Mobile Library

INTRODUCTION

This project or should I say compilation of software is a way we can contribute easily to the community and show the power of Open Source especially Fedora.

As we are looking for alternative that is not preaching and preaching about Open Source and Fedora, I suggest we offer a simple solution to the community where we can assist on the deployment in less than 3 hours. The solution I am talking about involves setting up a mobile library system for public places (e.g. mosque, church or maybe library itself etc) that have a direct impact to the public.

What this system will do is enabling the public to use their smartphones (iPhone, Androids, Berry's etc that have the wifi capabilities) to access the Mobile Library to download materials such as MP3s, eBooks, PDF etc for their private copy and benefit. If I can relate to a mosque operation where the religious scholars or Ustaz teaching about religious study, the mosque itself can do the recording of the session and later the mosque officer can upload it to the Mobile Library system using for example Plone (due to its folder design and easy to setup). The audience can then use their smartphones with wifi capabilities to download the teachings using the mosque wifi access. The Mobile Library must be simple enough in terms of design so that it will ensure most mobile phones able to display it properly and easily.

With the mobile phone usage is outpacing the PC and Notebook, I guess this idea is viable in the current situation.

This idea is general enough so that it can be replicated to lots of other situation.

SOFTWARE USED

1. Fedora
   
2. Plone (with some customization and optimization for smaller screen)
   
3. Some light Desktop Environment e.g. LXDE (I'm looking at you Zippy)
4. Revisor (to package it into Live CD)
5. VirtualBox (to package it into VM images). Open to other VM tech.
6. pls add here
   

MODES OF ENGAGEMENT

We can publish this project on our website on howto do it including all the templates that we use. This will ensure should any community or organization interested in it can easily deploy it in their environment maybe with the assistance of their local FOSS community at their place.

I also suggest sniiffit and Kage to assist on making it a live-cd installer for Fedora using Revisor to ensure lower barrier to install. I can assist on the building of VM image using VirtualBox or KVM. This will expedite the uptake of the said Mobile Library and strengthen the reputation of Fedora Malaysia community. (Also SUSE verison using SUSE Studio would be nice- GO BROTHERHOOD OF RPM!!)

On deployment side, we can use the Fedora Malaysia community to do the deployment and put it under our community / NGO project. I was thinking to deploy it to certain urban area mosque where the user is quite advance and comfortable using smartphones. The cost for server, wifi and MP3 recorder must be bear by the said mosque and we will only do the deployment.

Other communities can also copy this idea and do it themselves as it will benefit the whole FOSS ecosystem in a whole.

Also we must be very clear that this is an NGO project with no relationship whatsoever with the political faction be it BN or PR. We are not a tool for them!!

SOME ROADBLOCK

I foresee some roadblock as below:-

1. Support : Doing the deployment is one thing but what'll bout support? and furthermore some public places did not have enough resource to pay for suscriptions. For this I guess some of us in the community can offer some paid on demand support with really low / discounted pricing.
2. Application : Personally for me, Plone is a great piece of software and with its metaphor using folder and page, it will be well suited to this adventure. However, its powered by Pyhton and some of us here will be anxious not to mention lack of developers here in Malaysia.
3.  Pls put it here. Cant think of any.

INTERESTED TO HELP ?

Put your name here

1. Wariola
2. your name here