====As posted by me on http://groups.google.co.in/group/jiitlug ===
 
Hello Guys,
The Linux workshop has not ended yet!! Before you start thinking a lot, let me clarify that IEEE has officially declared it closed, but guys what about un-official?? We did not do it. did we?? :)
Anyways, I would like to share my thoughts/feelings that I came across in past 15 days.
I feel extremely happy to write this letter.
First of all, I would like to thank and congratulate to everybody who was a part of this extragavanza. It was the first official event related to Linux/FOSS and I feel that we did pretty well. The enthusiasm displayed by you all was much above my expectations. 15 days is not a short time and I'm happy that we could connect to each other well. FOSS seems to have bridged many gaps amongst us. We did not have 1st, 2nd, 3rd years sitting in the sessions; we had JIITians!!
Secondly, I see this workshop as the foundation of FOSS at JIIT. My partners Ankur and Puneet have done a splendid job. Without their efforts and fundoo attitude we could not have lived the moments we cherish now.  IEEE JIIT Student Chapter (IJSB) has provided us with a much needed platform to showcase FOSS. Gaurav Darbari, Priyanka, Chandni, Varun Mittal and and the whole IJSB team has really come together as great people supporting our endeavors. I originally planned for an event in October but I guess December was the month cut out for this. And tell you what, it was the perfect time that we could have ever asked for.
 
Thirdly, I would like to thank Satyaakam Goswami Sir for his guidance during the workshop. He went out of the way to setup dates with the guests like Supreet (the Python guy) and Karunakar (l10n, i18n guy). Satyaakam Sir's mentorship was a blessing for us and I hope that the relation will continue further and we all will gain more and more. I also thank Rajan Vaish (JUIT Solan), Chirag Anand (JUIT Solan) and Khushbu Mohta (KEC) for sharing their experiences with us. This indeed helped us to connect to FOSS as students. I also thank Susmit Shannigrahi and the Fedora team who provided us with the Fedora material and Gora Mohanty Sir who carried them all the way from Bangalore to Delhi which were then picked up by Satyaakam Sir. See how things happen in FOSS. :) I leave it upto you to search for the unknown names I just mentioned and share with other on JIIT-LUG.
 
On a much personal front, I would like to say that I enjoyed sharing these 15 days with all of you. Just for the record, I never had this high attendance in any of the semesters till date which was even brought to my notice by my family :P
I hope we have touched FOSS well enough for you to explore further. FOSS for me is a very emotional affair, its something that I was long been longing for. I feel delighted to be associated with each one of you. If someone asks me what is my contribution to FOSS till now, I would say "JIIT" without any second thoughts. I feel very fortunate that I could convince you people to join this side of software development.
Lastly, I wish that everyone who participated will not let the FOSS inside you die with the receipt of certificate. It took birth to grow and blossom. It would be very disheartening if the number of FOSSy guys from Workshop drops. We had some 80+ guys at the beginning and on last day we had 40+. Some of our friends left in between the workshop due to various reasons. Though they did miss out on some things but NOTHING is lost. If you have some complains/doubts/anything, please post on this thread. Don't keep it inside you. We in FOSS world don't close anything, we share!! Also, I request you to work towards spreading the FOSSness around JIIT. There were many who did not join us this time. They also need to be made aware of what we are upto. Talk about your experience and share your knowledge with others to achieve this. Ask for help if you feel and I believe you know what/how to do in FOSS. I hope you have put up the stickers wherever possible. :)
Also, I have done a small exercise in past 2 day to sum up the workshop. I will divulge the details soon(its a surprise!). Next, I was wondering if we can call ourselves FOSS family?? I have some roles/plans for this family and everyone will easily fit in it. Please do post here and express your views about anything. (BUT, please don't hijack the thread)  :)
Keep you doubts/concerns pouring on JIIT-LUG. We have not started to stop.
Wishing you all happy vacations and a fun-filled FOSS journey, I hereby announce Linux Workshop un-officialy closed!
 
Let the FOSSness spread!!
--
Prakhar Agarwal
Linux User# 474643
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Prakhar
"Life is the greatest teacher"