[fsug-bangalore] suggestion for software freedom day

[Raj Shekhar]

nivead wrote:
> Yeah, we r there. i think we can form a group of 3-4
> and if we can do it in 2-3 colleges, it will be great.
> 

Let us plan for just one per year currently -- I am extremely lazy :-)


> 
> 
>>There were demos and CD distribution (Delhi LUG
>>earned a good amount 
> 
> Can't we try to ship some Ubuntu CD's and  distribute
> it ?

Personally, I am strongly against giving anything free of cost.  The
reason being - it will  attract a boatload of free loaders.  It would be
a good idea to sell the CDs at a nominal cost- say 75 rupees for a set
of Fedora CDs, 100 Rs. for Debian CDs etc.  That does not places too
much burden on the distributor and the buyer.

However, this thing is still far off in the future.  Maybe a better step
right now would be to identify colleges that are willing to host this
event.  This event will provide the college students to interact with
people who have applied the principles of free software in Real World
and have (hopefully) gained from the involvement.

Delhi LUG had organized the event in the Jamia milia Hamdard University,
which provided us with easy access to lab facilities, good food (very
important in any event) and eager learners.

> 
> even we can try to get backup of some corporate
> sponsor, If such participations have nothing to harm
> with our basic philosophy of freedom....
> 

Corporate sponsorship is important.  Most of the people who helped in
organizing in Linux Demo Day persuaded their companies in organizing the
event.  Some people approached companies like RedHat, Novell, IBM etc.
for sponsorship (iirc, none of them worked out :-( ).  Some companies
gave CD burners, desktop machines for the event. The event would have
been successful without the help of these companies, but the corporate
sponsorship helped in making the event a major success.

Lastly, I would like to point out that the idea behind the event was not
to impress anyone or to show the power of Linux - it was all about
having fun.  For me, it was like a big picnic :-)

-- 
Raj Shekhar		           Y!IM : lunatech3007
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