[LUAU] Re: [HOSEF-managers] The VC Squeeze, Desktop Linux and Hawaii's future

[R. Scott Belford]

On Thursday 10 November 2005 03:52 am, Jim Thompson wrote:
>
> HOSEF's mission needs tweaking.   Introducing kids to computers is
> interesting and exciting, but Hawaii needs more startups, more
> businesses that can be run out of a spare bedroom or two.  I don't come
> to denigrate the efforts thus far, but I do think that HOSEF may be soon
> mired in "open source as its own end".  We put computers in public
> schools, but what do we do with them, other than load them with a
> Windows alternative?    We teach kids how to tear the machine to bits
> and re-assemble it, but what then?   Knowing how to field-strip and
> re-assemble your rifle is a necessary skill, but it won't help you hit
> the target.

I completely agree on the tweaking of our mission, or perhaps more accurately, 
the delivery of our programs that promote the mission.  It is of course a 
great accomplishment to improve access at little to no cost for our students 
while simultaneously proving the ubiquitous usability of Linux on the 
Desktop.  Last year Dr. Reed of Oceanic Imaging Consultants asked, quite 
bluntly, 'Great, so what are they doing after the computers are installed?'

After my rhetorical diatribe about NCLB-beating, innovation breading, landfill 
saving, access creating, and hope fulfilling benefits to HOSEF, he asked me 
again.  The point is that this must be seen only for what it is: a platform 
to do more.  KTurtle is nice, but until we create CURRICULA for it that is 
standards based and demonstratively valuable, it is hard to get it used.

I want to be clear on how we give away computers to individuals in our program 
called computer guts.

http://www.hosef.org/gallery/computerguts

Five levels.  Graduates get a computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse.  We get an 
essay.  Graduates who come back and help teach get scanners and printers (as 
long as they understand the cost of upkeep.)

Level 1 - Key concepts and components

I bring out a computer system without the sidings.  All the guts are exposed.
I lay the components out on the table, like flash cards.
I ask who thinks that all this stuff on the table is also in the box?
*concept1* Systems and Components
Using the body as an example, we learn how the two are related.
*concept2* Hardware and Software
Using television, radio, CDs, and DVDs as examples, we learn the difference.
*subconcept* We understand that software is carried on a hardware medium
*concept3* Functions of a brain
Short term Memory, long-term Memory and 'programs', and Processing
methods: what did you have for lunch? - short term.  think about these limits.
what did you get for your last birthday? - long term memory.  think of how 
expansive this part of your brain is.  How do you put on shoes? - programs.  
What is 1,133,44*145?  The kids look at me bug eyed?  Is there a process to 
do this?  Yes.  Is it hard?  Yes.  Would it make your head hot?  Yes.
*concept4* How a computer is like a brain
I then explain that a computer uses RAM, a hard drive, and a CPU to emulate 
these three functions.
*subconcept* Acronym
I tell them to tell their teacher they learned what an acronym is.
*concept5* Units
We learn that software is bits of data, and 8 bits are a byte, and that things 
are measured in bytes.  The cycle of math that a CPU conducts is explained as 
hertz.
*concept6* Heat Transfer
I ask - Why is there a big piece of metal on the CPU?  Wouldn't it make it 
hot?  We ponder.  We think.  We consider car radiators.  (no female example 
yet)  We learn about conduction and convection.  We figure out why there is a 
fan on the heat sink.
*concept7* Electricity and Conduction
Navigating the parts, we observe that the motherboard and other components 
have metal.  We learn not to touch the metal as we may a.get shocked b.damage 
the component.  We understand what the power supply does.
*concept8* Data transfer
Observing the grey cables, we learn that they transfer data.
*concept9* Interface
The complexity of where what goes is overwhelming, so we learn that interfaces 
limit us to a right and wrong way to plug in nearly everything.
*concept10* Internet
We learn what a NIC is and that the Internet is software that comes through 
it.

This is just level one.

Level 2 - Assembly
Disassemble and reassemble a computer, alone or with a partner
- I help
- I don't say how, I show how in a hinting manner

Level 3 - Responsibility
Level3 is all about choice and personal responsibility.  One chooses to go to 
this level.  Here one selects his or her own computer that they then 
disassemble and reassemble, alone, and with no help.  I quiz them as they go.

Level 4 - Software
Here we learn about FOSS, that some software is Free, legally, and that this 
is why I like to help.  After we install our linux distro, currently 
edubuntu, they *love* shopping for games via synaptic.

Level 5 - The Essay
Some kids, even my 10 year old girls, type one page essays.

So, this is a bit more than just rifle assembly, and there is a lot more going 
on with Computer Guts than free computers.  This has really been refined.  I 
have many graduates that now help and want to know more.  Here is where you 
can help.

Just this week, for instance, one fellow who is building a server got Apache 
running.  When I showed him how to edit the conf file and reload it from 
another machine to see his changes, his eyes shot out all the way to Molokai.  
HE SAW PROGRAMMING.  I am definitely getting in over my head now, so this 
discussion is timely.

>
> Linux on the Desktop is an interesting debate, but Hawaii needs highly
> profitable businesses that don't involve huge capital outlays for
> manufacturing lines and hardware development not endless debate about
> Gnome .vs KDE .vs MacOS .vs WinXP/Vista, or even "SUSE .vs Red Hat .vs
> Debian .vs Fedora .vs Ubuntu .vs <roll your own>.
>
> I fear that "using FOSS in your business" by way of endorsing Linux
> Desktops just continues the oligarchy where dreams end at middle
> management in the corporate drone world.  Hawaii has too much of that
> already.

With so much of our economy dependent on retailing, a sector served so well by 
FOSS, with a growing need for FOSS servers, and with the SMBs of our economy 
deserving of some serious innovation, I think Linux on the Desktop and in 
your business is there for the taking.

>
> Quoting Paul Graham again (http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html)
>
> > Windows can and will be overthrown, but not by giving people a better
> > desktop OS. The way to kill it is to redefine the problem as a
> > superset of the current one. The problem is not, what operating system
> > should people use on desktop computers? but how should people use
> > applications? There are answers to that question that don't even
> > involve desktop computers.
>
> HOSEF should find a way to teach classes in Ruby and Python and (yes,
> I'll say it), Lisp for those few who are driven to the final
> understanding.   We could train hundreds, if not thousands of young,
> bright minds to develop web-based applications in Python and Ruby with
> little more than what we have on-hand now and a few bright, motivated
> mentors.  Let O'Reilly slather away book after book on Java and Perl,
> these are the C++ and Fortran of tomorrow.   We should understand that
> the jobs of tomorrow are those jobs that are created in startups, not
> working in IT in the back of some hotel.  (Apologies to any on-list who
> do this.)

We have the way, and with the NCLB breathing down teachers' necks, many 
schools don't have the latitude we do to promote this kind of programming 
knowledge.  Who will teach when?  McKinley is available for a fee.  Bully has 
made Halau Lokahi available at times for free.  Joe O'Malley and CDS are open 
to all kinds of informative sessions, and New Horizons is offering to host 
our Terpstra training in July.  The solution is ours for the taking.

>
> > I don't think people consciously realize this, but one reason downwind
> > jobs like churning out Java for a bank pay so well is precisely that
> > they are downwind. The market price for that kind of work is higher
> > because it gives you fewer options for the future. A job that lets you
> > work on exciting new stuff will tend to pay less, because part of the
> > compensation is in the form of the new skills you'll learn.
> >
> > Grad school is the other end of the spectrum from a coding job at a
> > big company: the pay's low but you spend most of your time working on
> > new stuff. And of course, it's called "school," which makes that clear
> > to everyone, though in fact all jobs are some percentage school.
> >
> > The right environment for having startup ideas need not be a
> > university per se. It just has to be a situation with a large
> > percentage of school.
>
> Now go back and re-read that bit.  School.  Learning.  Gaining knowledge.
>
> HOSEF could even become the "Y-combiner" of Hawaii, taking a stake in
> its startups, and using the funds derived to seed new startups and
> further increase its education efforts.

Yes.  I have dreamed of being an incubator, a recycler, a daily destination 
for Seniors, and a bus stop for kids, all fostering and sustaining FOSS 
innovation.  Oh, I dream of it here in Ewa.

>
> In the past, I've taught secretaries to program.   I've taught
> microbiology graduates to program.  I taught (and continue to teach)
> myself to program.
>
> My (nearly) eight year-old son has a keen interest in robots, guess what
> he'll be doing soon...
>
> Just some ideas, a bit more "bomb throwing" @ 4am.

We need more think bombs like yours.  Thanks.

>
> jim

--scott