linuxmafia.com 2016/linuxmafia.com.tar/linuxmafia.com/pub/humour/why-an-installfest

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To: [e-mail] (BALUG list)
Subject: So, why an InstallFest?
From: Rick Moen <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 12:56:36 -0800 (PST)

I note, with wry amusement, Arthur and Mark's recent duelling e-mails.

Reasons for holding an InstallFest:

1. It's fun.[0]
2. Greater visibility for Linux, among CoffeeNetters, the general run
   of SFpcUG folk, people reading the netnews announcments, etc.
   Remind people that _no one_ expects the Linux Inquisition![1]
3. Creating the third wave of Linuxers.  First came the suicidal
   berserkers, such as Jim Dennis, who loaded SLS from downloaded
   floppies onto their 386es, in bygone days.  Second appeared
   strategic cowards like me:  I made brief forays with downloaded
   Slackware floppy images, and only then made my reconnaissance
   in force with can't-miss hardware and a careful plan.

This third group enters insouciantly with its weird clone hardware
and no preparation.  Without a few pointers from veterans, they'll
probably retreat in disarray.  Thus the InstallFests.

4. Installation mechanisms for those who lack them.  Yes, people
   do want to install onto machines lacking supported CD-ROMs
   (especially 386es and laptops).  With PLIP and my ethernet cards,
   we can get them running much more easily than they can, alone.

5. Even people who successfully install could benefit from some
   well-chosen survival tips.  I forced myself to use Linux as my
   main OS with little prior experience -- and it was tough.
   _Running Linux_, some O'Reilly books, and an occasional pointer
   from experts went a long way, and much painful groping would
   have been obviated by some judicious up-front shoving in the right
   direction.

Arthur wrote:

> Personally- I prefer later in the evening.

On reflection, so do I.  4-10 pm looks good, to me.  'Course, my trip
home thereafter is just a flight of stairs.

> Who attends installfests and why?

The curious, those who have tried once and had problems, and those whose
interest is highly tempered by caution.  Even if you think you're up to it,
it's reassuring to have experts handy.  Also, you can then discuss
related matters you've been thinking up questions & comments on.

> And- assuming we get a huge group of people interested in Linux but
> unmotivated enough or not bright enough to install it- do we want
> to hang out with them?

Some people have tried, ran into mysterious problems with diverse
causes, and remain hopeful:  I'm glad to help them, when I can.
The generally hapless sometimes come, too, but sometimes you get to see
the lights coming on, as you speak to them.  That makes it worth the
trouble.  As to others, well, it needn't be more more than an
afternoon, and you can always go drink espresso, instead.

For every person you show how to solve problems, there will be five
watching over his shoulder.  In that sense, you're dispensing fishing
lessons, rather than just fish.

> Is our point to help homo-simians install Linux or spread the word
> about Linux?

Well, both, of course.  We want to demonstrate that it's not rocket
science -- that it's free and easy, and that it yields incredible
functionality and superb performance on even old, knockaround PCs.

Think of Linux as a chemical reaction:[2]  Every InstallFest serves
as a catalyst.

> If the goal is the latter, there are better ways to make a
> splash.  I suggest a Linux booth at the next WinTel show.

So, go for it, then.  I think I spot another volunteer.  ;->
However, I've thought over precisely this matter, and remembered
the annoyance factor in trying to explain Linux's benefits to a
random collection of _unmotivated_ computer-users.  "So, does it
run Word 97?  What does it _do_?"  _Those_ are the sort of people
*I* want to volunteer for retroactive birth control.  Much better
on one's limited stock of patience, it seems to me, is to cater
to people who're inherently known to be interested.

Mark Stone wrote:

> I am a writer by profession, and let me tell you that the
> overall writing in man pages and How-to's SUCKS.

I have some appreciation for the difficulty, as I'm writing a brief
guide for InstallFest attendees (understanding your hardware
and determining if it's supported, planning how you'll partition and
how you'll boot Linux, what installation method you'll use, selecting
a distribution, what to bring, a pre-installation checklist,
post-installation tips) -- and can testify that while writing clear
prose is difficult, writing clear technical tutorials is more so.
I salute you and your fellow technical writers/editors, having walked a
few inches in your shoes.

[0] On the other hand, I'm peculiar.  On the gripping hand,
    everyone else here is, too.
[1] "Our chief weapons are fear, perl, and gcc...."
[2] Exothermic, of course.  To quote Ivanova, "Sooner or later, BOOM!"
    (Season 4's closing episode airs tonight on KBHK, 9 pm.
    Final installment until the last season shifts to TNT, in January.)

--
Cheers,                    Long ago, there lived a creature with a
Rick Moen                  voice like a vacuum cleaner.  We know little
[e-mail]        about it, but we do know that it ate cats.





To: [e-mail] (Rick Moen)
Subject: Re: So, why an InstallFest?
From: Arthur Tyde <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 14:07:33 -0800 (PST)
Cc: [e-mail]
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]> from "Rick Moen" at Oct 30, 97 12:56:36 pm

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And
the spirit of Rick moved across the face of the waters, and Rick said-
here are 50 reasons for an installfest, and there was light!

Thanks Rick, Art...






To: [e-mail] (BALUG list)
Subject: Re: So, why an InstallFest?
From: Rick Moen <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 23:37:14 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]> from "[e-mail]" at Nov 4, 97 07:36:10 pm

Hi ho, Stig.

> Rick Moen wrote:
>> [0] On the other hand, I'm peculiar.  On the gripping hand,
>>     everyone else here is, too.
>
> a reference to the moties...

Just smoking out the science fiction fans.  (Worked, eh?  However, don't
bother with the sequel volume, which was wretched.)

> > [1] "Our chief weapons are fear, perl, and gcc...."
>
> where did you find this Linux inquisition quote and do you have the
> complete quote?

I had in mind Monty Python's "Spanish Inquisition" sketch....




Graham Chapman:  Trouble at mill.
Carol Cleveland: Oh no - what kind of trouble?
Chapman:   One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treddle.
Cleveland: Pardon?
Chapman:   One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treddle.
Cleveland: I don't understand what you're saying.
Chapman:   (slightly irritatedly and with exaggeratedly clear accent)
           One of the cross beams has gone out askew on the treddle.
Cleveland: Well what on earth does that mean?
Chapman:   *I* don't know - Mr Wentworth just told me to come in here and say
           that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a
           kind of Spanish Inquisition.

GRAMS: JARRING CHORD
(The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain (Palin) enters
flanked by two junior cardinals.  Cardinal Biggles (Jones) has
goggles pushed over his forehead.  Cardinal Fang (Gilliam) is just
Cardinal Fang)

Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!  Our chief weapon is
         suprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise....  Our two
         weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....  Our
         *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an
         almost fanatical devotion to the Pope....  Our *four*...no...
         *Amongst* our weapons....  Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as
         fear, surprise....  I'll come in again.  (Exit and exeunt)

Chapman: I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

GRAMS: JARRING CHORD

(The cardinals burst in)

Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!  Amongst our weaponry are such
         diverse elements as:  fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost
         fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn!  (To
         Cardinal Biggles) I can't say it - you'll have to say it.
Biggles: What?
Ximinez: You'll have to say the bit about 'Our chief weapons are ...'
Biggles: (rather horrified): I couldn't do that...

(Ximinez bundles the cardinals outside again)
[etc.]



[_Babylon 5_]

> interesting closing episode...

...and I'm already suffering withdrawal symptoms.  Hurry on, January.

--
Cheers,                                     SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!
Rick Moen                                   SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!
[e-mail]               (_Nobody_ expects the Spammish Repetition!)






To: [e-mail] (BALUG list)
Subject: Re: Random Sci-Fi discussion (was Re: So, why an InstallFest?)
From: Rick Moen <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 10:59:37 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]> from "[e-mail]" at Nov 5, 97 03:13:52 pm

Stig wrote:

> Niven just sucks as a writer and always has, but he has some cool
> ideas...  Books that he coauthors are generally a lot better...
> Lucifer's Hammer, Legacy of Heorot, etc...

Sometimes even _that_ doesn't do the trick, alas.  I haven't yet had the
patience to give _Beowulf's Children_ a chance.

>>> [_Babylon 5_]
>>>
>>>> interesting closing episode...
>>> ...and I'm already suffering withdrawal symptoms.  Hurry on,
>>> January.
>>
>> Do tell :)  What's the abstinence syndrome like?

1. You search for a Harlan Ellison personality layer to run on top of
   the Mach kernel.
2. You explain to people the importance of adequate RAM by saying
   "The core is mother; the core is father."
3. You modify ping(8) to include the phrase "You have always been here."
4. You advise a client that "You do not understand.  But you will."

> And a friend has informed me that Gattaca is the "best movie since
> Blade Runner"...

Saw it.  Good story, artistically told.  They probably maxed out, oh,
three or four credit cards, making it.  Nice shots of a futuristic
office building looking suspiciously like the Marin Civic Center.

Joe-Rick says "Check it out."

--
Cheers,                    Long ago, there lived a creature with a
Rick Moen                  voice like a vacuum cleaner.  We know little
[e-mail]        about it, but we do know that it ate cats.