USF St. Petersburg Linux Users Group

Fall 2008: Computing with a Porpoise

where: TBA

when: Monday, September 15

The theme for this year is set up with the intention of directing the group's collective attention to the current and future role of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) on campus, and to participate in a nascent but multidisciplinary turn towards sustainable educational computing on our campus. The group will provide submissions to the University's Science & Tech and Sustainability committees, and interface actively with the student body at large to promote open source as a viable solution to many of the economic, technological, social, and even environmental challenges facing the University community today.

“Computing with a Porpoise” begins from this premise: if we can synergize our experiences with and knowledge of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software), we can make a real difference on our campus. We can contribute to the development of a sustainable computer policy, one unfettered by vendor lock-in and site license restrictions. Our new Terminal Server Lab in Davis 280 allows us a venue to pilot open source software, an opportunity that will eventually lead to broader deployment of open source technology across campus. Students in Special Topics classes and First Year Composition classes  will beta test applications for potential wider uses, and perform research that could take any number of directions.

This overall shift in structure is both a proposal and a request for help, and in this spirit, this will be an informative and participatory session for brainstorming recommendations regarding software suitable to educational computing at USFSP. Please email conner@stpt.usf.edu or dhavasi@mail.usf.edu--or a post to this wiki--for more information.