HowTo: EC2 for Poets

HowTo: EC2 for Poets: "EC2 for Poets�

I've been calling this doc, while I was writing it, 'EC2 for Poets.'

The goal is to make cloud computing less mysterious by helping people through the process of setting up a server on Amazon EC2. The title derives from a class that was offered at the University of Wisconsin, when I was a grad student there, called Computer Science for Poets.

I loved the idea then, and still do. Engineers sometimes mystify what they do, as a form of job security. I prefer to make light of it, so more people will be tempted to give it a try. It was easy for me, why shouldn't it be easy for everyone? :-)"