Building and using Linux-based PCs is a rewarding and fullfilling pastime for open source enthusiasts, but spreading the gospel to the masses can be even more satisfying.

And if the masses include schoolchildren from low-income homes , cash-strapped non-profit groups and far-away developing nations where technology isn't something easily affordable, then it can be even more soul-satisfying.

For several hundred volunteers here at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in the Moscone Center this week, the self-satisfaction was palpable.

Ask me.

I was one of them.

As a Computerworld reporter here covering LinuxWorld this week, I volunteered at the show floor booth of the Berkeley-based Alameda County Computer Resource Center to help out at the first-ever Linux Installfest for Schools that they've help here at the event. Joining the ACCRC for the event are partners Untangle Inc. , Ubuntu Linux and the Mozilla Foundation.

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