[tech] Deep Thought

[Luke Williams]

Hi Nic,

On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 11:42 PM, Nic <nttb49 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> UniSFA recently decided that we should look into changing Deep Thought to
> Windows so it’s user friendly for our club and we can get an iTunes and
> Netflix account for it so we can host screenings slightly more legitimately.

UCC's internet connection is sponsored by the University on some vague
understanding that the club will use it responsibly. I'm not sure that
includes extending access to another club for the express purpose of
downloading large media files, regardless of the source's legitimacy.

> We hope shifting to Windows will make it more
> user friendly for the club and allow us to use several programs we cannot
> currently: iTunes, Netflix, potentially Dropbox. We also hope to buy a
> graphics card to allow us to connect it via HDMI to the TV and run
> screenings straight off the computer (utilising iTunes and Netflix). Are we
> wrong in this reasoning?

Sounds reasonable to me. Dropbox works well on Debian but it's
definitely not what I would call user-friendly!

> Bob stated we’d have to run it off the unsecure connection if it was a
> windows machine – Will we still be able to perform all the functions we
> expect from Deep Thought with this connection?

Should be fine. It'll be as if the new machine is on the UCC wireless
network, except faster and more reliable because it's wired.

> Bob also said we wouldn’t be able to ask UCC for help if a Windows Deep
> Thought had any issues – Would someone be able to explain the reasoning for
> that?

I imagine it depends whether UniSFA intends to appoint its own
administrators for the machine, or to keep it under UCC
administration. The responsibility to support a system has to come
with the right to control its configuration. We're system
administrators, not a tech support helpdesk.

Cheers,

Luke Williams
UCC Wheel Member
shmookey at ucc.asn.au