[UCIMC-Tech] IMC public PCs Ubuntu-ified - and IMC communication

[Chris Ritzo]

Stuart, this is a great case study emphasizing the need for more
communication as you state, and for coordinating who does what with the
IMC and working groups or members.

This list was always supposed to be a place for that dialog to happen,
and it should continue to be. Keep using it for that!

I'd also recommend that you all write up who does what and post
something publicly about how to get help with things like the public
computers, wifi etc, on signs in public spaces, and as email
communication to working groups and members.

Not communicating about Internet service in the building and who to
contact if something is wrong, results in everyone feeling like they
have to solve things themselves.

The recent issues with wifi in the Makerspace is a good example and the
issues Stuart describes about the public computers. If there's a person
to contact first, or a procedure to follow, write it down and
communicate that regularly to folks.

A group of local folks should get together to plan and manage the public
machines and any other tech stuff you feel you can handle. In the end,
you only should do the things you have capacity to do, and be ready to
set boundaries on your personal time to avoid burnout.

We could devote some time tomorrow from 9-12 to talk about this if folks
want to.

Chris

On 10/08/2015 11:44 PM, Stuart Levy wrote:
> /A non-fictional fable about some things happening in the IMC follows,
> with lessons at the end./
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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!
> 
> When the meeting ended, I went to check out the PCs, and found:
> 
>    (a) They were plugged into a switched outlet, which had been switched
> off at the breaker.
>         So anyone pressing their On buttons would get nowhere.
>         I moved them (/for the second time/) to a non-switched circuit. 
> (How should this be communicated?  See below.)
> 
>    (b) Someone had already installed Ubuntu on them, just this morning
> around 11am.   It works nicely.
> 
>    (c) Sophia had not heard of (b) and was not sure who would have done it.
> 
> *For better and worse,* this is typical of how things work at the IMC:
> 
>     - 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.
>     - People see needs and fill them.  That what you'd hope for.
>     - People too often DON'T TELL OTHERS WHAT IS HAPPENING OR WHY.
> 
> Because of this,
>    I lost about 75 minutes I could have used better elsewhere.
> 
>    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.
> 
>    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?
> 
>    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?)
> 
> *What I wish, for a start:*
>    The imc-tech at lists.chambana.net 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.
> 
> 
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> IMC-Tech at lists.chambana.net
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> 

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 Chris Ritzo
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