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30 Comments
- NJShadow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Linux - "Open Source with Open Hearts" :-)
- einfeldt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I worked with Steve Hargadon on this project, and you should know that he did not make a dime off of this volunteer work. Steve is both a genius for seeing this solution, and good-hearted for putting in the extra time to make it happen. Steve also has a sizeable family that he needs to take care of, so there was the extra sacrifice of taking time away from his family for doing this.
I sure hope that we never ever have any more hurricanes at all causing harm to people anywhere in the world, but if we do have them, and you want to do something to help, it would be a good thing to go to Steve's free public website to offer your help here:
http://www.publicwebstations.com/
It is true that Steve took his experiences and turned them into a business, and so another way of supporting Steve's efforts, if you felt like it, would be to mention his business site, liveKiosk.com, because Steve is certainly not going to mention his commercial site here.
http://www.livekiosk.com
Please note that I don't work for money with Steve, and I get no benefit from mentioning his sites here. Steve also has helped out with a public middle school in San Francisco where I volunteer. He put in a thin client network running Fedora Core, and did a great job with that for a very reasonable price. Steve has helped out so many people with his skills, that I'm just glad that he is finally getting a wee bit of recognition for it.
Christian Einfeldt - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10thats great, now people can communicate with family and friends, purchase goods, and access web banking all on a secure OS :-)
- trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Hey TonyEberly, you have just made this link one of the most popular links of the day, Congratulations! http://digg.com/userblock/270615
- barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"One problem Hargadon encountered with the kiosks was that FEMA Web sites were not fully accessible with Firefox, so shelters had to have a Windows system available to access that agency's services online"
You didnt even read the article before trolling. Poor form. - mabhatter, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8sure people care.. there's big money in "helping" disaster victims... if you were to run around grabing scraps and installing windows, they'd sue the socks off you... and the relief agencies when the disaster was over. So yes, "Free Software" is vital to the people.
- pshapiro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3i met steve hargadon on CompuMentor's Computer Refurbisher's email list.
http://groups.google.com/group/refurbishers
steve is every bit as incredible as this article describes him to be. he is exactly the kind of person the macarthur foundation would choose for one of their genius awards. - HP844182, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6After Rita, they had one of these stations set up right around the corner from where I was staying....I went to Digg.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Preach on. Functionality is what matters not the flavor of the OS. As long as it's secure and it works, who gives a damn whether it's Linux, Mac, Winders, or some flavor of Unix.
- loginname, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I worked at the CajunDome and the Public Library in Lafayette Lousiana for both Katrina and Rita, and we both had a ton of older machines ready to have linux installed on and setup for the evacuees, but guess what, the people only really wanted ONE thing and that was to fill out their FEMA forms. All of these older machines had to not only have windows installed, but also have IE6 because the FEMA website would not work on ANY other version of IE. YES it was a HUGE pain, and no, IE6 running in Wine on Linux was not something we were going to tinker with at a time where we had to be sure that these critical forms went into the system correctly.
The other issue was going to the entire library system making sure that all of the computers were updated to IE6 which took quite a bit of time.
We did however have a few machines on the side which had linux on them for general web browsing, email, and looking at the updated satellite pics.
Here is an article about some of our efforts during the storm.
http://www.lafayettela.gov/Presidents/dpt120PressReleases.asp?id=2049
Here is a slashdot post from someone who was there at the dome too.
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=164259&cid=13716987
The FEMA IE6 issue was a HUGE problem. Google around for it.
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=164259&cid=13716987 - smtelegadis, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9Why would you care what operating system your using? You're not writing a dissertation you using email and the web.
- secleinteer, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7You're a ***** bitch TonyEberly. Why don't you just ***** off?
- valis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I agree with that point completely. I do not agree with marketing a certain solution on the misfortunes of others, or the good will of the people doing the work.
- SteveHargadon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Credit where credit is due note.
While we've done a lot of work over the past year on improving a version of this program that we hope will appeal to businesses, the PublicWebStations programs that we made available during the hurricanes were modifications of work done by David Collie's Boothbox project, and Jure Cuhalev's Morphix LiveCD project. Both provided actual programming help at the time as well, as did Kyle Rankin (Knoppix Hacks). We were just a conduit for bringing their ideas into practical use.
There was a huge outpouring of support for the project, and many folks contributed in many ways--from designing logos to coordinating volunteers.
I really believe that making access to the internet available quickly during disasters can really help people, and hope we can make a difference in the future. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3lol what difference does it make if it's Linux or not lol?
- willief, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0re: the rubbish about Katrina victims having to learn a new OS. We have similar clients at our elementary school as Steve used and the kids figure it out in about 10 seconds (actually one girl used the term "about 5 seconds"). One teacher was using the system for about 30 min one day in the lab reading her email when she saw an email announcing training for the new system. She asked,"What's this ltsp thing?" When told that she was already using it, she figured she really didn't need any extra training.
- valis, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8Linux didn't come to the rescue of anybody. People came to the rescue. People are doing things to help people. The computer, OS, browser ... whatever, isn't relevant. I applaud the *people* who are helping *people*.
- ActivitY, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2most/all the comments so far have been just and fair. There will _ALLWAYS_ be people who say how bad linux is and how it's good for nothing, then on the other hand you have people who have a clue; spotting WHY this is quite possibly one of the best uses of a free operatings system, lets just keep that in mind.
now honnestly, personally all the people i've ever shown linux have said "it's different" but not so much that it's hard to use. I never knew charities like this existed, now i can help out more then ever.
Dugg. - mabhatter, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I often wonder why Google doesn't get involved in disaster relief help. They have the hardware and software expertise to do some really neat stuff. I know after Katrina, some individuals came up with some really neat people finder applications. Stuff to enter names, addresses, discriptions of family and neighbors so they could start accounting for everyone. FEMA was pretty slow on the switch with those apps.. again, a place where "free software" ruled the day because concerned citizens could jump in and help out.
Seriously, Google should partner with the red cross for such efforts... if a few individuals can throw something up, imagine what Google could do... and with the extra databases they have, Google could also check for fraud and other scams electronically.... databases of "random" information are what they do for a living. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Linux costs nothing, has no licencing issues, is faster, more secure and more reliable than Windows - how many more reasons do you want?
The licencing issues kill the use of Windows before you start.
Linux is invariably faster than Windows on the same hardware.
Linux is secure without the need to add "anti-virus", "anti-malware" and "anti-everything else", with all their attendant innaccuracies, update requirements, system slowing and costs.
The uptime of a LInux kiosk can be measured in years - uptime of anything Windows can usually be measured in minutes.
There is NO REASON to use Windows for anything - if the "government" are stupid enough to publish "IE6-only" websites, then they need to be shown the error of their ways. - jameshales, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Cheaper and easier to deploy, and they are using technology, the live CDs, which they couldn't otherwise use with Windows. The Public Web Stations site says "In 5 minutes I had three machines up and ready for service... This is a real answer to prayer. Thanks so much. It saved me hours and is exactly what we needed. Bravo Bravo Bravo." so I guess it saves them time setting up these old, crappy computers that they're using, because all they have to do is shove the CD in.
- PAJK, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2LOL. And who do you propose is gonna pay the $200 for each Windows license?
Wait...it's benlevon. What a ***** troll man. Educate yourself, freak. In one breath you're saying people don't care what OS they're using, then in the other you're asking why they aren't using Windows?
By your original logic, it doesn't matter what they're using...the Kiosks are for net access -- I assume they're pretty much Firefox boxes. Firefox is not confined to Windows or Linux, everyone can use it. (The same goes for most other GUI Linux apps, too - but of course you wouldn't know about that.) - Saiing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can see two sides of this. Linux was the right tool for a given job. That job was to provide a service in the quickest way possible with the facilities that were available, in a difficult situation. Linux was a good choice and showed some of its strengths in this difficult environment.
But Linux didn't come to the "aid" of any victims. Linux is an Operating System. It doesn't have a soul and it can't choose to come to anyones aid. It proved to be a good solution in this case, but trying (as the headline suggests) to gain kudos for Linux because it was used in an emotive situation to help people doesn't add one jot of worthiness to it. Had the technology been available back then it could just as well have been used by the Nazis in World War 2 to setup kiosks rapidly in order to spread propaganda to the locals upon invasion of their land.
The point is, the good or evil intent for which the OS is used, shouldn't in any way reflect on whether it's a solid product or not. If anyone, I think what came out best from this article was what a wonderful thing the 'net is, and how we can put it to all sorts of purposes these days. - catoutfit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1lol i dunno lol
- dwaterbly, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1FEMA depends on Windows, that explains it all....
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4Google is a company and "shouldn't" have to do jack *****.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -16/+2@benlevon
Exactly, and how is this on the front page anyway?
Mod it up, down and sideways. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -15/+1You.
Are.
A.
Smug.
15 Year old.
Zealot.
Go sniff your own farts and drive a hybrid - The only security Linux had in this case was it's obscurity to those poor black katrina victims. Your a grotesque spectical. Pedantry. Psychology. Diggnation. Kevin Rose. Ubuntu. Laser Tag. Java. Free Viagra Myspace. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -22/+3Mod parent up-
He isn't trolling just because he has a point. You are a bunch of self-righteous pricks.
If someone dropped out Kubuntu in new orleans so families could email each other, all the poor people would be like "how the ***** do i this"? and all those smug, pimply nerds would be trying to teach them greek.
Face it, regular people can't even get windows right nowadays, and now your teaching them some terminal-bound ***** ass, insecure OS like linux?
I say you zealots are the trolls. Get over yourselves you retarded highschoolers. Go mod me down, I'de like more people to read this :D - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -28/+8Operating system zealots.
When I'm trapped in one of these situations, I don't care what OS the bloody kiosk is running. Instead of ranting about how great Linux is for this, look at what features you can add to bring a person who has just lost everything they own a little comfort. Expecting people to learn a new Operating System under this stress is just insane, why aren't they using Windows?
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