[Ale-study] 2nd Thoughts

[JD]

On 12/23/2013 08:42 AM, Paul Cartwright wrote:
> On 12/23/2013 07:16 AM, Leam Hall wrote:
>> You seem to be the perfect type to help new Linux Admins connect what
>> is with what was! While I like where Linux is now there's a part of me
>> that thinks SAs need more than just "click a few buttons and you have
>> a cloud server". I do want to push us into clouds, version control,
>> and a few other things, but a hands on experience with hardware is good. 
> I have VMware installed on this box, but it is broke with Ubuntu 13.10 .
> Virtualbox is also installed & working, though I like VMware better.
> As a contractor to AT&T, I am a project manager. one of the projects I
> oversee is cloud server installations..

PM Work
So it appears we have a core team willing to do something about this! Fantastic!
I will bow to Paul's PM expertise - I also worked as a contractor to AT&T ... I
was a TIA and did over 200 projects if that means anything. Worked with many
highly skilled PMs over the years, so I know what a good PM can accomplish by
tracking actions and issues.

VM Tech
I prefer KVM these days.  VirtualBox, anything from VMware, and others just
haven't met all the requirements (stability and F/LOSS are key).  Formerly used
pretty much all the VM stuff (except things for Apple) from MVS thru to ESXi and
everything in-between.  Very interested in LXC these days and looking forward to
libvirt support being solid AND in the LTS repos. I don't install from source
anymore. ;)
My daily use desktop is a VM running in a private cloud. How is that for commitment?


ALE-Study
People will drop out (and in) of this study group all the time.  I expect at
least an 80% drop rate ... since we aren't talking about any payment. That may
sound harsh, but it is reality. Life gets in the way, good intentions aside.

a) how to minimize drop outs?
b) how to support late arrivals (drop ins)?
c) how to get input/feedback from the current "mob"?
d) what are the key needs for the highly interested folks today?  A set of polls
would be helpful.

We need to gather proposals for how we proceed. A few thoughts ...
* #1 - don't forget this is about prep for the LPIC-1 test.
* Online meetings are probably the best, since getting to meat-ups [sic]
consistently is just too hard. Even Saturday mornings are hard for everyone and
some people cannot/will not drive halfway across Atlanta to a meetup. I'll drive
25%, but not halfway. ;) My suspicion is that others have similar limitations.
* There are Sunday informal GA-400 Linux group meetings where real people meet
to discuss Linux. I'd propose using those to get started for people who need
face-to-face interactions. Other areas of town can create their own meat-ups for
groups of 2-10 easily. Local, small, restaurants during non-busy times are a
good choice.
* Any documentation needs to be CC or GNU licensed. No creating docs for a
company. Leverage existing docs if we can.  Get an education discount for any
commercial documents ... the RoR group uses an online PDF (free) for the core of
their Beginning RoR class. They usually have 15-25 people every week IN the
classroom (corporate sponsor).
* We need a general syllabus of topics. The O'Reilly LPI Cert book TOC seemed
reasonable to me. FYI, 27 chapters in that book - last 2 are exam related.
Whatever text is decided is a must-have, IMHO.
* We need a general timeframe to set expectations. 1 chapter a week with a
1-week break every other month for catch-up? In theory, this will be a 8+ month
effort.
* The first time thru, it will be hard to have documentation, hence the book.
* A wiki with notes, corrections and added information would be nice. There is
knowledge needed to pass-the-test, but there is other knowledge for how to solve
this specific problem better.
* A forum would be nice to have added informal chats, though modern wikis
support chat modes too.
* Pairing a mentor (also learning) with less knowledgeable learner seems like a
good idea. Pairs can move thru the chapters faster, if they like.
* If I were trying to get the cert, I'd want to be paired with someone else
doing the same.

I can host a Redmine server (project/wiki/forums), but it will require logins
for everything (even viewing) to prevent abuses. I suspect some other solution
would be a better choice for this hosting, but the offer stands.

It is fine if these notes are shot down. Just wanted to get folks talking about
concrete stuff and give time for thought over the holidays.

Happy Festivus!