[BBLISA] Off-topic (XO deployment/volunteer sysadmin)

[Chris Palmer]

Hi Bill --

I'm very time limited, but I might have some suitable hardware available
for donation.  Older stuff but beefy (dual Xeon 2.5ghz with 4gb of ram
and 600gb of storageish).  keep me posted when you're closer to having a
spec of what you'd need.

-Chris

On 06/10/08, Bill Bogstad wrote:
> This is a long, off-topic, FYI e-mail and a (possible) request for help.
> 
> There is a strong probability that there will be a deployment of XOs
> ($100 laptops/OLPC) in a Boston metro area school early next spring.
> The XOs would be obtained via OLPC's G1G1 or a similar program over
> the December holidays.
> 
> Not surprisingly the people at the school have contacted the OLPC
> Foundation based in Cambridge about deployment/support issues.  The
> OLPC believes that as much as possible the deployment process should
> be controlled by the end users in order to reflect local needs.  On
> the other hand, OLPC would love to have a local deployment with whom
> they could work with and from which they could gain insight into XO
> usage.
> 
> As a result, OLPC is reaching out to local groups for help with the
> deployment.  I became aware of this during a meeting of OLPC_Boston (a
> local users group for XO owners/enthusiasts).  At that time, I
> suggested that there might be people in BBLISA who could help out with
> initial deployment planning and longer term support.
> 
> In particular, I think BBLISA could help out with server and network
> issues.  Most people aren't aware that there is a separate development
> effort for an XS server software package to support XO deployments.
> XS is a modified Fedora installation which is designed to run on
> standard PC hardware with some specialized applications which are
> appropriate for school environments as well as additional software
> peculiar to XO (such as backup software).
> 
> Here are some of the tasks that I could see XXX members being involved
> with:
> 
> 1. Site survey for network/server deployment issues.
> 
> 2. Where appropriate, work with school current IT support personnel to
> integrate with pre-existing resources.
> 
> 3. Work with XS developer and local users on additions to base XS
> software or local customizations.
> 
> 4. Acquisition and installation of server/network hardware.
> 
> 5. Longer term system administration support for XS installation.
> Note: The XS software is designed to be used where there is
> essentially no IT staff on site, so this will hopefully be restricted
> to hardware failures and remote software upgrades.
> 
> 6. Donate hardware for XS system.
> 
> There are also any number of task related to the XOs themselves, for
> which help would probably be appreciated.  In addition, finding
> electronic books/resources for deployment directly to XOs or on the XS
> will also need to happen, but at least in my case is outside my area
> of experience.
> 
> Some Web resources:
> 
> OLPC_Boston wiki:
>  http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Boston
> 
> Notes from OLPC_Boston meeting on this topic:
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Boston/Monthly_Meet-ups/092708
> 
> OLPC XS (School server: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/School_server
> 
> FYI, XS is under rapid development right now, reading the archives at
> http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/server-devel/
> is probably the best way to understand what is going on there.
> 
> PUNCHLINE PUNCHLINE PUNCHLINE PUNCHLINE:
> 
> If you are interested in any of the above you can:
> 
> Email me your interests - I'll keep you informed as things happen OR
> better yet join OLPC_Boston mailing list - See wiki page above.
> 
> Thanks,
> Bill Bogstad
> bogstad at pobox.com
> 
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