User: Ctopham

My name is Craig Topham, and I have come to the conclusion that I can combine my two joys in life: ensuring personal freedom and promoting the use of computers. I am going to join the fight for freedom and justice for all by applying my talents and passions to bridge the gap between people and technology.

I would like to see the City of Eugene, Oregon talking about (hopefully using) Free Software, not just in government, but among the public. That is the goal.

Currently, I am working as an Application Support Technician for the City of Eugene’s Information Services Division. Let's just say that a great deal of social capitol can be gathered by solving end-user problems...for three years...with a smile. I feel that I am in a good position to convince the City (government) to take a look at the freedom protecting benefits of FS and to consider FS when acquiring new software. My intention is to empower the decision makers to be able to hold a discussion, perform cost-benefit analyses, and engage in debates on whether Free Software can find a place here in our City. However, this would require a large shift in the social/professional landscape of the City. I am aware of these obstacles. Eugene touts itself as a progressive City in pursuit of sustainability, and although I have given multiple presentations in front of the Mayor, council members, city staff, and the city manager, one would be amazed at the blank stares and glazed eyes he/she receives on the mere mention of the word “computer”, let alone Free Software. Needless to say, I'm working on it, and this is one reason I sought membership with the FSF.

In addition to my duties to the City, I am currently the Treasurer of a City of Eugene Neighborhood Association called the Churchill Area Neighbors (CAN, www.churchillareaneighbors.org[1]). Neighborhood associations are the City’s effort to build community at the neighborhood level, and improve the livability of the City's neighborhoods. In the previous two years, as chair of the CAN, I rallied a significant amount of social capitol and resources to utilize computers and FS to bring the community closer together. There are several aspects to this strategy.

One aspect is a web site and web tools that can be used by the community members to communicate with one another. We built the project on Free or open-source software. The real challenge will come when the city’s “portal” site is extended to the nineteen neighborhood associations. If you have never visited the City of Eugene’s web site go ahead; www.eugene-or.gov[2]. It has issues (to put it politely), and the CAN website will someday butt heads with the city’s “portal” site. I think our site would be a grand opportunity to “show them how it’s done”. The fact that it will be Free or open source will be of importance to my overall Free Software agenda. On our community web site we have a page dedicated to FOSS and how our community benefits from it: churchillareaneighbors.org/foss[3] Bear in mind, the website is managed by two volunteers, who have full time jobs. However, the site is growing and improving.

The second aspect of the community based effort is computer user education. The motivation stems from the belief that you can’t have an awesome web site when the PCs can be a security risk or are not functioning properly. In addition, I will use this opportunity to spread the word about the value of Free Software. I am preparing to host a monthly, “Neighborhood PC repair day: a community building event.” This will be a a great opportunity to empower the end users to “do it themselves” while receiving technical supervision from PC tech support volunteers. I will also host lectures on a wide variety of computer related subjects, but most importantly on Free Software. These lectures will give me an opportunity to invite business leaders, neighborhood leaders, and City leaders to come and learn about Free Software.

The third aspect of the community based effort is to assuage the issue of people who do not have computers. I believe that the CAN can provide PCs (donate or sell cheaply) to those who don’t have them. This would allow everyone to join the ‘to be formed’ CAN Internet community. We would be providing a Gnu/Linux PC with Churchill Area Neighbors “window dressing” and community information links. I have high hopes of working with multiple local organizations, and I have already laid some ground work for collaborating with Next Step Recycling, a local organization that recycles and reuses PCs.

In addition to the neighbor leadership, I am also a small business owner of Electronic Problem Solver For Hire (epsfh.com[4]). I recently received a $4000 grant from Lane County Micro Business with a plan to provide a business service titled "Free Software Migration Service".(lanemicrobusiness.org[5]) As the name implies, the service gives users the opportunity to switch over from a proprietary system to a Free Software one. This is empowering the public, one person at the time, with a tag line of, “You'll never pay for software again.”

Being a city employee, neighborhood leader, and business owner are the three main launching points for my efforts, and they are going to converge to give the Free Software movement a boost.

I joined the FSF with the hope of meeting like minded individuals, and with the intention of doing good and of being a part of something larger than myself. I welcome constructive comments or suggestions regarding my ideas.

Sincerely,

Craig Topham

Owner, Electronic Problem Solver For Hire

City of Eugene; Application Support Technician

City of Eugene; Churchill Area Neighbors, Treasurer

Eugene, OR