The Summer Source Mailing List The Summer Source community run list is still very active and has approximately 100 posts to the list per month.

You can apply to join this moderated list at http://lists.tacticaltech.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/summersource-l Please note this list is primarily for people who were at summer source so if you apply to join, your application will be reviewed by the members.

Related Tactical Tech and partner projects

NGO-in-a-box This box set of free and open source software tools aims to offer all you need to set up your own free/open source NGO office. Tactical Tech is now working on a new and improved version of NGO-in-a-box. This will be a combination of bootable distributions, distributions for new machines and open source software that can be run over windows. Read more...

Curricula Tactical Tech and Informal are working to formulate a curricula based on the experiences from Summer Source. This curricula will be focused on teaching technology implementers from the non-profit sector how to use and promote open source software.

Localisation Tactical Tech and Informal are working on a paper on localisation. This paper will aim to gather peoples experiences on how best to do localisation projects and outline what the problems and challenges are associated with this.

Getting started In collaboration with Dirk Slater of LINC, Tactical Tech is developing a guide to getting started with F/OSS in an NGO. This guide will outline where to start with transitioning NGOs to the use of F/OSS aimed at eRiders and other intermediaries.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the above projects please write to ttc@tacticaltech.org

Participants and facilitators post-camp activities

My name is Ian Lawrence and I am working with an NGO called Oficina Escola de Lutheria da Amazonia (OELA)

What knowledge are you using in this project that you gained during the Summer Source Camp? Primarily how to convince an organisation of the merits of OSS. When I arrived the computers in the field office were in a poor condition as no-one has any technical ability to fix even the simplest of problems. The 'funny' thing is that some of the machines are the latest models (from UNICEF) but all are running Windows 98‚ the worst OS in my opinion. Flexibility is important (as was stressed at camp) as a total switch to OSS is not practical just yet in the office as they want to test and play with Linux in a non-critical environment first but I managed to implement a novel solution for the children (see below) .

What methods learned in Summer Source Camp are you using in the project? As was mentioned in numerous sessions at camp the secret to success is to give the people who need the software what they want and not what I, as the implementor, want them to want. Walking one day to the projects wood craft building I noticed many children huddled around a TV with a Playstation. I went back to fetch my laptop and started up Knoppix which I installed at camp and started to play Galaga (an arcade space invaders type game) which is part of the Debian OS. The children loved it with Gtans (a geometry game) also being another favourite for them. Later many of the children came back to the OELA house and basically forced the coordinator to ask me to install Debian on one of the childrens 'play' computers. This led to many questions as to for children and why Windows 98 doesn't have good games etc and I had my 'window of opportunity' that was talked about at camp to explain FLOSS.

I also was able to demonstrate dyne:bolic and it was really good to see how responsive this was on their old computers. I left one10 year old boy Joao Walfredo a dyne:bolic CD of his own to experiment with as he got completely over excited about the system and is now passionate about Linux :-)

Has the Summer Source Camp influenced or inspired your idea of the project in any way? If yes, in what way? Yes. Without SummerSource I would not be implementing a shift to OSS software. It was only after talking with the participants of the camp and actually having 'hands on' experience that I felt confident enough in my own abilities to install and maintain the software. More important, however, was actually having confidence in the software itself and in the community which supports it. I gained this as a direct result of the camp and it has made a lasting impression on me and I hope it will too on the people I am working with here.

Interview with Summer Source participant Eugeniy Lobanov, working for the environmental NGO “Foundation for Realization of Ideas” (FRI), Minsk, Belarus.

Where is your project taking place? Our NGO is located in Minsk, but we work in different regions of Belarus. We also cooperate in a number of international environment projects. At present we work on the following projects and campaigns: sustainable management of medical waste in Belarus, anti-toxic campaign, support of regional and local environmental NGOs in Belarus and several others.

What were your expected outcomes of the project? What knowledge are you using in your project which you learned during the Summer Source Camp? The most important for me was the knowledge about F/OSS using and implementation, because before the camp we practically didn’t have relevant information about implementation of F/OSS solutions for NGOs and some other stakeholders. Also, it was extremely important to receive a professional overview of existing F/OSS solutions and a comparison of F/OSS to licensed software. After the camp we switched 2 of our computers to the Knoppix operating system. And we decided to start a project devoted to the promotion of F/OSS among NGOs in Belarus – I think it’s one of the most important outcomes of my participation at the camp. Another topic from the Camp which I want to underline is – eRiders. It was very useful for me and for my NGO to become acquainted with this movement, we hope to get the eRiders team in Belarus, too.

Comment /summary of Tomas Krag, head of the Danish NGO wire.less.dk

I'm Tomas Krag, and I co-run a company called wire.less.dk that works with wireless community networks around the world. I am also in the process of starting a Danish non-profit to work specifically with Open Source/Free Software and other Open/Free technologies in the developing world.

What knowledge are you using in this project which you learned during the Summer Source Camp? I learned a lot about the needs of NGO's from around the world, and even more about the key issues that make Free Software and Open standards so important everywhere in the world. In a sense, the inspiration to take one more step away from running a company and towards starting an NGO for real, came from the Summer Source camp.

Did Summer Source Camp influenced or inspire your idea of the project in any way? If yes, in what way? Yes, yes, yes. It was the proverbial last straw that pushed the young man from being a healthy young entrepreneur to going all out for the cause :-)