Software Freedom Day

[hjenkins]

Well, we gave away all 50 OpenDisks in the first two hours. I think that
can be counted as a success.

After I left with some CDs & leaflets and went to an 11am appointment, I
walked up Mill Road with them. The pedestrians were all really rushed, so
I tried stores. I hope this is legal. Notes:

People walking past on the street are busy going somewhere. Store clerks
in dead-quiet shops are bored stiff and really happy to talk to someone at
length. Not one was uninterested (I skipped shops with customers).

People in new-agey shops are suddenly all for you when you say "gift
economy".

People in low-profit-margin shops are REALLY interested. Part of an
exchange with the owner/manager of an independent food shop, about a
Ubuntu CD, ran something like this:
"...This is an complete operating system..."
"So this is like Windows?"
"You can run a computer with it just like Windows...[summary of install]"
"So, does this have all the Windows programs?"
"No, but it has programs that do the same things. For instance, Open
Office..."
"And it's free?"
"Yes, and you can make as many copies as you like."
Thoughtful pause.
"Thank you very much. I will try it."
One owner in an internet cafe had heard of open-source and was delighted
to have a Ubuntu CD. He photocopied my last leaflet and said that he was
glad he'd talked to me.

I gave away all my materials before 1 and got back to Market Square around
1:30.

I really liked doing this. Giving things to people is fun. Is there any
sort of student orientation/clubs fair that we could do this at? I'd
volunteer to organize it.

Things that would be nice for next time:
A CLUG card
Seperate explanation leaflets geared at private individuals and managers,
with addresses for www.theopendisk.com etc.. The leaflet was great, but I
got a lot of other questions too.

Finally, since there seem to be no objections, I'll post CLUG on the sites
that people have mentioned sometime this week.