NewsForge: One-day Linux Project Brings Internet to Disadvantaged Miami Kids

“The install was scheduled for Saturday, June 7. All wiring was
supposed to be in place before then, part of a project two local
men did to help them earn hands-on experience they needed to get
their A+ certifications.

“The assortment of old donated PCs was neatly stacked, with a
bag of mice and several shelves full of keyboards. Monitors were
there, tested, in place on the wall-mounted shelves installed to
hold the computers. The one heavy-duty piece of hardware, a surplus
dual-CPU server donated by Miami’s Channel 4, was tested and ready
to go.

“Several people from the brand-new Miami LUG (MiaLUG), aided by
three professional sysadmins from the Southwest Florida LUG, based
a two-hour drive away in Fort Myers, expected to install LTSP
software to make the donated PCs into network-booted thin clients,
install necessary application software on the server, make sure
everything ran decently, then go out to supper.

“Naturally, things didn’t go quite as planned…”

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