End of Semester Reflection: 4/25/07

This semester I feel as though I made a lot of progress. I have spent much more time in the labs and I am really enjoying being a part of the community. I feel as though our workshop was a success and I'm looking forward to expanding on it next semester. All in all, the experiences gained this semester have formed a solid foundation on which I aim to build.

What I Learned This Semester

This semester I learned a great deal about the basics of Linux. I am now running Ubuntu on both of my machines, and in doing so am continuing to learn more and more.
Largely through my participation in the Linux Workshop, I learned a lot about basic installation and distribution selection. Coming into this semester I knew nothing about filesystems the installation of operating systems. Now I regularly rely on this knowledge.
As a new user I have learned a lot about troubleshooting. For example, I had a good amount of trouble getting wireless working. Overcoming this required a playing around with ndiswrapper. Ultimately, I got things working which was quite rewarding because it meant I could use my laptop anywhere I please, as it should be. Another issue I had was with my display. I got very familiar with xorg.conf and got this working as well. Looking back the troubles I had seem rather trivial now. I see this as an indication of progress because when they presented themselves these issues seemed daunting.
I spent a great amount of time making my install my own, so to speak. I am very pleased by the vast array of options that exist for common tasks in Linux. Naturally, there are many applications I had become very accustomed to using in Windows. Finding comparable replacements has not always been easy. However, after some searching I have found myself very pleased with what I have found. In fact in some cases I have found that the linux "equivalents" are, in my humble opinion, better. Essentially, I learned that Linux is in not a compromise.
Since web development is very important to me, it seemed logical to set of a LAMP server on which to learn PHP and MySQL. This was a good learning experience requiring some configuration.
This semester I learned xhtml transitional. That is, I stopped using table based layouts in my websites and began using more CSS. This was long overdue, and I am very pleased that I accomplished this. Additionally, I began giving more focus to developing standards complient sites.
One thing I still find myself sneaking back to Windows for is graphics editing programs. An immediate goal of mine is to learn how to effectively use the gimp. I would really love to be able to design web sites in the gimp and perhaps give a presentation on this in the future.
The final thing I learned this semester is less technical, but I feel very important. I now feel capable of explaining the basic advantages of open source to a reluctant user. I'm looking forward to going home this summer and showing my old friends the benefits of open source. In addition, I hope to expand the (nonexistant + 1) Linux user base in my rural home town of Argyle NY.

Basics of Linux Workshop: 3/3/07

On Saturday March 3rd, we held our first Linux Workshop. I feel that this was a learning experience for all involved. Personally, I learned a lot in preparing for this workshop. Based on the responses we received from participants, it was a learning experience for all involved.

Holding this workshop taught us, as a group, a lot about the course of our project. Those who attended, 6 in total, came from a range of computing backgrounds. A few were completely new to Linux, while others expressed interest in more advanced workshops in the future. This seems like a pretty good indication of things to come. If we can refine our advertising strategies, I feel that we will be able to reach a great deal of interested users. And hopefully through our efforts, everyone involved will walk away with more knowledge.