IT360 idea for Joomla! give aways

[ph...@envoguecomputers.com]

Hi,

I have an idea for Joomla! promotion during the IT360 event. I can
install a portable version of Joomla! running on XAMPP on USB sticks.
The sticks are inexpensive, and could be decorated with the Joomla!
logo.

I can install XAMPP for Windows, and Joomla! 1.5, with some basic
instructions for how to start the webserver. It would be a good way
for people to get familiar with Joomla! without having to worry at all
about web hosting.

I have run XAMPP like this myself, and it runs quite well on USB 2.
It runs more slowly on USB 1, but it is still usable. I only know how
to set this up for Windows currently, but a MAC and Linux version
should also be possible.

Does anyone think this would be a good idea? Any suggestions on where
we can get the USB sticks, and the Joomla! logo stickers?

Phil

[Michelle Bisson]

Joomla! does not allow to have the Joomla! logo on any merchandise that is not sold in the Joomla! Shop.  

An alternative would be to put this on a CD, but with no Joomla! logo, but I would still have to get permission from the Event's team to disctribute it since this event will be sponsored by OSM.

Michelle

[ph...@envoguecomputers.com]

My plan was to give these away not to sell them. Also, if the logo is
going to cause a problem, then forget the logo, it's a minor detail.

XAMPP can be run from a USB stick, and is still very reliable when
used this way. I don't think this would be possible on a CD. I'm
more than happy to volunteer my time to set up XAMPP and Joomla! on
the USB sticks to give away free.

When these USB sticks are plugged into any computer with Windows, the
XAMPP server can be started with just one batch file. Then the user
would direct their browser to http://localhost/joomla to work with an
active Joomla! 1.5 installation on the USB stick. I can provide a
README.TXT on the stick with a few simple instructions.

But I will wait until I hear some support from the group and Joomla!
leadership before I proceed with this, in case this is not appropriate
for the event.

Phil

On Mar 4, 11:10 pm, "Michelle Bisson" <4joo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Joomla! does not allow to have the Joomla! logo on any merchandise that is
> not sold in the Joomla! Shop.
>
> An alternative would be to put this on a CD, but with no Joomla! logo, but I
> would still have to get permission from the Event's team to disctribute it
> since this event will be sponsored by OSM.
>
> Michelle
>

> On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 12:15 PM, p...@envoguecomputers.com <

[Alan Langford]

I have mixed feelings about this. At first I didn't see the usefulness
of it. I thought it would just be a good way to score a spare USB
stick. But then I was at a meeting last night and someone who knows
I'm into Joomla complained about the dependencies... he's not very
technical, so the whole idea of setting up LAMP was too intimidating,
and he never saw (or noticed) any mention of XAMPP.

So now I think it might be useful. Still there's nothing to stop
someone from simply deleting the stuff and using the stick, so maybe a
CD would be better. Every machine can benefit from a good LAMP stack,
after all! [ok, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement ;)]

I also think we need to do a little strategic planning. From my
recollection, IT360 attracts more of a business and IT professional
crowd. If that's the case, my (limited) experience with this type of
person is that typically a technical individual is trying to convince
management to try Joomla, usually for testing in an intranet
application of some sort. The hope being that Joomla is so impressive
that management then starts using it in other areas.

If these are valid assumptions, then maybe we should be up to speed on
the sorts of extensions that could meet a variety of intranet needs.
I'm sure we have to be careful not to be seen to endorse extensions
outside the core, but it might be helpful if we can list a few
candidate extensions for each application. Personally I'd like to have
a couple of bound hardcopies of the Joomla Extensions Directory...
chained to the table. That would be visually impressive.

[ph...@envoguecomputers.com]

The cool thing about XAMPP is there are no dependencies. It actually
can run on the USB stick, with very minimal interaction with the OS.
I would say it's the best LAMP stack available, and certainly it seems
to be the most popular.

I agree that somebody can delete it from the stick, and this could be
a drawback. However, they can also run it directly from the stick,
which adds some 'wow' factor, and they could also copy the XAMPP
folder to any other computer, and it will run with the exact same
settings. It's the most portable LAMP stack, capable of running from
any folder, and can be moved and copied anywhere.

Maybe I'll just set up a couple for the group to look at. That way you
guys can evaluate it's usefulness for future events.

Phil

[Michelle Bisson]

'm sure we have to be careful not to be seen to endorse extensions
outside the core,

Yes, this is important.  As well, although it is good to mention about the extensions, we do not want to focus too much attention on them because it is Joomla! that we are presenting.  Another factor is that some of the extensions are commercial and we are not allow to promote anything commercial since we are there as a non-profit.

Usually what I do is explain briefly that there are over ???? extensions in our extension directory and list 5 or 6 categories, ex. forum, ecommerce, blogs, (but not specific extension) etc...

If someone wants you to go into detail about a particular extension, invite them to sign up to be on the JUGT mailing list.  There they would be free to ask more specific questions.

You'll find that you will be quite busy just answering questions about Joomla!  A lot of people are starting to hear about Joomla! and will be glad that we have a booth there.

As far as using USB keys or CDs, price may be a factor.  This is not something that OSM will sponsor.  But if some of you wish to contribute to that, that is an option.

Michelle