[NBLUG/talk] advocacy question

[Jippen]

If you want to do a presentation, do it in openoffice. This has the
one-two punch of demoing a product you will probably install, and
showing that it can be a (mostly) drop-in replacement for word.

You may also want to requisition a spare PC, and show the speed and
stability improvements of running linux, vs upgrading the hardware.

And, if you have a server, showing the output of "uptime" might raise
some eyebrows.

The main thing you will want to remember, is that you will likely have
to train people on FOSS, so anything touchie-feelie makes a good demo.
As well as charting the cost over time of open vs closed software.

On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Mike Rice <dolo724 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Shortly after I moved to this small burg of about 15,000, the local school district announced a shortage of funding from the state and local tax shortfalls. There would be several cuts, but the superintendent wanted the public's opinions on where cuts could logically be made. There's only one elementary, one middle and one high school, and football is definitely on the chopping block.
>
> I piped up and said that perhaps some licensing costs could be saved by using FOSS solutions for IT alongside or instead of proprietary. Apparently he'd heard this before, but my letter convinced him to think more on the subject. I've been invited to talk to him and then give a presentation to the district administrators a week from Monday on examples and solutions.
>
> Now that I've got my foot stuck in the tar-baby, I think I need the clarity of input from people who know more than I do.
> So I ask you all, what would you do?
> Without knowing what solutions they have in place currently, what ideas could be useful for individual users, networking, servers, etc.?
> And, if you had to perform a presentation, what hardware/software/setup would you bring?
>
> I figure on a reasonable script and answers planned for several questions, maybe a clean, operational laptop to demonstrate Ubuntu (or Edubuntu) and some Office Replacement software, like OpenOffice.org and Firefox/Thunderbird/Evolution. Anything else, more or less?
>
> I'm not an IT professional, but I as a freelance tech supporter I do know how to talk to people, and I have a reasonable voice.
>
> I will entertain any answers you give, as people today aren't willing to spend where it isn't necessary.
>
> Thanks in advance!
> Mike Rice
>
>
>
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