The PC Garage — Computer Recycling (Ages 13–18)
In this workshop students fix an old computer and configure it to run Free Software. Participants will take a computer and parts, assemble and test it, and then install the Linux operating system and other Free Software.
Schedule
- Week 1 - Introductions
- Introduction and overview of computing history. What is a computer, anyway?
- Week 2 - The parts in a Personal Computer
- What's that? What does a hard drive look like? Where's the power supply? Look at these two motherboards; see how they're different types? Take a look at these kinds of slots. Here's an ethernet cable and here's a phone cable; now, is that an ethernet card or a modem?
- Week 3 - Counting in Binary, and how those zeroes and ones are stored
- What storage device is the fastest? The BIOS -- what happens when you turn your computer on?
- Week 4 - Files and Partitions
- Review storage concepts, and discuss partitioning and file systems. How does the machine know where to put things?
- Week 5 - Operating Systems
- Software and Hardware, operating systems and applications. Introduce the idea of Free Software, start the installation process and discuss Free Software, ownership, and the GPL
- Week 6 - Work on install problems and modifications
- Collaboration with local Linux experts to get everything running.
- Week 7 - GNU/Linux 101
- Navigation, using the floppy and CDROM, using the Internet, and editing files.
- Week 8 - Where to find Free Software
- Pick a small but cool application and have everybody download and install it. Have them look for other software that interests them or improves their system. Isn't Free Software great?
- Week 9 - More on installing software
- Source vs. binary, compiling, and packaging formats.
- Week 10 - Networking, clients and servers
- Week 11 - HTML and serving up web pages
- Week 12 - Download a networkable game
- Have fun!
The goal of the Free Software movement is to enable people to understand, to learn from, to improve, to adapt, and to share the technology that increasingly runs every human life.