[luau] Future of HOSEF

[TB]

> > As an organization, what should HOSEF strive to
be?

I'm not sure. The only thing I think is "wrong" with
it is that too much of the organizational burden has
been placed on you (Scott). 

> > How can we better lobby the DOE and State to adopt
more
> > open-source solutions?

Why are these the main targets? Are they really the
low hanging fruit? What really is our goal? To me,
HOSEF has been about our noticing and exploiting a
single opportunity - various organizations with
slightly obsolete hardware who are willing to donate
an LTSP net to schools and charities. We are the
middlemen that turn the obsolete equipment into the
LTSP net. Lobbying and evangelizing are a side-line.
Perhaps our problems is that there are more
donors/donations than there are willing, able and
deserving recipients?

> > Do we want to provide open-source development and
training?

I like the idea of training, what do you mean by
development? Various other organizations offer
training. What is our comparative advantage? I enjoyed
the sysadmin class at McKinley, but I think the 
classes there should generally be considered not a big
win, since it semed like not many students signed up
and there was a problem getting teachers. There needs
to be more demand?

> > What aspects should be out of scope for HOSEF and
left to other
> > organizations?

Is this a big problem now? The narrow mission of
refurbishing computers to put in LTSP nets seems very
clear, but I don't see any obvious reason to rule out
other projects, so long as they have something to do
with OSS and someone is interested in doing them. I
guess I see HOSEF as sort of a modular umbrella
organization with various OSS projects fitting
underneath the umbrella. LTSP is the largest and most
well focussed current project. I don't have any ideas
for new projects, but would welcome them.

> > Do we want to become an open-source clearinghouse
for state?

Not sure what that would mean. We come up with custom
distros? Local repository? Training? Hard for me to
imagine them outsourcing this to us for long. I think
we can be a catalyst for change, but once the state
really accepts OSS, they will want to hire their own
in-house experts. (If they hire HOSEF volunteers, all
the better, but I doubt they will leave the
relationship informal.) 

Dave