VOIP for Lingarra

I introduced the Lingarra folks to VOIP and audacity yesterday.

After adding the universe repository in ubuntu, we installed wengophone, ekiga and audacity with Synaptic.

Bret created an account and called my landline with it. Yay for free calls. I spoke with a couple of the kids who said the liked using the computers. I guess they probably found it weird speaking to someone through the computer mic! Interesting times ahead. :)

I also think they could do some cool stuff with audacity...record language...make a podcast..record music...the possibilities are endless!

We will tackle the use of ekiga next because i think it has better sound quality.

Another one on the list is skype but we couldn't find it with Synaptic...looks like a download is in order.

Software Freedom Day 06 - Success!!

So we had a very successful event at the Melbourne Town Hall...lots of different FOSS groups came along and got involved. Some even travelled from distances afar. All up around 200-300 people attended the event. Lots of ordinary folks coming along to find out more about Linux. Judging by the emails I have received people who attended had a great day!

The door man (who also has some free software to try) commented that everyone who came out was pretty happy and impressed with what they saw inside. :)

I was kept fairly busy with some technical hitches and forgotten things...plus general stuff with the Computerbank team. I got to catch up with a lot of people and hope to speak to them again in the future.

My favorite bit was the dance off between Tux and uber-geek Rob. :)

We had two film crews - CMS/Channel 31 and Tektime - so we should get some interesting videos. CMS / Channel 31 already made a community service annoucement for the event. I hope they upload it somewhere! It was great! Photos also coming soon (as soon as people send them to me).

Bit of feedback and reflection - maybe a stall with spruikers out the front (more balloons and signs saying stuff like 'free event, free internet, free things'), more penguin action, more direct marketing to different groups (e.g. visits to schools and community groups with talks in the lead up to the event). Try harder on the jugglers and performance artists. Involve more community groups. Going on the John Feine show, other radio media. A big group SFD shot would have also been cool to have. I should have also checked IRC - Bret from Lingarra was online waiting for us to do a SFD hook up. Oops.

While heaps of people did help (thanks heaps, you know who you are), a little more help with stuff would have been good. I was staying up quite late nights just to keep on top of my computerbank and sfd workload.

For SFD in general - for everyone's benefit - a big google banner ad - pointing people to SFD website.

Other highlights and activities on the day included the LUV CD handout (1000 cd's in less than an hour), the LUV installfest and the Victorian School of Languages Dutch Class using audacity as a study aid (with Computerbank laptops!, yay!).

A great! day for Software Freedom in Melbourne! Hooray!

Tasty Food for Turning on the Internet

Just got back from helping an older person set up their net connection. They had tried many times to get it going but could not get the modem to detect. Our custom net config utility had come across one of those 'freaky' modems and needed some manual input. Our client did not know what to put for modem location so didn't. Needless to say it didn't work.

When I arrived I checked the cables (very messy) and assumed the phone line was good to go (it certainly looked like it). The utility did not auto-detect, i manually plugged in /dev/ttyS1. It still did not work. I double checked the cables. This time I followed the phone cable and found it going into the network card on the computer. Doh! When I patched everything in the right way the modem was able to connect to her ISP.

The lady was very happy as she could now send emails to her family. As I was leaving she gave me a slice of cheesecake and some leek and potato pastry slice. The food was a very nice gesture for my efforts. It was also very yummy. :)

Another Linux user ...Yay! Email conversion Yuk!

So I'm helping a community development worker from a the remote outback community of Lingarra in the Norther Territory. Computerbank sent these guys a Linux laptop with ubuntu dapper preloaded. We were expecting them to put Windows on it but they are going to stick with Linux...if only their Outlook mail and contacts can be imported across.

So I am giving it my best shot and it hasn't been easy. Painful is one word to describe it. An area that really needs attention.

We had to make outlook the default client to get address book into thunderbird on windows. That was easy. From here we exported address book to LDIF and imported into Thunderbird on Ubuntu. Yay. 800ish contacts. All there. Easy. Nice win for us.

Now the scary part, the mailboxes. 40 of them and 109 of sent item folders! Bah! We set outlook express as the default mailer and get it to import the mail. Thunderbird can import outlook express mail. Yay. So we did that.

And then we tried someones suggestion of copying the whole blahblah.default file onto the linux blahblah.default file caused thunderbird to error message with "Thunderbird is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Thunderbird process, or restart your system." Yuk.

So we reverted to our trashed blahblah.default file and got thunderbird happening again. Yay for the rubbish bin. Our next attempt involved copying the msf and sbd files across. We did a test with one set. Same place/location - .mozilla-thunderbird/blahlah.default/Mail/Local Folders/Inbox.sbd

Hooray! It worked. We then attempted to copy and paste the whole lot across in one go. It didn't work. My friend is now trying one by one again. We'll know more tomorrow. So far we have spent a good 6 hours on this problem. My friend has spent way more time on this. He also has to do the same for his Sent items. Ouch. These things need to be easier. Good on him for his willingness and commitment to break free and go open. One more Linux user in the community. Many more folks are using that Linux laptop too. :)

Next we look at building up a network out of the other 2 computers he has lying around. We might need someone to send a network cable out to Lingarra. I'd like to get out to the community to provide some training and add a few more desktops for community use. Being able to assist over IRC has made things a whole lot easier and my friend is picking things up really quick. :)

An 11 year old persons thoughts on Linux

I was chatting to a young person using GAIM tonight. I helped them set up a hotmail account on their Linux computer so they could chat to their MSN messenger friends. I also helped them out with a few other bits and pieces.

We discovered that one of the 'must go to' sites was flash 8 so it didn't work under Linux. It gives the frustrating option to install a Linux flash player ... as it is only version 7 it doesn't work! Bah.

They commented that Linux looked different but was the same to use as the computers at school (mix of windows/mac). The internet was no different bar the hiccups with Flash 8.

And...their favourite game was SuperTux. :)

Found and Now in Electronic Format!

The Computerbank Project – is it Community Development? - A third year Community Development Social Work Essay


Defining Community Development
Defining the “what is” of community development is a particularly difficult task. Mc Ardle (1998) notes that “community development is an often used, yet often ill-defined concept which underlies much of community work today.” (McArdle, p.47, 1989). It must be recognised that “working in the community” alone does not always constitute the practice of community development. (Kenny, 1996). The current Federal Government's 'work for the dole' scheme, where the unemployed do 'community work' in return for their unemployment benefits, is a timely illustration of this claim. “Whether or not those working in the community are actually undertaking community development is debated by those in the field”. (Kenny, 1996, op cit).

Earlier writings by Kenny indicate that community development work is “committed to redressing the imbalance of power between groups in society, including those lacking resources and opportunities and those suffering isolation.” (Kenny, p.7, 1994). Community development workers are thereby committed to “powerless people and social justice, citizenship and human rights, empowerment and self determination, collective action and diversity.” (Kenny, p.17, 1994). Social change, then, is generally considered to be the underlying aspiration of community development.

Many agree that empowerment is central to the practice of community development (Kenny, 1994, Ernst, 1998). There are many definitions of empowerment however for the purpose of this essay it will be taken as meaning “giving people greater power and control over their lives.” (Ernst, p3, 1988). I believe that the Computerbank project has this concern at its core – the method of doing however will remain contentious as it appears to foster the welfare tradition of charity. There are some clear elements of community development being undertaken within the scope of the Computerbank project – however there are some problematic and contentious foundations. I take comfort in the claim by Ife “that there is no single 'right' formula for what constitutes community and no single 'right' way to develop it.” (Ife, p94, 1995).

The Computerbank Project – Is it Community Development?

The Computerbank Project
The Computerbank project is a coalition of people getting together through the use of internet technology (networked computing services including email, mailing lists, information dissemination, and chat). we are committed to addressing the inequality of access to information technologies as experienced by disadvantaged individuals, schools and community groups. The Computerbank project is fundamentally about equipping disadvantaged individuals, community groups and schools with information technology resources and skills so that they can participate in the benefits of information technology and networked computing.

Community Characteristics
At the present moment the project entails the involvement of people who would normally regard themselves to be part of the global “free software community” or the GNU/Linux community. This community is best described as a “functional” community who shares a “common element” that “provides a sense of identity.” (Ife, p92, 1995).The common element being commitment to open collaborative computing through the promotion and continued development of the GNU/Linux operating system.

It is truly global – in that the operating system itself is used in all the developed nations and several developing nations. Mexico has adopted the GNU/Linux system for the schooling system, and the United Nations are handing out Linux CD's to Latin American community, education and science projects. (Yee, 1999, at http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/freedom/ip/aidfs.html#action )

The GNU/Linux operating system is best described as a freely distributable, independent Unix-like operating system for the x86 and various other machines. It is an implementation of the POSIX specification with which all true versions of Unix comply. It is used for software development, networking, and as an end user platform. GNU/Linux is a multi-user multitasking operating system. The Linux kernel was developed originally by Linux Torvalds and was distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The GPL ensures that the general public owns the software, in that they are able to copy, redistribute and modify it for any purpose. (GNU.org, 1999, at http://www.gnu.org ). In essence the users of the operating system contribute (or can contribute) to its further development.

The GNU/Linux operating system is a major threat to those who subscribe to the more traditional forms of software development and copyright, its emergence and popularity is forcing many companies to re-evaluate their software development strategies and practices. The Halloween document leaked by a Microsoft employee concedes that developments like those achieved by the GNU/Linux free software community “pose a direct, short term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in server space. Additionally, the intrinsic parallelism and free idea exchange in OSS (open source software) has benefits that are not replicable with our current licensing model and therefore present a long term developer mindshare threat.” (Halloween Document, 1999, at http://www.opensource.org/halloween1.html ).

Wider Implications of the Community – Social Movement?
The 'free software community' is particularly of interest to a community development worker in that this group of people appears to have created a successful social movement strategy – one that undermines the monopoly practices of software suppliers such as Microsoft.

Sargent has noted that “social movements consist of groups of people who seek by their activities to influence social change in some particular direction” and they “have been seen variously as activities of the masses (Arendt), of the intelligentsia (Gouldner),of the highly educated (Burklin), of youth or others concerned with lifestyle matters (Turner).” (Sargent, p379-380, 1994). Consistent with this claim Microsoft acknowledges that “the ability of the OSS process to collect and harness the collective IQ of thousands of individuals across the internet is simply amazing. More importantly OSS evangelization scales with the size of the internet much faster than our own evangelization effort appears to scale.” (Halloween Document, 1999, at http://www.opensource.org/halloween1.html ).

The Berkman Centre for the Internet and Society has referred to this particular movement as being “A new software movement based chiefly on free, open access to the source code of software, [that] is showing its tremendous power to fortify user sovereignty in the computing/internet marketplace. This movement represents one of the most novel, potentially powerful expressions of the consumer movement in a generation.” (Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, 1999, at http://www.opencode.org/h2o/ ).

The free software community is concerned with the control and direction that big corporate enterprise such as Microsoft exerts over the development of software, this power is seen as destructive to self determination and choice. Monopolies such as Microsoft are able to define standards and user expectations, they are able to direct the development of technology at a pace that suits them – consequently their ability to do this has enabled them to become one of the worlds most 'successful' companies. The free software community is committed to the development of a publicly owned operating system based on open standards rather than proprietary standards – it is committed to 'freeing the software' from monopolistic control.

The Berkman Centre for Internet and Society acknowledge that “today, at the dawn of the Internet as a popular medium, as major corporations vie for hegemony over the new communications infrastructure and standards,open code software holds great promise to forge a new, more socially constructive path. It offers the chance to empower consumers, non-profits, education and various civic segments of American Society. It allows for more open, flexible architectural designs for markets, communities and cultures. It enables the construction of cheaper, more durable new media platforms which can accommodate scalability and innovation with great ease.” (Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, 1999, op cit).

Virtual Communities Versus Real Locality Based Communities
The 'evangelistic' efforts of the free software community are strengthened, and will be strengthened, when more people know about it. The efforts of the free software community are constrained by the 'virtual' nature of their interactions. If the operating system can not be promoted to the wider public in a way that rivals the Microsoft marketing machine, this effort may be in vain. Many people from this community often join local user groups in their hometowns and in doing so promote their activities in the real world. Some of them are joining Computerbank

With the beginning of the Computerbank project it is hoped that the promotion of free software will assist struggling individuals and communities to participate and take advantage of information technology. Our foundation has been aided by the 'virtual' however our practice will be very much grounded in real everyday activity.

Think Globally Acting Locally
Computerbank Victoria is one such organisation that has formed out of the Computerbank project. Computerbank organisations are being established in other states and other parts of the globe. This development is consistent with the green dictum “think globally, act locally” where the potential for this to become a worldwide activity that takes place at the local level is high.(Ife, p89, `1995). It is an activity grounded in social justice.

Computerbank Victoria – Community Organisation
Computerbank Victoria is a “community organisation.” In this sense we are a “not for profit” organisation that is “autonomous from government” and we are “constructed around an issue relevant to communities”, namely, equitable access to information technologies for all. (Kenny, p137, 1994). Our purpose is to provide information technology resources that have the potential to empower people both at the individual level and at the local community level.

A dilemma is evident in the operation of Computerbank Victoria – not only do we provide computers to community groups, we also provide them to individuals. We could be accused of fostering the individualist mentality consistent with current economic rationalistic principals. Indeed this was a criticism put forward by a worker from VCOSS during a telephone conversation I had with him about Computerbank Victoria. The worker thought that the emphasis should be on community ownership of information technology rather than individual ownership.

Jackson has noted that community development work occurs across a “community development continuum.” It can include “developmental casework” where the onus is on helping the individual with their daily struggle. “It is based on a belief that low income people have the right, here and now, to support in the face of difficulties and rejects the view that it is only through continued suffering that oppressed people become motivated to work for change themselves and others.” (Jackson, p4, 1988).

Resources and Recycling
Even as McArdle notes one tool of community development is “service provision”, that is, “seeking to gain the communities participation in meeting their own needs, it is often necessary (and quite legitmate) to initially provide an immediate outcome or to tackle the presenting problem before individuals may be willing (or able) to undertake social and personal change.” (McArdle, p51, 1989). I believe that Computerbank Victoria is meeting the need of individuals and community groups, which is, to have access to information and networking opportunities afforded by information technologies.

Within the premise of the Computerbank project is the assumption that computer technology is beneficial for those that have access and opportunities to use it. Indeed some theorists ave argued that “technological development is unsustainable when it does not occur for socially or environmentally determined reasons” and needs to be “constrained to develop sustainable rather than unsustainable technologies.” (Ife, p46, 1995).

In ecological terms sustainability means “that systems must be maintained in the long term, that resources should be used only at a rate at which they can be replenished, that the renewable energy sources should be utilised, that output to the environment be limited to the level which it can be adequately absorbed, and that consumption should be minimised rather than maximised.” (Ife, p45, 1995).

Our activities might be considered as sustainable in that we are making use of computers that would normally be considered redundant. Much of this equipment goes to waste, never to be used again. Even software applications produced by the software monopolies are unsustainable, as they require greater resources to run. GNU/Linux runs very efficiently and reliably on older hardware, enabling hardware to be used for longer periods of time.

Empowerment and Networking
The social potentials of the internet and networked computing are only just being realised. I do believe, like many others, that the information superhighway does hold 'social' benefits for people and communities who are able to utilise it to its greatest potential – that is as an information dissemmenation, communication and networking tool. “A community window on to the internet opens new doors for people , and offers them the opportunities to learn new skills. As an interactive medium, the internet allows community networks to talk to those with power and resources in decision making, including parliamentarians, the beuracracy and other sectors of the community.” (CIVIC, undated at http://www.civic.org.au/cn99/prev.htm )

Dale Spender has raised access to online services for all as a fundamental human right in the next millennium. She claims that “in man ways the internet is less like a superhighway, and more like a village square, where every one can have their own soap box. It provides a place where people can meet, learn, work, play, chat and do business. Where communities come and go, in relation to their interests.” (Spender, 1998, at http://www.vicnet.net.au/acna/spender.htm ).

By providing information technology resources (recycled hardware, a publicly owned operating system and training) we are providing opportunities that will enable disadvantaged communities and individuals to decide whether or not the internet is to be used for the “building up” or “dumbing down” the communities in which they live and participate. (Spender, 1998, op cit). The potential for communities to effect social change through the use of information technologies is evident with the example of the 'free software community.'

So is it Community Development?
I believe that even though Computerbank itself may not actually be doing community development within communities (at the present time) other than our own, we are providing resources that have the potential to contribute to the overall community development strategy. We are doing what we can with the resources already available and we are using them to foster the growth of “villages” on the information superhighway. I believe that we are giving people tools that could potentially “give people greater power and control over their lives.” (Ernst, p3, 1998).

The example of the 'free software community' from whom Computerbank's draw its members, shows the ability of information technology to contribute to social change on a global scale. Microsoft's threatened position is evidence of this.

Bibliography
Berkman Centre for Internet and Society (1999).at http://www.opencode.org/h2o/

Community Information Victoria (1999) at http://www.civic.org.au/cn99/prev.htm

Computerbank Project (1999) at http://www.computerbank.org.au

Ernst.J. (1988). Community Development – An introduction. Unpublished.

Gnu.org (1999) at http://www.gnu.org

Halloween Document (1998) at http://www.opensource.org/halloween1.html

Ife.J (1995) Community Development. Creating Community Alternatives – vision, analysis and practice. Melbourne. Longman.

Jackson.T, Mitchell.S, and Wright.M (1988) The Community Development Continuum. Paper presented at the Second National Conference of the Australian Community Health Association, April.

Kenny.S. (1996) Contestations of Community Development in Australia. Found on a website a long time ago, and I have lost all reference of where it came from. I have included a copy for your perusal.

Kenny.S. (1994) Developing Communities for the Future. Community Development in Australia. Melbourne. Nelson.

McArdle.J. (1989) 'Community Development – Tools of the Trade' in Community Quarterly No 16, pp47-54

Sargent.M. (1994) The New Sociology for Australians. Melbourne. Longman Cheshire.

Spender.D. (1998) Building up or Dumbing Down? A Keynote address to the Communities Networking/Networking Communities Conference. Feb. Melbourne at http://www.vicnet.net.au/acna/spender.htm

Yee.D. (1999). Development, Ethical Trading, and Free Software. At http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/freedom/ip/aidfs.html#action

--Author - Kylie Davies, 11/05/1999

Software Freedom Day Ideas??

Hey ho. Not sure what we are going to get up to for Software Freedom day this year. It is on Saturday, September 16th.

We have a wiki over at http://vic.computerbank.org.au/wiki/SoftwareFreedomDay.

I'm going to put in an application to use the Melbourne Town Hall on the off chance we go with the following idea. I'm thinking that a fair/open day event might be a real goer. We could have a few speakers. Demos of free software and stalls from different open source groups. Computerbank could sell some of it's stock of recycled computers and other bits and pieces. We could screen Revolution OS too. We'd need a bit of publicity to attract a crowd. A penguin out the front could attract passing by traffic and hand out free CD's. Perhaps we could invite John So and Steve Bracks and other people ?

Got any other suggestions? Think something big and public, we need to spread the word to as many people as possible. :)

Rally, Rally, Rally, World Environment Day

World Environment Day. Rally, rally, rally! Sunday June 4th, 11am at the Victorian State Library. Walk to Federation Square. See http://www.victorianforests.com for more details.

See you there!

TO-DO List up for Grabs

* BAS for March Q
* Prepare for LUV Presentation (I have the report at least)
* Respond to heaps of emails
* Revise our linux user guide doc, convert back to OOO writer doc and include index
* Revise trainer documents, add front page, TOC...etc.
* Research Welcome to Country possibilities
* Banking/Invoicing
* Prepare for CVI meeting on May 15th
* Remind people of policy documents we are looking at
* Revise Volunteer Manual
* Do a backup of my ubuntu system
* Write/Add to Computerbank Ebay Seller/Shop Policy docs
* DGR
* Find more bale/bulka bags for plastic recycling
* Write training plan on purple paper
* SFD
* LPI
* My tax!
* Write a beg letter to transport groups to get free/subsidised transport for volunteers
* Change Computerbank finance system from spreadsheet to accounting package (yuk!)

Then there is the stuff I have forgotten about, or have not listed.

If you can help with any of the above, drop me a line. :)

Training day at Computerbank

Just thought I'd take the time to post about the training session we had at Computerbank today.

All of the trainees were newly arrived refugees (from three different countries). A bunch of really nice people/kids. Keen to learn and able to pick up Linux/KDE/Openoffice basics pretty quick.

One of the littlies found it a bit hard to cope with three hours of being quiet. Despite some of the hiccups (late arrivals, young children) our new and old trainers were able to deliver a great training session.

I helped a 10 year old. He was interested in the internet, games and word processing. He used MS Word at school. When I asked him if he thought OpenOffice Writer was similar he replied it was the same to him. We experienced a problem with yahoo mail. I have posted about the problem on the Computerbank Victoria issue tracker.

When his younger brother wasn't being disruptive, he was able to work out how to use SuperTux on his own. At the end their mum thanked everyone, I even got a big kiss on the cheek from her! :)

There were also two teenagers (brother and sister). They were pretty interested in the internet. I didn't notice them having any issues accessing different kinds of media.

The last person wanted to know how to get Sinhalese language support going for web pages. We were not able to work this one out until after he had left*.

All in all...the training went really well. I enjoyed the session a lot. I think all the participants did too!

*For those looking for the answer... it turns out you need to add "si," at the start of the intl.accept_languages option from the about:config page. Type about:config in the url location bar. Thanks BK for that info. I plan to ring/email through this info next week. Another one for the issue tracker (temp knowledge base). :)

Quick roadtrip to Adelaide

Dashed across to Adelaide to pick up some laptops for Computerbank. Caught up with the folks from ITShare in the Adelaide Hills. Really nice place to work from. Really friendly people. Thanks for the laptops. :)

Highlight of the trip was diving in Ewens Ponds. Ewens Ponds is near Mt Gambier. It's crystal clear, just like being in air. The underwater garden is magnificent. Highly recommended. No snaps from me. :( See http://www.underwater.com.au/article.php/id/1551/ for some info. A google image search will also bring up some cool pics.

Hmm...yep...I should have posted this ages ago. Adelaide road trip was two weeks ago!

Don't you just dislike! that

Hmm, haven't posted here in a while, how about I try a rant?

First up, something positive and promising. Thanks to Simon! Simon is the second person to give me $1 towards buying some ancient bush. I promised him I'd let the world know. And so I have (kinda). His $1 joins Sams $1 in one of those cylindrical alcohol boxes. A midori one to be exact. Midori and real lemon juice, you can't go past it. :)

Now for that rant. Huff, Puff. Breathe in deeply.

I'm really pissed off with community groups who won't link to other groups because they do similar activities. You guys really suck. Nor have you learned much about cooperation and openness or providing people with options. Competition seems to creep in everywhere. Even in places it doesn't belong.

State on Fire

Oow! We have 93 fires burning in Victoria on this extremely hot and dry day. Around 23 of these are classified as "going" which means it is "spreading on an external edge, in whole or in part".

See here for details. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) also have a pretty informative site too. Check it out at http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au.

It's 41 degrees and 'smokey' according to my computer weather applet. It gets it's information from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

Whatever it is...it's damn uncomfortable and hard to find the motivation to do anything. I have suprised myself by writing this blog post.

I'm keeping an eye out for the cool change...it doesn't look too far off.

Here's hoping the rain will help with some of the fires.

Old Growth Forest for $410,000

A lot of money indeed. But oh so worth it.

Take a look at this little gem. Such a beautiful place but out of my (and partners) price range completely.

I figure I may as well start putting the feeler out, who knows maybe 410,000 people will read this and say 'hell, I'll give a dollar for that!' I'll even let you camp on the property if you are ever in town.