Field Trip: To The Fresno Open Source Users Group (FOSUG)
From FOSUG
I've been thinking about using an operating system other than Windows for a long time. So, when I learned that the Fresno PC Users Group's May meeting topic was going to be Linspire, I figured that this was my great excuse to learn more about various Linux distributions.
The Fresno PC Users Group (FPCUG) has a core of Linux users, and FPCUG member Sanjiv Kapoor pointed me to the pool of experience found at the Fresno Open Source User's Group (FOSUG) where he is also a member.
I looked up the website, joined the email group and lurked for a few days, then like the former school teacher I am, decided to go on a Field Trip to learn more about Linux.
Before I attended my first meeting at FOSUG, I warned them that 1) I was coming, partly to snoop for the FPCUG newsletter, and 2) I was a girl. Neither notification seemed to faze them, so I went.
The FOSUG guys meet at the Institute of Technology in Clovis on the 3rd Saturday of every month. While we wandered our way through the school to the meeting room, the guys informed me that their group wasn't only about various Linux distributions, but about all Open Source software.
That being the case, their meeting that day (May 2006) was about software called Request Tracker (RT). You know how you send a message to Tech Support and you get back and email that says:
"Your ticket has been submitted to our Support department, one of the staff members will review it and reply accordingly. Listed below are details of this ticket, you will need to use the ticket key listed below to update the status of this ticket from web.
Ticket ID: AIV-60187 Ticket Key: 86d448a3"
and from there you communicate with your Friendly Neighborhood Tech Support Person to resolve you problem? Well, that's kind of what Request Tracker does. It's a message system to communicate with Tech Support personnel.
Robert Nickel proceeded to demonstrate the hardware and software requirements, and general installation instructions. From there, he gave us the run down on the specifics of what it can do and how to customize it.
Of course, no discussion of any Open Source topic would be complete without a look under the hood, and once we got a good look at the graphic interface of RT, we got a peek of how to tweak the code to heart's content, as well.
But the guys at FOSUG are nothing, if not good hosts, and while Technical Specifics were whizzing over my head, provisions were made for the interests of the Kindergartener in their midst (me). So, while I kept one ear and one eye on Robert Nickel's demonstration, Steve Wichert sat beside me as Translator of Technical Terms, and gave me a brief tour of a Live CD of Knoppix Linux.
My earliest recollections of other people talking about Linux was complaints of how difficult it was to get the operating system to recognize hardware. My desire to begin my trek away from Windows was tainted by the fear of finding myself in Hardware Recognition Purgatory. As the computer booted up from the CD, it became clear that in order for it to boot up on the fly like this, many of the hardware recognition problems had to have been solved. I was relieved and impressed.
Once everything loaded, it was easy to see that there was a boatload of programs and tools, including video players, RSS readers, programing editors, and games. There's no doubt that having all that software immediately available is a big draw of Linux. In addition, the graphical interface is similar enough to Windows that I didn't feel totally lost at the outset.
After a short look around, Robert's presentation was over, and it was time to log off the disk. Steve W. kindly let me take the disk home to try on my own computer. Between Steve's tutorial and my own explorations at home, I'm looking forward to loading Linux to the hard drive of my experimental computer, but now I have more confidence it will survive the attempt.