“Hosted by the University of South Australia in Adelaide UniSA
on May 7 and 8 in conjunction with the Australian National Science
Week, Generation Linux was a series of Linux install classes
coupled with a seminar by Sydney Linux User Group (SLUG) board
member Conrad Parker. (See Resources for a link to SLUG.) The four
sessions on Sunday, May 7, were reserved for the general public to
tinker with Linux, and the five Monday sessions were reserved for
visiting schools and colleges.”
“While the university’s aim was to promote the National Science
Week expo, Generation Linux sought to bring Linux and science to
both younger and older students in a fun and interesting manner.
The success of Linux in years to come depends in part on making
children aiming for careers in the IT industry aware of it now.
Armed with detailed install guides and 1,000 Red Hat CDs donated by
LinuxMall.com… and clutching lovable stuffed tuxes, students and
the public saw firsthand what Linux was all about.”
“The university provided a medium-size computer lab with
around 15 systems for these sessions. Given that small space,
I didn’t expect the sessions to draw much of a crowd, but the
lab ended up packed beyond capacity, with students and parents
clustered around the monitors. Armed with the install guide,
students took to Linux like penguins to water. Participants
varied in age from grade-schoolers to high school students.
Children as young as six years old came to Generation Linux in the
general public sessions, where parents became onlookers while
enthusiastic kids crowded around the computers.”