Y'ALL Y'ALL Y'ALL!!!!

Somebody from the community - NOT part of any technical group - just a family... they came in and had an old laptop they wanted Linux installed on.

They saw the post on our town's subreddit and wanted to give their 8 year old kid a new laptop. So we installed Mint on it, gave them basic instruction and a way to get ahold of us in the future

And they went on their merry way!

Y'all!!!! It worked!!! We're installing linux on folks' computers! Bringing life to old systems and moving folks off corporate surveillance OS's!!!!

#solarPunk #linuxInstallParty

Y'ALL Y'ALL Y'ALL!!!!

Somebody from the community - NOT part of any technical group - just a family... they came in and had an old laptop they wanted Linux installed on.

They saw the post on our town's subreddit and wanted to give their 8 year old kid a new laptop. So we installed Mint on it, gave them basic instruction and a way to get ahold of us in the future

And they went on their merry way!

Y'all!!!! It worked!!! We're installing linux on folks' computers! Bringing life to old systems and moving folks off corporate surveillance OS's!!!!

#solarPunk #linuxInstallParty

Ok! The Linux Install Party is done!

I am declaring it a success!

So we only had one week to prepare for this and notify folks in town about it.

Last week we:
- Reserved a room at the local library
- Created the website (just a digital flyer site)
- Printed out release forms
- Made a handful of install USB ISOs with Linux Mint on it
- Made a post on the town's subreddit, a couple local discord channels, and told people to tell others

Not a lot of advertising at all.

But!

We had:
- 7 volunteers show up
- 5 groups of people who got Linux installed on their laptops (including one family: a mom and dad who were updating an old laptop for their 8 year old to use)
- And a good handful of people who stopped by to see what it was about, ask questions, and try out our demo laptops running Linux

All installs went chill. We even popped open one laptop to try and repair it (the keyboard and touch pad were borked. It turned out to be a hardware issue. We determined that an external keyboard and mouse were the quickest and cheapest fix. the laptop itself and linux install worked great)

When we werent installing things, we were hanging out, discussing linux and various open source projects and town groups and events and getting to know each other and generally just having a great time. I met new people from town and had some wonderful conversations. No masking, just being myself.

Folks really wanted this to happen again. We even had a librarian come in and ask when we were doing it again so they could bring their laptop to get Linux installed! Some of the volunteers were from the local college and said they had a great time and want to do these events at college and in town again.

We're shooting for next February (in conjunction with a repair cafe) and will try and hold it every month thereafter. Once its a regular monthly event and word of mouth and proper advertisement and posting flyers up in cafes etc, more people will show up and it will grow!

We also think we can make it an official library event (and not just a community event using library space). Once that happens it gets into the town events notification and really attracts folks!

That was awesome.

#solarPunk #mutualAid #FOSS #Linux #LinuxInstallParty #endOf10

All set up for the Linux Install Party!!!

(This is the first one. And it was on short notice. There will probably be more volunteers than actual folks getting Linux Installed. BUUUUUT!!!! It'll be a good way to work out any other things that we can think of)

1st lesson already... bring a power strip and extension cords....

https://fxbginstall.party

#linux #linuxInstallParty #solarPunk

Ok! The Linux Install Party is done!

I am declaring it a success!

So we only had one week to prepare for this and notify folks in town about it.

Last week we:
- Reserved a room at the local library
- Created the website (just a digital flyer site)
- Printed out release forms
- Made a handful of install USB ISOs with Linux Mint on it
- Made a post on the town's subreddit, a couple local discord channels, and told people to tell others

Not a lot of advertising at all.

But!

We had:
- 7 volunteers show up
- 5 groups of people who got Linux installed on their laptops (including one family: a mom and dad who were updating an old laptop for their 8 year old to use)
- And a good handful of people who stopped by to see what it was about, ask questions, and try out our demo laptops running Linux

All installs went chill. We even popped open one laptop to try and repair it (the keyboard and touch pad were borked. It turned out to be a hardware issue. We determined that an external keyboard and mouse were the quickest and cheapest fix. the laptop itself and linux install worked great)

When we werent installing things, we were hanging out, discussing linux and various open source projects and town groups and events and getting to know each other and generally just having a great time. I met new people from town and had some wonderful conversations. No masking, just being myself.

Folks really wanted this to happen again. We even had a librarian come in and ask when we were doing it again so they could bring their laptop to get Linux installed! Some of the volunteers were from the local college and said they had a great time and want to do these events at college and in town again.

We're shooting for next February (in conjunction with a repair cafe) and will try and hold it every month thereafter. Once its a regular monthly event and word of mouth and proper advertisement and posting flyers up in cafes etc, more people will show up and it will grow!

We also think we can make it an official library event (and not just a community event using library space). Once that happens it gets into the town events notification and really attracts folks!

That was awesome.

#solarPunk #mutualAid #FOSS #Linux #LinuxInstallParty #endOf10

Y'ALL Y'ALL Y'ALL!!!!

Somebody from the community - NOT part of any technical group - just a family... they came in and had an old laptop they wanted Linux installed on.

They saw the post on our town's subreddit and wanted to give their 8 year old kid a new laptop. So we installed Mint on it, gave them basic instruction and a way to get ahold of us in the future

And they went on their merry way!

Y'all!!!! It worked!!! We're installing linux on folks' computers! Bringing life to old systems and moving folks off corporate surveillance OS's!!!!

#solarPunk #linuxInstallParty

IT'S GOING REALLY GREAT!!!!

We had a LOT of volunteers show up. Like 8 folks just came to chill.

We had a couple of folks come in just to chill and hang out and ask questions. They tried out the demo laptops and asked questions. This is their first exposure to Linux.

Also, this pic. It screams LAN party...

#solarPunk #linuxInstallParty

All set up for the Linux Install Party!!!

(This is the first one. And it was on short notice. There will probably be more volunteers than actual folks getting Linux Installed. BUUUUUT!!!! It'll be a good way to work out any other things that we can think of)

1st lesson already... bring a power strip and extension cords....

https://fxbginstall.party

#linux #linuxInstallParty #solarPunk

I love the graphic, @tinker ! Tagging for #SolarPunkSunday!

#Linux #LinuxInstallParty

Hatte einige Anrufe von Menschen bekommen, die über das Ende von #Windows10 besorgt sind 😟. Da hilft nur eine #Linuxinstallparty 🎉 im Bodenseeraum!

Kolleg:innen der @lugv waren wieder gleich motivierbar und @fairkom stellt die Räumlichkeiten in #Dornbirn / #Vorarlberg zur Verfügung.

⌚ 7.11.25 18-22h
ℹ️ https://www.lugv.at/linux-install-party-4
🎫 https://www.termino.gv.at/meet/de/b/5983215960d290ff9f73c7842316b895-506728

Hatte einige Anrufe von Menschen bekommen, die über das Ende von #Windows10 besorgt sind 😟. Da hilft nur eine #Linuxinstallparty 🎉 im Bodenseeraum!

Kolleg:innen der @lugv waren wieder gleich motivierbar und @fairkom stellt die Räumlichkeiten in #Dornbirn / #Vorarlberg zur Verfügung.

⌚ 7.11.25 18-22h
ℹ️ https://www.lugv.at/linux-install-party-4
🎫 https://www.termino.gv.at/meet/de/b/5983215960d290ff9f73c7842316b895-506728

@rainer - I haven't written anything up on how to conduct a linux installation party, but you can see other places' agendas for examples:

Eg:
- https://platform.fossunited.org/c/iit-bhilai/linux-install-fest-25
- http://ladypine.org/installfest.html

But honestly, don't make it complicated. I would consider and make plans for the following:

Location:
Focus on publicly accessible locations. I would look into:
- Public Library Conference Rooms
- City/Town Community Spaces
- Makerspaces
- Hackerspaces
- Civic organizations
- Churches

Advertisement:
Letting folks know that this is going on in town is a big deal. If you can make it a regular occurrence (first Saturday of every month for example) thats even better. Folks might miss one but hear about it and go to the next one.
| Advertise in:
- The local town paper
- Town bulletin boards (in cafes, bars, etc)
- The events page at your library
- The events page of your town
- In your local town subreddit
- In your local Nextdoor, and Facebook, etc.
- Local town radio
- Consider meetup.com, mobilizon, etc.

Disclaimers and Release Forms
- Write out an indemnity form that explains that it's a volunteer run event and that you promise no warrantee and take no liability. While best efforts will be made to get linux running on a machine, it may fail and the laptop may be bricked (use more professional language). Basically they're doing this at their own discretion and at their own risk. Have each person that wants linux installed on their computer sign this. Keep the signed ones and provide them with a copy.

Linux Distros:
- I would have multiple installation USBs ready to go for ZorinOS, MintOS, and Ubuntu. (Bazzite on a gaming PC if you're feeling freaky!)
- I would also have a laptop that you control so you can download other distributions (eg a 32bit version) if desired and have spare USBs you can use to put those on.

Demo Laptops:
- Have a couple spare laptops running the various operating systems that you are offering.
- Let people play around with them.
- Have common things already installed on them including:
- Libre Office
- Various Games
- Browsers connected to the internet
- Zoom / Teams / Slack / etc

Have an installation table with folks ready to install Linux on laptops brought in.

Have a troubleshooting table for folks bringing in their laptops running Linux who need help.

That should do it.

#Linux #endOf10 #LinuxParty #LinuxInstallParty

@rainer - I haven't written anything up on how to conduct a linux installation party, but you can see other places' agendas for examples:

Eg:
- https://platform.fossunited.org/c/iit-bhilai/linux-install-fest-25
- http://ladypine.org/installfest.html

But honestly, don't make it complicated. I would consider and make plans for the following:

Location:
Focus on publicly accessible locations. I would look into:
- Public Library Conference Rooms
- City/Town Community Spaces
- Makerspaces
- Hackerspaces
- Civic organizations
- Churches

Advertisement:
Letting folks know that this is going on in town is a big deal. If you can make it a regular occurrence (first Saturday of every month for example) thats even better. Folks might miss one but hear about it and go to the next one.
| Advertise in:
- The local town paper
- Town bulletin boards (in cafes, bars, etc)
- The events page at your library
- The events page of your town
- In your local town subreddit
- In your local Nextdoor, and Facebook, etc.
- Local town radio
- Consider meetup.com, mobilizon, etc.

Disclaimers and Release Forms
- Write out an indemnity form that explains that it's a volunteer run event and that you promise no warrantee and take no liability. While best efforts will be made to get linux running on a machine, it may fail and the laptop may be bricked (use more professional language). Basically they're doing this at their own discretion and at their own risk. Have each person that wants linux installed on their computer sign this. Keep the signed ones and provide them with a copy.

Linux Distros:
- I would have multiple installation USBs ready to go for ZorinOS, MintOS, and Ubuntu. (Bazzite on a gaming PC if you're feeling freaky!)
- I would also have a laptop that you control so you can download other distributions (eg a 32bit version) if desired and have spare USBs you can use to put those on.

Demo Laptops:
- Have a couple spare laptops running the various operating systems that you are offering.
- Let people play around with them.
- Have common things already installed on them including:
- Libre Office
- Various Games
- Browsers connected to the internet
- Zoom / Teams / Slack / etc

Have an installation table with folks ready to install Linux on laptops brought in.

Have a troubleshooting table for folks bringing in their laptops running Linux who need help.

That should do it.

#Linux #endOf10 #LinuxParty #LinuxInstallParty

Windows 10 loses support today, and a lot of computers can’t upgrade to Windows 11. Linux is the solution, but it can be difficult for beginners.

We’re happy to help! Hit us up by DM, phone, or email and we will help you install Linux on your old Windows 10 machine.

This service will be pay what you want - if you need it free, it’s free, if you want to tip us, tip us.

We’d recommend the following:
- a USB thumb drive at least 8GB in size you can erase everything on it
- a backup hard drive to store all your data, just in case
- an afternoon

Good Linux starter distros:
- Linux Mint
- Elementary OS
- Fedora Workstation
- Bazzite(best for gaming PCs)

Back up the data on your Windows machine by copying C:\Users\ (your username or account folder) to an external drive. If there’s more than one account, copy them too.

#windows10 #windows11 #linux #LinuxInstallParty

Windows 10 loses support today, and a lot of computers can’t upgrade to Windows 11. Linux is the solution, but it can be difficult for beginners.

We’re happy to help! Hit us up by DM, phone, or email and we will help you install Linux on your old Windows 10 machine.

This service will be pay what you want - if you need it free, it’s free, if you want to tip us, tip us.

We’d recommend the following:
- a USB thumb drive at least 8GB in size you can erase everything on it
- a backup hard drive to store all your data, just in case
- an afternoon

Good Linux starter distros:
- Linux Mint
- Elementary OS
- Fedora Workstation
- Bazzite(best for gaming PCs)

Back up the data on your Windows machine by copying C:\Users\ (your username or account folder) to an external drive. If there’s more than one account, copy them too.

#windows10 #windows11 #linux #LinuxInstallParty

T/H to @cryptgoat who told me today that #LMDE7 had arrived on download mirrors. I wonder when @linuxmint will announce it.

Of course, LMDE7 will feature on the multi-boot USB sticks we are preparing for the two Linux install parties the @Datenpunks will organize next week: https://fedifreu.de/@Datenpunks/115362322170795577

#LinuxInstallParty #endOf10

Gemeinsam probieren wir verschiedene #Linux-Distributionen von einem USB-Stick aus, den ihr auch zum Selbstkostenpreis mitnehmen könnt.

⏰ Mittwoch, 10.09. 18(–22) Uhr
🏡 ACMELabs in Bielefeld

Bringt liebe Menschen und eure Computer mit und sichert vorab bitte eure Daten! Wer nicht weiß, ob das eigene Gerät für #Linux geeignet ist, schreibt uns kurz hier oder per Mail an post@datenpunks.de

#FOSS#FreeSoftware#EndOf10