X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/618568e20d90b1f98cdeedf4728ea8f72f2d1ec7..6623ab1de9f44be03db27f1854ef4718382974b0:/blog/archive/2013/06/06.rss diff --git a/blog/archive/2013/06/06.rss b/blog/archive/2013/06/06.rss index e7ae709911..9498afe8f3 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2013/06/06.rss +++ b/blog/archive/2013/06/06.rss @@ -6,6 +6,132 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Debian Edu interview: Jonathan Carter + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Jonathan_Carter.html + Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:50:00 +0200 + <p>There is a certain cross-over between the +<ahref="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project</a> and <ahref="http://www.edubuntu.org/">the Edubuntu +project</a>, and for example the LTSP packages in Debian are a joint +effort between the projects. One person with a foot in both camps is +Jonathan Carter, which I am now happy to present to you.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>I'm a South-African free software geek who lives in Cape Town. My +days vary quite a bit since I'm involved in too many things. As I'm +getting older I'm learning how to focus a bit more :)</p> + +<p>I'm also an Edubuntu contributor and I love when there are +opportunities for the Edubuntu and Debian Edu projects to benefit from +each other.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>I've been somewhat familiar with the project before, but I think my +first direct exposure to the project was when I met Petter +[Reinholdtsen] and Knut [Yrvin] at the Edubuntu summit in 2005 in +London. They provided great feedback that helped the bootstrapping of +Edubuntu. Back then Edubuntu (and even Ubuntu) was still very new and +it was great getting input from people who have been around longer. I +was also still very excitable and said yes to everything and to this +day I have a big todo list backlog that I'm catching up with. I think +over the years the relationship between Edubuntu and Debian-Edu has +been gradually improving, although I think there's a lot that we could +still improve on in terms of working together on packages. I'm sure +we'll get there one day.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>Debian itself already has so many advantages. I could go on about +it for pages, but in essence I love that it's a very honest project +that puts its users first with no hidden agendas and also produces +very high quality work.</p> + +<p>I think the advantage of Debian Edu is that it makes many common +set-up tasks simpler so that administrators can get up and running +with a lot less effort and frustration. At the same time I think it +helps to standardise installations in schools so that it's easier for +community members and commercial suppliers to support.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>I had to re-type this one a few times because I'm trying to +separate "disadvantages" from "areas that need improvement" (which is +what I originally rambled on about)</p> + +<p>The biggest disadvantage I can think of is lack of manpower. The +project could do so much more if there were more good contributors. I +think some of the problems are external too. Free software and free +content in education is a no-brainer but it takes some time to catch +on. When you've been working with the same proprietary eco-system for +years and have gotten used to it, it can be hard to adjust to some +concepts in the free software world. It would be nice if there were +more Debian Edu consultants across the world. I'd love to be one +myself but I'm already so over-committed that it's just not possible +currently.</p> + +<p>I think the best short-term solution to that large-scale problem is +for schools to be pro-active and share their experiences and grow +their skills in-house. I'm often saddened to see how much money +educational institutions spend on 3rd party solutions that they don't +have access to after the service has ended and they could've gotten so +much more value otherwise by being more self-sustainable and +autonomous.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>My main laptop dual-boots between Debian and Windows 7. I was +Windows free for years but started dual-booting again last year for +some games which help me focus and relax (Starcraft II in +particular). Gaming support on Linux is improving in leaps and bounds +so I suppose I'll soon be able to regain that disk space :)</p> + +<p>Besides that I rely on Icedove, Chromium, Terminator, Byobu, irssi, +git, Tomboy, KVM, VLC and LibreOffice. Recently I've been torn on +which desktop environment I like and I'm taking some refuge in Xfce +while I figure that out. I like tools that keep things simple. I enjoy +Python and shell scripting. I went to an Arduino workshop recently and +it was awesome seeing how easy and simple the IDE software was to get +up and running in Debian compared to the users running Windows and OS +X.</p> + +<p>I also use mc which some people frown upon slightly. I got used to +using Norton Commander in the early 90's and it stuck (I think the +people who sneer at it is just jealous that they don't know how to use +it :p) + +<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?</strong></p> + +<p>I think trying to force it is unproductive. I also think that in +many cases it's appropriate for schools to use non-free systems and I +don't think that there's any particular moral or ethical problem with +that.</p> + +<p>I do think though that free software can already solve so so many +problems in educational institutions and it's just a shame not taking +advantage of that.</p> + +<p>I also think that some curricula need serious review. For example, +some areas of the world rely heavily on very specific versions of MS +Office, teaching students to parrot menu items instead of learning the +general concepts. I think that's very unproductive because firstly, MS +Office's interface changes drastically every few years and on top of +that it also locks in a generation to a product that might not be the +best solution for them.</p> + +<p>To answer your question, I believe that the right strategy is to +educate and inform, giving someone the information they require to +make a decision that would work for them.</p> + + + Fixing the Linux black screen of death on machines with Intel HD video http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fixing_the_Linux_black_screen_of_death_on_machines_with_Intel_HD_video.html