Software Freedom Day, Guyana, 2005

While I was a little late because of helping Buddy out with wiring the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (that being just giving some advice while he and the IT department did the work), I did make it to the YWCA on Brickdam here in Georgetown, Guyana for Software Freedom Day.

It was Guyanese. It was Free Software. It was Open Source. It was Drupal. It was LTSP. And it was even advertised in the newspaper here in Guyana! Great organization, wish I could have contributed somehow.

When I got there, I was about an hour late. I got to meet some of the good people of the Guyana Linux User Group. The sign that greeted people was hand drawn, and actually one of the best Open Source signs I've seen in a while. Spare me the corporate look, give me the grassroots any day.

I've been on the GLUG list since at least 2003, and over the last few years I've gotten to meet only Vidyaratha Kissoon (in St. Lucia for CARDICIS). Recently I got to meet Andrew Mancey at the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum, but that was here in Guyana. So it was good to meet some of the people who are actually members of the GLUG, and who don't get to attend the conferences. Linux, Open Source and Free Software are about people, despite the marketing hype that comes out of the media machines. This is the real world. Wooden floors, no internet access, Linux Terminal Server Project and an intranet running Drupal.

LTSP

When I got there, people were fiddling with the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) that Eric Terpstra of the Peace Corps had running at the YWCA there. The little computer lab was packed when I walked in - in fact, I had to nudge someone with the door to get inside. Basically, what the LTSP does is allows older machines to simply run machines off a Linux server - in this case, there were three machines running off of one server which, despite a login screen, was keeping the other three machines running. A few people were having their first Linux experience, and like a honeymoon, sometimes it's better to just leave people be with the machine.

People seemed to really have gotten into fiddling with things, so I didn't get to play my mandatory game of Frozen Bubble at a Linux station. And before the keyboards cleared, Vidya was calling for people to come upstairs for the Drupal demonstration.

Drupal

Vidya set up a neat little presentation on Drupal, and I snuck the picture on the left in through the window. He went over the concept of a Content Management System, and gave examples such as Slashdot.org and other sites... including KnowProSE.com, to my surprise. It's a bit weird seeing your personal site in a presentation for the first time, in front of people I didn't know - but I got into it and helped Vidya as I could.

That Drupal was well received is a given. It actually is a disruptive technology in the region - as well as other content management systems - because it takes away the need to pay 'web designers' to add content to a site you or your company owns. Or your group. The chairs filled in during this segment, and only three of about 30 were empty. That marks a certain success in Georgetown, and Guyana - where the population of 750,000 is spread out over such a large area.

I'd been discussing how I am modifying Drupal for Medical Records , when I met Emerson Brandford. We started chatting - he's a member of the Stakeholder's Empowerment for Renewal of Guyana (SEFROG), and was happy I had asked a leading question.¹ We talked about community driven development, about a bottom up approach to communities (something that was the start of democracy and maybe got lost somewhere), and 'empowering people'². He saw how Drupal could do what he hadn't imagined he could do, and at a low cost and with no training other than a manual online. Very cool. I have to send him some information for joining some of the regional email lists, too.

SuSE 9.3 Install

I jetted here. I have seen Linux install so many times now that I was bound to be a distraction. So I stayed away so as not to detract from a good install of SuSE. I have yet to see SuSE 9.3 fail on installation. Novell done good.

But for others, this was a new experience - watching Linux install for the first time. I got a few warm fuzzies knowing people were getting to see how easy it was to install their own operating system instead of the operating system manufacturers pass out like laxative.³

Software Development: Chad Arthur

Chad has written an interface for LAME (LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder) which allows easy conversion from WAV formats to MP3 (and back again, if you're feeling sadistic). Here's his first email on it on the GLUG email list:

I wrote a simple interface for Lame today in C. It's simple but remembering the lame syntax can be annoying sometimes sooo this app makes it a bit easier!! It's a work in progress and the options are giving me a problem. If anyone is a developer out there take a look at the code and let me know what's up!! I'm also working on a GUI which (I think) will be something a lot more useful. I'll let you know how it goes!!! *LINUX ONLY BTW*

URL for the app is: http://www.sunatrise.com/converter.tar.gz

Run the usual configure...make..make install; then from any console type "converter". It's also a bit large for what it does; but I'll fix that not to worry *smiles* REMEMEBER YOU MUST HAVE LAME INSTALLED!!! To check; just type lame from the console.

While Chad's project may not seem like it's earth shattering to some - it certainly does demonstrate how Open Source software can be customized to one's own needs, and the LAME interface he demonstrated does work.

He delved into software development next - talking and demonstrating KDevelop and later, Anjuta. Chad gave a great performance, and hit all the questions to the outfield.⁴

Ubuntu Linux cds disappeared fast after this. Wonderful stuff.

A great Software Freedom Day here in Guyana. Next year, pay attention if you missed this one. It always improves. :-)

¹ I asked how Drupal differed from Microsoft Frontpage. I knew the answer, as did all the other geeks in there, but the point was that a lot of people there didn't know. So I asked a dumb question. Sue me.
² I don't like 'empowering people' as a phrase, since when you have something trapped under a glass you have power over it. 'Freeing people' is how I look at it, and that's a semantic discussion in and of itself.
³ Maybe Microsoft should start giving away toilet paper with Windows. Good marketing ploy for them, maybe. Yeah, I'm biased. So what?
⁴ I didn't ask him how the kernel worked, but I did that to Vidya. Whenever someone asks, "Are there any questions?" at a Linux get together, I've always found the answers to that interesting. :-) Sorry, Vidya. :-)