[PLUG] [Event Report] Fedora OpenStack, P.E.S. College of Engineering, Aurangabad, India, March 2, 2013

[Shakthi Kannan]

Hi,

I had organized a Fedora and OpenStack [1] workshop at P.E.S. College
of Engineering [2], Nagsen Vana, Aurangabad, Maharashtra on Saturday,
March 2, 2013.

After a formal inauguration at 1000 IST, I introduced the students to
communication guidelines, mailing list etiquette, and project
guidelines using the "i-want-2-do-project. tell-me-wat-2-do"
presentation [3]. The different Fedora sub-projects [4] to which they
can contribute to were mentioned.  I showed the various free/open
source software tools available for them to learn and use. The career
options with free/open source software were also discussed. I had
asked them to write down any questions they had on the forenoon
session, so I could answer them in the afternoon session. Few of their
questions:

* If I do a project in Java, what are my career options?
* What is the difference between open source and Microsoft?
* Is Linux popular only because of security, or are there other reasons too?
* I am interested in mainframes. How should I learn?
* I am interested in a career in animation. What free/open source
software can I use?
* What are the steps to become a good software engineer?
* Can I patent a software product?

Post-lunch, I answered their queries in the Q&A session, to the best
of my knowledge. I also gave them an introduction on copyright,
trademark and patents, and mentioned that IANAL [5]. I then introduced
them to the architecture of OpenStack, explaining the individual
components, and their functionality. The OpenStack Lab Guide [6] was
provided to them to setup their own OpenStack cloud. Some of them had
brought their laptops to try it hands-on. I demonstrated the Horizon
web interface after starting the required services.

All their computer labs have been migrated to Fedora 17. Thanks to
Prof. Nitin Ujgare for working with me in organizing this workshop,
and for maintaining the Fedora labs at the Institute. Aurangabad is
around 230 km from Pune, and takes around 4 1/2 hours by road. There
are frequent bus services between Pune and Aurangabad. You can book
bus tickets at Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)
[7] web site. There are a number of historic places to visit in and
around Aurangabad. Few photos taken during the trip are available in
my /gallery [8].

Regards,

SK

[1] Fedora OpenStack. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/OpenStack

[2] P. E. S. College of Engineering, Nagsen Vana, Aurangabad.
http://www.pescoe.ac.in/

[3] i-want-2-do-project. tell-me-wat-2-do.
http://shakthimaan.com/downloads.html#i-want-2-do-project-tell-me-wat-2-do

[4] Fedora sub-projects. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects

[5] IANAL. I Am Not A Lawyer.

[6] OpenStack Lab Guide.
http://fedorapeople.org/~russellb/openstack-lab-rhsummit-2012/index.html

[7] Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation.
http://www.msrtc.gov.in/msrtc_live/index.html

[8] Photos. http://www.shakthimaan.com/Mambo/gallery/album88

-- 
Shakthi Kannan
http://www.shakthimaan.com