leebase's picture

Ok folks -- I put up my first screencast -- Installing Turnkey Core.

I go through the steps from downloading the core iso, creating a free vmware appliance, and installing Turnkey core.

I think the title aught to be "Installing Linux in under 15min"  ;)

Lee

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Alon Swartz's picture

Hey Lee,

I have not officially welcomed you to the team, so welcome. I just watched the screencast and was extremely impressed - nice going.

We have been planning on creating some screencasts as well, but you beat us to it. We expect it to be a very useful tool for introducing appliances in general and TurnKey Linux in particular to new users.

Speaking of introducing TurnKey Linux to new users, what do you think of promoting screencasts on YouTube? I just created the Official YouTube TurnKey Linux group, which is public and anyone can join.

leebase's picture

Well now I feel officially welcomed ;)

I think YouTube is a must...and Vimeo and other sites...but certainly YouTube. The most important place, of course, is here. I'm a big fan of short video tutorials, they make the "aha" moment come sooner.

Btw, I didn't "beat you to the punch" -- I contributed to the project. Isn't that why open source is so powerful? You folks have put a good amount of time and effort to create something of value for the rest of us. I stood on your shoulders and added a tiny bit more.

Also, I'll completely understand if you get around to redoing the screen casts. I realize that you may have content in mind that I did not think of or include. I'd even be willing to take suggestions and feedback to reshoot mine (hopefully my next one won't be so breathy). But at least we have something for now that I do think others will find helpful.

This is the first OS project that I've really thought "I really want to add value here". I truly do think that virtual appliances are going to grow to be hugely important in the industry.

Lee

Liraz Siri's picture

You're right. "Beating us to the punch" didn't quite convey the sense of excitement at seeing our little baby open source project reach a first milestone (I.e., first community contributed screen cast).

As founders of the project Alon and I have so far done most of the heavy lifting but we're hoping as the project grows the balance will gradually shift away from us and more to the community. There are a zillion ways to add value and I would be absolutely thrilled to see the community step up and contribute at all levels.

Regarding the screencast, it's a very good start. If you have time to refine this I would maybe look into trying to make it more concentrated, shorter. Perhaps it is possible to figure out a way to condense the same information into 5 minutes, rather than 15.

leebase's picture

I tried to upload it to YouTube, it was rejected as too long (13:55). I know there are videos longer than that on YouTube

Lee

Liraz Siri's picture

As Alon mentioned we've had screencasts on our todo list for a while now, and you beat us to the punch. Kudos and thanks for taking a stab at this!

Alon's idea for a YouTube channel might be a bit premature considering we don't have much material. In my mind the main advantage for a social media type video channel is the potential reach. Also videos can potentially be a much more engaging format.

Definitely something to further explore in the future.

leebase's picture

Hi Liraz,

Certainly there is more to think about and plan for than simply making a screencast (the easy part). The place to start is putting the screencasts somewhere on this site for folks to find.

I fully realize that you might have far more in mind for "official screencasts" than my first effort fit. So feel free to make use of what I've created for now and replace it whenever you are prepared to.

I plan to make at least one more -- the one that talks about how to install java and tomcat. I would think a very important one would be "how to hack your own iso". But as I don't know how to do that, I can't create that one ;)

Lee

Liraz Siri's picture

Regarding your screencasts. Open source develops incrementally. Even a rough draft is a very useful contribution. We can build on that. OTOH, when we publish something officially on the project that usually means we've polished it up and worked out all the known issues. I think that's the contribution we bring to the table. I imagine the same will apply to screencasts. For them to really work they have to be short, focused and engaging.

FYI, we're currently testing a release candidate for our TurnKey Tomcat appliance and if no issues are discovered will release it next week.

Alon Swartz's picture

Update: We have just release TurnKey Tomcat, any comments or suggestions you have would be great.
leebase's picture

I'm in the middle of rolling an app into production, but I hope to get a chance to play with it next week.

Lee

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