorrow?
The Small Linux Users Group of Vermont
(Slug-VT) is proud to announce its first
Installfest!
Of course, the real name for it is the
SLUGFest!
It'll be held on Saturday, April 17th at the
Hill associates office in
Colchester, VT. Here are the details. By the way, the temporary
site for updated versions of this page is http://slartibartfast.pa.net
(http://slartibartfast.pa.net).
Its permanent home will be at http://www.slug-vt.org.
I strongly suggest you check back on this page a few days before the event
and recheck that you have everything.
Who:
While anyone can attend the installfest, we're giving first time installers
priority. The event is designed to help you over the first hurdle
of a Linux system; getting the operating system installed.
How much:
Free. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
The event is free and the Linux cdrom is free. There are even
free prizes - but you'll have to attend to find out what!
Where to go:
Hill Associates is on the border between Winooski and Colchester. From
Burlington/Winooski,go up main St. as if you're going to the on-ramp
for I-89 North. When you get to the light with Mcdonalds on the right,
turn left up the twisted road to Libby's diner. From I-89 South
of exit 16, take 89 North to exit 16. Take a left at the end
of the off-ramp and drive less than 1/4 mile to the light with McDonald's
on your left. Take a right there and drive up the Libbys diner road.
From 89 North of exit 16, take 89 South to 16, take a right at
the end of the off-ramp and drive less than 1/4 mile to the light with
McDonald's on your left. Take a right there and drive up the Libbys
diner road.
At the top of the short road, turn right and drive down to the end of
the parking area; Hill Associates is the glass building on your right.
Go in the main door and walk downstairs or take the elevator to the bottom
floor. The lab we'll be using is at the end of the hall on the right.
When:
There will be a pre-Installfest breakfast at 7:45 at Libbys next door.
Anyone is welcome to attend. The discussion will be on organizational
details and deciding on who handles what tasks. All volunteers are
encouraged to attend. At 8:30 we'll head over to set up the room.
Doors open at 9am. It'll take a little while to get your machine
checked in and set up, so we'll start installing by 9:30 sharp. The
installs will go until noon or so. If your install is taking a little
longer than normal, someone will be there to help you until 1pm; those
that finish early can take a break for lunch. There are quite a few
restaurants within walking distance.
At 1PM there will be an organizational meeting for Slug-VT. Feel
free to attend either event.
Getting ready:
- You'll need to sign up ahead of time - we only have space for 16 computers.
Send email to Bill Stearns, wstearns@pobox.com
. Those spots are currently full but we are starting a waiting list
for any spots that open up, and you'll get first shot at the next Installfest.
Please note that everyone is still welcome to attend the Users group
Meeting at 1pm! The room will hold more once we clear out the tables.
We'd still appreciate knowing that you're coming, though.
- Make a full backup of everything on your PC. Make two!
While we'll do our best to leave your existing files untouched, we don't
want to be playing with your sole copy of anything.
- Either buy a new hard drive on which to install Linux, or decide
which partition on your existing drive can be deleted. Make sure
you've moved all your files off that partition. While a basic install
of Linux can be made in 200M, 600M to 1G of free drive space give you a
much richer environment. If you want to try to use the free space
on an existing dos drive, we'll try to help you do that. You'll need
to be ready right at 9am because we need some extra time to get that set
up. Defragment your drive on the Friday night before you pack up.
You must have a backup of this data or we'll refuse to try.
- Your system must have a 3.5" floppy drive.
- We need to get the Linux files onto your system. You'll need
either a cdrom drive, a 10baseT Ethernet card, or a 10/100 Ethernet card.
We'll supply the actual CDROM, the network cables, the hub, and the server
with another copy of the files. If you have neither an Ethernet card
nor a CDROM drive, you must contact Bill
ahead of time to reserve a loaner card.
- Write down the details about the hardware in your computer:
- Processor
- Memory
- Hard drive types
- Sound card type
- Video card
- CDROM make and model
What to bring:
Almost everything!
You'll need to bring the following:
- Computer
- Monitor. While heavy, this is required.
You'll be getting Linux to work with your monitor and we want to make sure
that they work together correctly. Spares will not be available.
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Power cables for computer and monitor.
- Monitor manual, at least, computer manual if you
have it. The monitor manual is actually pretty important; if you
can't find it, please contact the manufacturer or look on their web site
and find out the Horizontal and Vertical Refresh rate ranges for your exact
monitor.
Here's what you can leave at home:
- Speakers
- Printer and printer cable - but write down the exact
model and bring your printer manual if handy.
What to expect:
When you leave, the odds are really good that you'll have a working Linux
computer! A few may have suboptimal video, some sound cards and printers
may not be fully supported, but on the whole, most of the working environment
should be ready to go!
Organizational details:
If you're interested in helping others install Linux,
we can really use your help. Please come to the pre-Installfest
breakfast at 7:45 at Libby's next door.
Here's what we need and who's handling it so far:
| What |
Who |
State |
| 25 CDROMS |
Ben |
Done |
| Hubs |
Ben and Hill Associates |
Done |
| Room, tables, and chairs |
Hill Associates |
Done |
| Internet Connection |
Hill Associates |
Available if needed |
| 10 ISA NICS |
Rob Mount, Bill, Ben, other? |
Done |
| Coax cables, T's and terminators |
Clem Yonkers |
|
| Power strips and power cables |
Clem, Bill |
Done |
| 1 or 2 PCMCIA NICs |
Ben, Bill |
Done |
| Stickers and Post-it notes to indentify equipment |
Bill |
Done |
| Juices and Soda |
Bill |
Done |
| Bagels and cream cheese |
Bill |
|
| Installfest invitation letter |
Bill |
Done and mailed |
| Installfest details page |
Bill |
You're reading it! |
| Floppies |
Bill and others |
All bought, not loaded yet. |
| Installfest signs |
Erik Wheeler |
In process |
| HOWTO printouts |
Chris Brenton and Ben Deliduka |
|
| Installation reference printout |
Chris Brenton |
Done |
| FTP server |
Ben |
|
| NFS Server |
Todd |
|
| 8 10baseT cables |
Rob Mount |
Done |
| Gifts |
Bill |
All ordered or arrived |
| Digital camera |
Clem Yonkers |
|
|
|
|
Jobs:
| Job |
Who |
| Checking in and carrying equipment, placing stickers |
|
| Setting up cabling |
|
| Handing out CD's, getting user information for giveaways |
|
| Handing out folders and documentation |
|
| Mentoring, helping identify equipment, answering questions during the
install. |
Ben, John, Todd, Chris, James, Clem, Erik, Steve? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Main install walk through |
Bill Stearns |
| First time user login and what to do |
Chris Gay |
| Xwindows configuration |
John Wagner |
| Sound card configuration |
|
| Printer configuration |
|
| Internet access configuration |
Chris Brenton? |
|
|
|
|
| Cleanup |
Everyone! |
Contact information:
Temporary web site: http://slartibartfast.pa.net
Bill Stearns, unofficial Installfest instigator: wstearns@pobox.com
, daytime phone 802-655-4831 (9:30am-10:30pm M-F), pager 802-351-2538 (useful
for "Bill screwed up the directions, how do we get there?" type questions
:-)
Ben Deliduka, President of SLUG-VT
, bennet.deliduka@state.vt.us
.