USING LINUX IN ORGANIZING - AN INITIAL SUCCESS!
The Low Income Networking and Communication (LINC)
Project of the Welfare Law Center has helped many low-income
led organizing groups acquire access to the Internet
and use technology more effectively. While these groups
have increased their abilities to communicate with one
another and their allies by using the Internet, one
communication hurdle remains, communicating with their
leadership via the Internet. Despite many "digital
divide" initiatives addressing access to the Internet
in low-income communities, access is still an issue.
Public Internet access points, such as libraries and
schools, are not sufficient. Many low-income leaders
do not have access to the Internet where it would make
the most impact -- in their homes. The need for Internet
communication is particularly great for rural groups
whose members live far apart and cannot have frequent
face-to-face meetings because of distance, time and
money constraints.
We began to explore the idea of using Linux, a free
operating system that works well on older computers,
when we learned of Microsoft's decision to discontinue
support of its older operating systems like Windows
95. We had also been troubled by the frequent problems
that occur for Windows users just by having Windows
run on its own. Giving a person who lives in a rural
area an older computer with Windows seemed like we were
just asking for trouble. We also attempted to identify
similar projects but had limited success.
What did LINC set out to accomplish? We wanted to increase
our ability to provide stable desktop systems using
donated computers for board members and leaders of low-income
led organizations that LINC serves. Our goal is to increase
the ability of LINC Project partner groups to use open-source
software (click here
for a definition) to support their organizing work.
We also wanted to document the project as much as we
possibly could, so we could provide details of our experiences
for others doing similar projects.
What did LINC actually do?
• identified a partner in GRO-Grass Roots Organizing
in Mexico, MO, for our pilot project organization
• identified Linux as the operating system that
would run on older donated computers
• installed Linux on 10 computers donated by University
of Missouri Outreach & Extension and prepared them
for use as stand-alone workstations in people's homes
• installed Linux on a brand new stand-alone computer
to work as the main computer in the GRO office
• set up the main computer (in the GRO office)
as a terminal server to work with one or more of the
lower-end donated computers as clients
• established a relationship with the Mizzou Linux
Users Group for ongoing local support
• conducted a group training for an introduction
to the system
• conducted one-on-one trainings for people getting
computers in their homes
• established a listserv for support issues
• documented our experience in daily journals which
were disseminated over listservs and the web
What were the necessary components in making this project
work:
• GRO - an organization with strong technology
saavy and a clear goal for what these systems would
do (allow members to access the Internet and have word-processing
capability), and people within GRO that were willing
to make local connections and acquire donated computers
from the local university.
• 14 donated Pentium II 2OOmhz computers, with
64 megs of ram and 2 to 3 gig hard drives
• A Microtel PC (from WalMart) with a Celeron 1GHz
processor and 128 megs of ram
• Linux Software: Distribution: Red Hat 7.2 - additional
software: Open Office, AbiWord, Ximian Red Carpet. IPCOP
on the firewall, and the Linux Terminal Server Project
in GRO's office.
• Technology Assistance Providers (the LINC Project
Circuit Riders) with solid training backgrounds and
a clear understanding of what GRO is trying to accomplish
as an organization.
What were the challenges (and our solutions):
• Identifying good training materials on Linux
(we compiled and created our own)
• Finding modems that are compatible with Linux
systems (we used external modems)
• Older hardware that kept failing (a lot of creativity)
• Identifying ways to speed up the software installation
process (we tried several methods settling on disk "cloning")
• Windows users, transitioning to Linux, becoming
frustrated by having to do more steps for tasks than
they are used to and items being in different locations
(we urged patience and practice but we continue to try
to identify better interfaces)
• Securing phone-lines for project participants
so they can connect to the Internet and securing those
phone lines for a period of time (GRO is trying to secure
funding to assure that their board members keep phone
lines in their homes)
What's left:
We still have a long way to go before we can call this
a completely successful project. After a period of a
few months we will assess whether the board members
are actually using the computers to communicate more
effectively. We also need to identify and develop training
materials to smooth the transition process for users
who were used to working with Windows. We need to schedule
another trip to Mexico, MO, within the next couple of
months to do follow-up work.
We will also be working with a couple of other LINC
project participating groups to see if we can replicate
the success we've had with getting GRO's leaders online.
To view the daily journals on our project with GRO
please visit the LINC Project
Linux pages
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