alex.polvi.net

Our recent installfest was a major success. We had over 65 people attend, in which about 3/4 of those brought a machine. Pretty fantastic.

We got some fancy press before and after the event!

I just got done talking with Dean Adams, from the College of Engineering, about the open source curriculum campaign. I can happily report that prospects are looking very good. First off, the timing of our conversation seems to be perfect. Linus was recently on the cover of Business Week, a magazine that Adams reads and respects. Our Installfest ran in the paper today, showing how much support there is for open source on campus. COE is in the process of developing curriculum that creates an opportunity for experiential learning. On top of all that College of Business is in the process of recruiting Linus to speak for a “Distinguished speaker series”.

As I made the pitch about OS in education I got the impression that he was truly interested in what I had to say. As the conversation went on, he was finishing my sentences, and adding his own bonuses to why OS in education makes sense.

One comment he made about open source was, “It cannot be ignored.” He understands that Oregon is quickly becoming the center of open source, and that Oregon State needs to recognize that. We already have the open source lab, but since it is part of IS, there is no tie into education. Yet. He noted that this campaign for open source would have been made leagues easier if the OSL could have gotten the buy in of at least one professor from EECS. As it stands, we have more support from the college of business faculty, then by Engineering.

He mentioned that we need some sort tie in to the OSDL up in Beaverton. I was happy to jump in and say the OSL has already made that connection by having Oregon State be one of the first universities to become an OSDL affiliate. To the outside world all the Oregon State embraces open source, so it is just a matter of sorting thing out internally.

Another concern was of faculty to drive this. We have nobody who is completely hip to using open source in the classroom. He said, “If you had one, just one faculty member interested this would be very easy.” This comment was very similar to the one made about the OSL. The next part of this campaign will involve engaging EECS faculty, and trying to get buy in. From there he wants to meet again with the faculty member, and myself, to discuss prospects.

He noted that the OSLUG is doing a very good job of being active. Being involved with Oregon State, and getting things done, helps a lot. I agree, we have been really active. We have completed two installfests, both of which were a huge success. Our meetings are becoming more regular, and we are gaining a lot of momentum. I was very proud to hand Adams a Barometer and have the Linux Users Group on the front page. We rule.

Our conversation ended with, “Alex, you will make a difference.” That is awesome, my difference is going to be developing a platform for learning based around what (a lot of) students are interested in. Him telling me that gave me the sign that he wants to move forward with this, we just need the buy in of the folks to make it happen.

Some other interesting facts:

• COE received a grant for $1.3million that is being used to find ways to enhance learning.
• Jim Johnson, the CEO of Tripwire, and Dean Adams friend is interested in coming to stay in Weatherford.
• “We must use the assets such as the Open Source Lab on campus”

This is going to happen, it is just a matter of time and the stars aligning. In the mean time I encourage everyone who wants to help to get involved in the OSLUG. Just general participation in any thing open source related will make this possible, because it is the support that matters.

I deleted a few of my blogs by accident :(. Thought I was deleting spam, did not think about it enough I guess.

Seems like existing companies could sell headless laptops meant for desktop use. The manufacturing is all there, you would just remove the keyboard, mouse, and LCD and call it good. I am surprised this is not available yet (at least that I know of).

Well, everything seems to have come up as expected. The UPS lasted long enough for the few hosts we left up, so that was nice. The power guy was right on the money, power was back on at ~10:45am.

Went and talked with a fellow from Pacific Power. His early call for the power is 11am.

On another note I found out all about the tunnels under campus. Now I really want to put together a lug event touring around down there. Maybe Tom will have some insight in how to make that happen.

Time to eat a granola bar.

Then it happened, the power went out in an instant. It didn’t fade away, it just went right out as expected. It even happened around the expected time. The basement machine room stayed on generator as planned. I was able to powerdown all the boxes with plenty of time to spare. I guess to sum things up, everything is going as it should.

Probably the most exciting thing is using my laptop in the dark. Its like I am in a high profile fort (my office) doing a top secret reconnaissance mission for the soviets.

When I walked out of my dorm room this morning the world looked small. It was because the sunrise had created a red and orange backdrop in the fog so vivid that I felt I could touch it. During the entire walk to Kerr I tried to think up something to blog regarding the sunrise. That came out pretty well in my opinion.

Anyway… I sit here in office waiting for the power to go out. Scott left me with a sweet flashlight, so I am pretty pumped to use that. The anticipation is getting to me. What is going to happen? Is it going to be on time? Are any of our hosts going to lose an MBR? Will I be able to click “Publish” before we lose it all?

All of these questions answered and more, when the power comes back.

Chris Bell encouraged me to send a letter to Dean Adams about open source in College of engineering. So here it is…

Hi Alex,

Thanks for making a clear pitch for open source in COE. I’ll discuss
with college leadership and get back to you.

Best,

Ron Adams

—–Original Message—–
From: Alex Polvi
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 9:07 PM
To: Adams, Ronald Lynn
Cc: Bell, Chris A.; test display name
Subject: Engineering and Open Source

Dean Adams,

This is an informal proposal for incorporating open source software into
the engineering community on campus. From my research within the EECS
department, open source tools are not being utilized to their max
potential in the classroom. I propose that College of Engineering
develop a platform for learning based around free and open source
software.

There are a many reasons why this is strategically, and educationally
very important.

1) The interest from students is overwhelming. An example of this was
the Oregon State Linux Users Group InstallFest near the beginning of the
first term. An InstallFest is where members of the community, mostly
students, bring their computer to get support installing Linux. Our
event started at 4:00pm, and within 15min the lab we had on the second
floor of Dearborn was full. We had a line out the door. Below are photos
(if you are interested). Interestingly enough, a lot of the people who
attended were freshman engineering students with their laptops.

We are having another InstallFest, this time in the Valley Library (3rd
floor, Willamette room), from 4pm-8pm on Friday Jan 28th. It would be
wonderful if you and your peers could attend!

2) Industry seeks experience in open source. There are many examples of
companies that look for open source on the resume. One company that
successfully adapted open source into a commercial product is Tripwire.
Tripwire originally used an open source tool to build its business, and
now sells a commercial product while offering an open source version.
IBM also has invested over 1 billion dollars into open source solutions.
If either of those companies saw open source on the resume, it would put
that student leagues above the other applicants. There are many other
companies, not just these, that would greatly desire students to have
experience in the open source world.

To achieve experience with open source, we need it in the classroom as a
formal track of computer science. Beavers could graduate with a degree
in “Computer Science with an emphasis in Open Source Development”.

Such a program would instantly create an opportunity for OSU to become
leaders in this field. PSU currently has a single class for such topics,
they have the vision, they are just not thinking big enough. When I
mentioned this idea to the professor who taught the open source
classes, he went bonkers. His curriculum is currently available and
would
be perfect for an introductory course.

This is truly a way to impact our college and the students that utilize
its resources. This program will also line up very nicely with the top
25 campaign — by offering something that no other engineering school is.

The greatest thing that this program will bring is talent. Many of the
finest developers are looking for a place to get a CS degree, right now
there is no program out there that is aimed at such talents.

I could go on and on about all the wonderful reasons why we need to do
this. Could we get together to talk about this in person? Hopefully you
will be able to make it to the InstallFest on Jan 28th!

Quick recap (I know that was a lot of information)
* Open Source Development Program
* Students want it
* Industry wants it
* An opportunity to become leaders in CS education
* Will undoubtedly attract talent
* Next InstallFest is Jan 28th

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

-Alex

PS: Installfest photo to illustrate how many people we had:

http://lug.oregonstate.edu/gallery/installfest/pict0042

–
Alex Polvi :: student-at-large
Oregon State University
http://alex.polvi.net/

If you scroll too fast, your browser may crash. Well, if you are running it out of a ppc32 chroot on top of a ppc64 kernel and userspace. So far the only application that I cannot get to compile on ppc64 is mozilla and/or firefox. In my 32bit environment I have gotten both to compile, but Firefox will not start. Mozilla works about 86% of the time… the other 14% being when I scroll too fast, or google the wrong terms, or even just find a particular Mosaic killer killer website. Over all it sucks, but it is better then no browser at all!

I try to ask my questions in the appropriate IRC channels, but most of the time I just come across as being annoying. Guess I should just have to figure all this out on my own, right?