Andy's Aplaku Linux user group and learning Centre

The editor with Ataa Mensah Israel , one of the local dignitaries at Israel Junction near the development

Present state of development

see also OLPC sugar interface

On land adjacent to Israel junction at Aplaku on the West side of Accra my wife and I are building a few office type units. One of these units the writer hopes to use as a fully functional Internet Café, Library, and training centre.

Also to teach youngster's the Linux operating system, about the Internet and web development and as a meeting place for computer enthusiasts and Linux users.

There are a few chop bars (including ours) and hotels in the area for tourists, but little in the way of facilities (especially regarding eduction), for locals on a low income. The long term business model is that a proportion of the funds generated from computer sales will be used in a charitable way to help educate the locals particularly regarding computer and I.T technology.

Internet building18 X 20 square feet floor space

The internet cafe building is up, but i have realized that various constraints have influenced my intentions. We have had to use local builders and local building materials; everything seems to be done using nails. I have not seem any tradesman use a screw yet. The electrical supply is single phase and " lights off " occurs sporadically at any time and for different time periods.

This isn't great for a computer as all systems I have come across require a shutdown sequence of some sort; I haven't seen one yet that likes the electrical supply chopped while its in full flow. Another problem is the red soil dust which gets everywhere , and I have visions of the tower of a standard pc getting choked. Another slight problem is also no land line for an internet connection via ADSL

The plan at the moment is to use Panasonic Cf-27 Toughbooks , which I have added an extra 128 ram. These units can be obtained fairly cheaply are self contained and have the advantage with a battery supply of getting around the mains electrical problems. The battery time of an hour is ok since it will at least allow for shutdown. They are a lot more resiliant to the dust.

The operating system i'm using is Mepis Antix which works very well on the Toughbooks and I can connect to the internet through a zain USB modem using the PPP dial-up

I have visited the Zain office in Dansoman, Accra and a likely solution to run about ten laptops would be by using their Xbox router which has a SIM card holder, allowing internet through their cellular network

The Xbox as well as having ethernet ports, allows wireless connection. The use of Mepis allows me to keep in line with my intention of promoting Linux to Ghana.

The long term aim is:

For those people who don't have a computer, they will be welcome at the centre to get to know how to use the features of a desktop Linux Operating system such as Mepis or Ubuntu.

Inside unit looking a bit spartan at the moment , the bench shelf can support 5 laptops.

I want to introduce the concept of the Internet and its associated HTML to youngsters who don't know what they are. Also to demonstrate using a text editor how a simple web page is constructed & to show what this looks like in a web browser off line, for the older kids.

Help introduce Linux to the Aplaku and Ga West Accra Municipal area, and help to install a Linux operating onto the computers of people who show some interest in Linux.

I have already written an introduction to computing course aimed to be taught for 2 hours a day for a week , combining theory and practical. i well just have to see how it goes .....