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<p>Model Engineering College Association of
Computer Students (MACS) conducted a Workshop on GNU/Linux for CBSE
school students on 19th and
20th of JULY. Around 50 students of standard XI from various CBSE
schools in and around Ernakulam attended the workshop. <br>
</p>
<p>This is the second time we are organizing such an event for school
students. Considering the huge response that we had for our workshop
last year, it was decided to conduct separate workshops for CBSE and
state schools, to provide room for more students to attend. Also we
decided to go for a 2 day event this time, since we felt a shortage of
time in our previous single day event.<br></p>
<p>The classes where held at the Computer Centre in the college campus
& students from various semesters in college handled the different
sessions.<br>
</p><p>The workshop started off with an introduction on Free
and Open Source Software. A basic introduction to the GNU/Linux
environment was provided to the audience. A comparison between Windows
and GNU/Linux was made, and motivation behind the gaining popularity of
GNU/Linux was explained. This was followed by familiarization of the
GNOME desktop and various
applications genuinely used in GNU/Linux. Also they where given an idea
on the Linux File system and its various hierarchical levels.<br>
</p>Installation of GNU/Linux was demonstrated using Ubuntu 7.10.
Ubuntu was chosen as the distribution for
this considering that it is one of the distributions that doesn't make
much problems for the new user. Hand-on sessions on GNU/Linux
installation helped students to have a first hand experience on the the
installation procedure and clarify their doubts. An overview of the
commonly available GNU/Linux distributions was also given.<br>
<p>Later they were given an introduction to the 'shell' and 'terminal'.
The purpose of using the 'terminal' and its advantages were explained
which gave the students an insight into the power of the 'shell'.
Various commonly used command line tools were explained and hands-on
session was given for them to try out the various command line tools.</p>
<p>The eye candy visual effects of compiz-fusion, which was
demonstrated, made a very good impact on the students. This made even
the most non-techie student attend the workshop with great interest, to
know more about GNU/Linux. <br>
</p>
The classes were interactive and students cleared all doubts they had
about GNU/Linux. And the feedback we got from the students were pretty
good. Students were given Ubuntu CD's and printed notes. Some of our
contact numbers were also given to them for future support. <br>
<br>
The students were given participation certificates at the end.<br>
<br>
</div>The workshop for state schools is scheduled on August 16th & 17th. Hoping that it will also be a big success and thus create an awareness about the free software movement and GNU/Linux among the school students in Ernakulam.<br clear="all">
<br>-- <br>Cijo George<br>Chairman<br>MEC Association of Computer Students (MACS)<br>Model Engineering College, Kochi<br>Cell Phone : +91-9846192885<br>Land phone : +91-484-2761101<br>Email ID : <a href="mailto:heartbeats037@gmail.com">heartbeats037@gmail.com</a><br>
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