There is a great review of the primer in the newest ICT Hub Circuit Rider Digest newsletter, from LASA. That newsletter, by the way, is also chock full of great information, so check it out.

Open Source Cyber Cafe
A Project of the Legal Services Technology Network, the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative, and the National Technology Assistance Project
Circuit Rider's Roundup...

The Cafe made its debut at the 2002 NTEN Technology Circuit Riders Roundup,
held this year on April 12-14 in Orlando, FL. The Roundup is an annual conference of
nonprofit technology assistance providers. These include consultants and staff who assist
non-profit organizations of all sizes around the country with technology decision-making and implementation.

The Cafe was a big hit at with Roundup attendees. Throughout the two-day conference, the
Cafe's five laptops, all running Linux Terminal Server, were in almost constant use.
Many users stopped by to ask questions about open source software. Many others just
wanted to check their email, but in the process found themselves trying out Linux and other OSS programs for the first time.
Here's a sample of what users had to say:
"It [OSS] was less intimidating than I thought. In fact, I have no idea what I was afraid of before."

"This changed my opinion of open source for sure. When I have a chance I'm going to check it out more."

"Pretty impressive."

"Easy to use."

"I used the Cyber Café and really appreciated it. I think you should promote yourself more."

"Very strong effort. Bravo!"

When we asked users how we could improve the Cafe, the two most common suggestions were:

"More laptops!" We're working on getting more hardware donated. For more info, contact the NOSI Steering Commitee
"More documentation" We are also developing more documentation. To help out with this effort please contact the NOSI Steering Commitee.

The Cyber Cafe is an innovative way to expose organizations in the nonprofit community to the wonders of open source software. The Cafe is nothing more than a traveling booth that attends key national nonprofit technology and management conferences. It is equipped with networked laptops connected to the Internet and loaded with open source software. By offering a central place for conference attendees to check email, surf the Net, or print a document, the Cafe provides a free place for decision makers in the nonprofit community to explore Linux and other open source software; most for the first time.The Cafe's first stop was the Circuit Rider's Roundup, in Orlando, FL in April 2002. See pictures and comments from Roundup attendees. Since then it's been to numerous nonprofit technology conferences, including other NTEN conferences (see the pictures).

The NOSI Cafe needs new laptops! If you have any ideas on how to get some more updated laptops, so we can bring the cafe to more places, please drop a line to info AT nosi DOT net.