Saw a very cool item today called the Freedom Toaster. Basically a kiosk that allows people to burn CDs and DVDs of OSS for free. Now, if only they would put up more info and the software they’re using so that *we* could build one… 
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This wasn’t originally called the French Toaster, by chance, was it?
This is cool because it is self-service and conceivably users can pick different configurations and combinations of OSS packages. But as an alternative while you are building one yourself, you could also try sending people to http://www.ubuntulinux.org/shipit/link_view - it takes a little while, but they will ship you, totally free of charge, as many copies of ubuntu linux as you want. I requested 10 copies and then gave my public library 9 of them.
I burn copies of http://theopencd.org/ for my master’s level teacher ed classes. I’m trying to convince my colleague who is in charge of the one tech class required for all teacher ed students to take to do the same. The current version includes OSS for Windows AND is a bootable Ubuntu disk. It may obviate the need for my giving out Knoppix to that class.
I too was annoyed that the toaster people don’t include the software to make our own. It seems counter-productive.
(
Oh, and don’t miss Software Freedom Day. Actually, yesterday was the deadline to request free stuff from them.)
We COMPLETELY agree!! We are currently going through the process of documenting exactly how we made the Freedom Toaster and how is works – from tech specs to exact software. If you to go http://www.freedomtoaster.org - you can see the beginnings of the documentation and the community around it. Our aim is to give everyone the tools to build, maintain, host and develop Freedom Toasters. Fingers crossed it should be ready to by the end of Jan 06.
Isn’t this totally amazing? This is the kind of stuff that could land Open Source on Oprah. Break into the main stream. With this and the $100 laptops, not only could amazing changes take place in developing countries and, well, everywhere, but soon eveyrone will actually know what Linux and OpenOffice. and Gimp and open source are.
Marion Jensen’s comment amused me. ;>