Re: Interesting notice in REC Calicut

[Atul Chitnis <achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Nikhil Datta wrote:

> Seen put up on the notice board in all REC Calicut hostels.
> 
> Attn : All Users of the Main COmputer Center
> 
> All users having personal files on the Win 95/98/NT systems in the Main Computer Center are requested to backup their files. All the machines will be reformatted to use Grahical Applications on the Linux O/S.
> 
> signed..
> Head Of Dept....

Way to go, REC Kozhikode! Can we have that notice engraved on stone and
passed around the country?

> What I did notice there however, was that no faculty members turned
> up.. maybe that's where there some concerted efforts at education
> needs to be made..

Yes, you hit the nail on the head, and boy did it hurt! ;-)

Linux adoption has always been largely at the actual user level. By this I
mean that people who try it, use it. But the top honchos (read
"management") typically don't buy in because they are out of the loop
altogether.

This does not apply to educational institutions alone. Many sysadmins the
world over deploy Linux "on the sly" with fabulous results. But there is a
"failure to communicate" when it comes to letting management know the
results. Someone needs to quantify the results, do a neat writeup and a
presentation, then beard the lion in his den.

However, we all know that techies don't necessarily qualify as presenters,
and maybe *that's* the issue. An ideal situation would be a set of
templates (reports, presentations) where the sysadmins can plug in their
figures and findings without having to take night-classes in management.

Such templates would necessarily have to be written by management-savvy
people, because only they truely understand the mystical jabberwocky lingo
used by the suits.

This is a job for Batman...er...us. It needs more discussion and
theorizing, but should be doable.

Anyone game?

Atul

p.s. Thanks Nikk - this is the first genuine "matching the list topic"
message I have seen here in a while.