I installed all the stuff to start mining Steem yesterday on a machine with Ubuntu. I think that hardware is not fast enough (it is a 7 years old desktop) to work as the network needs, but I tried anyway, just to see it working in detail and to see what changes after the Hardfork. I guess the abolition of the PoW makes also a slower machine able to run a node. Unfortunately, I'm not able to run a local simulation of a working node, (I don't even know if it is possible).
Anyway, I followed one of the tutorial to install the required software and configure it. I tried this one, to start. But it is a 8 months old post, and I don't know if the links it provides are still ok (they works, but the software versions they are linked to are 8 months old).
Unexpectedly, I had no errors until I launched the steemd.exe app. That didn't work. Ok, THAT was expected. ;)
I will try again today. I hope to have my very slow mining machine in the queue. ;)
I'll try anyway to develope some little tutorial and apps to explain how the blockchain works - very basic and with italian translation too.
Or I just keep making my jobs :)
Update: I need more training before starting it. As I learned in the SteemitChat (thx @thecryptofiend and others), the abolition of the PoW means no more mining in Steem. Ok, I wasn't interested in mining itself, or in earning SP (my machine is too slow to do it). I would just be part of the blockchain validating process, and see it working from the inside. Just to learn something new, you know.
As far as I know, the software to be part of the blockchain as a witness is not different from the one to mine. Just the config files change. But I need to learn some more about the language of the code to manage it. My steemd.exe file do runs properly, and it's enough for now.
