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Oh OK - that's fine. I feel much less confused then.<br>
<br>
I'd still be interested in who might have admin access to the
computers, or at least, what to do if we want additional packages
installed. (Is it simplest if I just make myself an admin
account? I can do that easily enough - is there any reason not
to?) And whether anyone would mind if I replace an internal
DVD-ROM drive with a CD/DVD writer.<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/9/15 11:35 AM, Barry Todd wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAB+US643tFd7Ub3EkONJUnkBKEuNUBT=Ei-WKoTgo+X9B6JkbA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<p dir="ltr">Hi Stuart I apologize for not letting you know I
asked one of the guys at work at the help desk to install Ubuntu
on it yesterday have been little bit under the weather so I
didn't get back to you</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Oct 8, 2015 10:44 PM, "Stuart Levy"
<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:stuartnlevy@gmail.com">stuartnlevy@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br type="attribution">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <i>A non-fictional
fable about some things happening in the IMC follows, with
lessons at the end.</i><br>
<br>
About ten days ago, I'd asked imc-tech list + some
makerspace people whether anyone had a plan for the
(then-unusable) IMC public PCs - I was offering to install
ubuntu on them if nobody did. Nobody responded. I
guessed that meant that nobody felt ownership of them. <br>
<br>
Last weekend, I learned - thanks to Sophia! - that Barry
Todd had been feeling responsible for them. Barry and I
traded notes, and one or the other of us would go install
some usable software, either Ubuntu or Windows 7, on them in
time for the bulk of this weekend's festivities. Great.<br>
<br>
This afternoon, I had some time, and went over to the IMC.
A meeting was in progress next to the PCs, so I hung out and
waited for that to end, about 40 minutes.<br>
<br>
While I was there, Chris Ritzo came by, we chatted, he
showed me some of the great stuff he's been doing toward
WRFU streaming - even to the point of trying it out. This
is wonderful!<br>
<br>
When the meeting ended, I went to check out the PCs, and
found:<br>
<br>
(a) They were plugged into a switched outlet, which had
been switched off at the breaker.<br>
So anyone pressing their On buttons would get
nowhere.<br>
I moved them (<i>for the second time</i>) to a
non-switched circuit. (How should this be communicated?
See below.)<br>
<br>
(b) Someone had already installed Ubuntu on them, just
this morning around 11am. It works nicely.<br>
<br>
(c) Sophia had not heard of (b) and was not sure who
would have done it.<br>
<br>
<b>For better and worse,</b> this is typical of how things
work at the IMC:<br>
<br>
- The IMC can a neat place to hang out. By hanging out
there, I met by chance with Chris, a valuable meeting as
well as a pleasant one.<br>
- People see needs and fill them. That what you'd hope
for.<br>
- People too often DON'T TELL OTHERS WHAT IS HAPPENING
OR WHY.<br>
<br>
Because of this,<br>
I lost about 75 minutes I could have used better
elsewhere.<br>
<br>
I don't know who set up Ubuntu. I'm guessing it wasn't
Barry, who would likely have installed Windows (as he
previously had on the other similar machines in the office)
and would likely have let me know he'd gone in to set them
up.<br>
<br>
What if someone wants additional Ubuntu packages
installed besides the default ones (a media editor, mplayer,
cd burner, Chrome browser, ...)? Who has an admin password
to the machines to make that possible? Who would even know
who might have it? Should I just break in and create an
admin account?<br>
<br>
This last is not a theoretical question. I would like
to install a CD/DVD-burner on at least one of those
computers, and then let people know it's available. This
would involve hardware and probably software. (Hardware?
Should I buy a CD writer drive, or is one lying around?)<br>
<br>
<b>What I wish, for a start:</b><br>
The <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:imc-tech@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank">imc-tech@lists.chambana.net</a>
list could be a good place to trade this sort of
information. Not just "such-and-such is broken, please
help", but a place to log plans and actions. I know Barry
has been finding surprising changes made to things he's been
feeling responsible for keeping up - not a good way to
maintain morale.<br>
</div>
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<br>
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