[LUAU] The Birth of HOSEF - Your LUG in Action

[R. Scott Belford]

For those of you who do not know, HOSEF was born right here on this list 
nearly four years ago as a way to grow our community:

http://lists.hosef.org/pipermail/luau/2002-April/007507.html

The idea was partly inspired by The Alameda County Computer Resource Center

http://www.accrc.org/


In the years since then we have had a lot of fun, a lot of us have 
gotten to know one another, and we have easily rescued and repurposed 
more than a thousand computers.  As the result of our work with schools, 
just this week Novell is going to be certifying a lot of our recipients 
to become Linux+ Instructors.  Yes, the fruit of HOSEF's work is that 
Linux+ certification is now being offered in our public K12 setting.

We've had other milestones such as TPOSSCON, our annual event at The 
Hawaii Convention Center.  In the next few weeks we are setting up our 
first Gnu Linux Edutainment Center in a City and County Park.  Not only 
are we putting 10 Linux workstations in a park in Ewa Beach, but also we 
  are putting in Free Wireless for the Community.  (thanks Jim Thompson)

You see, HOSEF is your LUG in action.  We are not your LUG, though, and 
this merits some emphasis.  It wouldn't be Hawaii if there were not some 
resentful, 'crab in the bucket' repercussions to our work.  While we 
were born of LUAU, the closest think to a LUG on Oahu, we don't make any 
claim to be *the* LUG of Hawaii.  There is, of course, the BILUG, and 
rumor has it that LCC has started a LUG.

I'd like for you to spend time helping us with our mission to promote 
and sustain the use of FOSS in Hawaii.  However, if you decide to start 
your own LUG on Oahu tomorrow, HOSEF is here to help you with our web 
presence, our server resources, our calendar, our 501(c)(3) status, and 
more.  LUGs promote and sustain FOSS in a variety of ways, and HOSEF is 
here to see that FOSS is promoted and sustained.

Aloha

--scott


-- 
R. Scott Belford
Founder/Executive Director
The Hawai`i Open Source Education Foundation
PO Box 392
Kailua, HI 96734
808.689.6518 phone/fax
scott at hosef.org