GAP Plan

This is a draft of a new or in-progress document, and is likely to have a few people specifically working on it. You may wish to check in on the discussion page to see what the purpose of the document is and who's working on it; then feel free to give this article love and attention if have extra of those things.

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Intro

How will GAP change over the next 3-5 years so that Free Geek can better fulfill its mission and live up to its principles?

Part of Free Geek's mission is to provide internet access. The main way we do this is by providing internet ready computers to volunteers. However, we also deploy public access sites in various cafes and other commercial establishments around town. This is called the GAP program.

One of our principles is to use open source software wherever possible. By deploying linux based GAP sites throughout the area, we promote open source software by allowing people to use it without forcing them to install it on their home computers.

Past problems with the GAP program arise mostly from a lack of support for the access sites. Sites that are successful, such at the Red and Black cafe have regular customers that share in the system maintenance work, often in exchange for free coffee. Sites that fail often have no support.

In the future we could deploy more GAP sites by actively recruiting capable build program graduates to set up access points in their neighborhoods.

SWOT

How will GAP change over the next 3-5 years so that we can better fulfill its mission and live up to its principles?

	Good (for Free Geek)	Bad (for Free Geek)
Internal (to Free Geek)	Strengths Strengths are advantages we have that are internal to Free Geek. (Good things we do.) We generally have plenty of hardware available for GAP sites.	Weaknesses Weaknesses are problems we have that are internal to Free Geek. (Things we do poorly or not at all.) Maintaining GAP sites can draw us away from other parts of our mission that happen day to day at Free Geek. We are sometime unable to address issues that arise in a timely enough manner. The GAP boxes are not a primary concern to the business where deployed (where they are usually more focussed on selling coffee, food, etc.). This means that a failing access point often goes unreported. In turn this can give the appearance that the hardware or software doesn't work and could contribute to a bad reputation for Free Geek or open source software.
External (to Free Geek)	Opportunities Opportunities are advantages we have that are external to Free Geek. (Good things that will or could happen to us.) As Portland rolls out its city wide free wireless cloud, providing access in public spaces may be easier to do, since internet connectivity could become easier in cafes.	Threats Threats are problems we have that are external to Free Geek. (Bad things that will or could happen to us.) As Portland rolls out its city wide free wireless cloud, providing access in public spaces may be less important since more people will be able to get that access at home.

Related Documents

• 3 - 5 year plan and Vision Statement
• Long Term Strategy Process
• Meta Question
• Hiring Strategy
• General Priorities
• Space Usage