I would like to thank the Correspondent, Dr. (Tmt.) Umayal Ramanathan, the Registrar, Mr. Dhandapani, CSE HOD, Dr. S. Sakthivel, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India for providing me with an opportunity to conduct a GNU/Linux workshop for the MCA students on Saturday, July 23, 2005.

The labs already run Red Hat, but, it is used at a basic programming (bash scripting, desktop usage) level. I conducted the following sessions: career opportunities with GNU/Linux, and on Free Software for engineers.

The download speeds are not that high at the Institute. I gave them Knoppix 3.6, Fedora Core 3, The.Code.Linux.avi, C-DAC tamil fonts, and the presentation slides in CDs. BSNL provides Internet connection facilities for the University. Sify has netcafe centers in the city, which have much better download speeds. Most of them have a computer at home. I have told them to send e-mails if they require any CDs, and we can simply send the CDs to them through courier.

The students were very much interested in GNU/Linux. You should have seen their eyes, the eagerness and willingness to really learn, and to understand the fundamental concepts.

Few photos taken during the trip can be viewed from my /gallery.