Hello All,
Today I received this following announcement from SLO Bytes' parent organization, APCUG
Ralph Sutter
LEARNING LINUX WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
December 18, 2024
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
Installing Linux on an Old Chromebook
Stew Bottorf, SIG Leader
Tampa Bay Technology Center
Run your own AI Chatbot
Alan German, Treasurer
Ottawa PC Users' Group
Register here -
https://forms.gle/5SPxYnZudTUGSGiS7 After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration (see below). You only need to register once. On December 17, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
Installing Linux on an Old Chromebook. Like Windows, Chromebooks have their own "end of life" deadlines. The hardware is still good to go, but there's no support for it. Just like you can make a computer formerly running Windows run the Linux operating system to give it a new life, it's possible to add new life to a Chromebook by installing Linux. Join Stew as he guides us through the process he took to convert one of his old Chromebooks into a working Linux laptop. He'll share with us what he learned while installing Linux and additional programs and show us how easy converting the Chromebook to a Linux laptop can be.
Run your own AI Chatbot. We have all probably tried one of the many chatbots available over the Internet and have asked questions about everything from what is the capital of Uzbekistan to what can I make for dinner if I only have sausages, apples, and onions in the refrigerator? However, since we are computer users, we have also likely tried: How do I fix a slow computer, how do quantum computers work, or can you write a bash script to list the names of all the files in a folder and their sub-folders?
Some chatbots are free, while others require a monthly subscription. But how many will remain free? They all know everything (almost) and use Large Language Models (LLM). This requires massive computational power, high-end servers, and vast electricity. So, it all has to be paid for in some manner. But what if we could access a Small Language Model (SLM) that would only know about a particular topic of particular interest to us - such as programming in Python? And wouldn't it be nice if this tiny bot would run on our personal computer?
Well, look no further; such chatbots and SLMs are being developed, and in this presentation, we will take an introductory look at the technology. We will find that installing and using an SLM is easy, but the available hardware currently limits its utility. Nevertheless, it's an interesting exercise and may well point the way to a future with targeted chatbots running locally.
