From d7063da0e6278681ea8cbd421bd0eb15a2873dc8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Petter Reinholdtsen Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 12:34:51 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Wrap up interview. --- .../2013-12-25-skolelinux-dominik-george.txt | 48 ++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-) diff --git a/blog/data/2013-12-25-skolelinux-dominik-george.txt b/blog/data/2013-12-25-skolelinux-dominik-george.txt index 6e7d0412a2..26d614c924 100644 --- a/blog/data/2013-12-25-skolelinux-dominik-george.txt +++ b/blog/data/2013-12-25-skolelinux-dominik-george.txt @@ -1,12 +1,14 @@ Title: Debian Edu interview: Dominik George Tags: english, debian edu, intervju -Date: 2013-12-22 09:50 +Date: 2013-12-25 13:40 -

The Debian Edu / Skolelinux project consist of both newcomers and -old timers, and this time I was able to get an interview with a -newcomer in the project who showed up on the IRC channel a few weeks -ago to let us know about his successful installation of Skolelinux in -his School. Say hello to Dominik George.

+

The Debian Edu / Skolelinux +project consist of both newcomers and old timers, and this time I +was able to get an interview with a newcomer in the project who showed +up on the IRC channel a few weeks ago to let us know about his +successful installation of Debian Edu Wheezy in his School. Say hello +to Dominik +George.

@@ -40,14 +42,14 @@ and cycling.

project?

I think that happened some time around 2009 when I first attended -FrOSCon and visited the project +FrOSCon and visited the project booth. I think I wasn't too interested back then because I used to have an attitude of disliking software that does too much stuff on its -own. Maybe I was too unexperienced to realise the upsides of an +own. Maybe I was too inexperienced to realise the upsides of an "out-of-the-box" solution ;).

The first time I actively talked to Skolelinux people was at -OpenRheinRuhr 2011 when the +OpenRheinRuhr 2011 when the BiscuIT project, a home-grewn software used by my school for various really cool things from timetables and class contact lists to lunch ordering, student ID card printing and project elections first got to @@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ tiny little VM on a tiny little notebook. I think that's enough to say that it rocks!

Secondly, there are marketing reasons. Life's bad, and so no -politician will ever permit a setup described as "Debain, an universal +politician will ever permit a setup described as "Debian, an universal operating system, with some really cool educational tools" while they will be jsut fine with "Skolelinux, a single-purpose solution for your school network", even if both turn out to be the very same thing (yes, @@ -112,23 +114,23 @@ year.

I run Debian GNU/Linux on all PC systems I use. On that, I mostly run text tools. I use -mksh as shell, -jupp as very advanced +mksh as shell, +jupp as very advanced text editor (I even got the developer to help me write a script/macro based full-featured student management software with the two), -mcabber for XMPP and -irssi for IRC. For that overly +mcabber for XMPP and +irssi for IRC. For that overly coloured world called the WWW, I use -iceweasel -(Firefox). Oh, and mutt for +Iceweasel +(Firefox). Oh, and mutt for e-mail.

However, while I am personally aware of the fact that text tools are more efficient and powerful than anything else, I also use (or at least operate) some tools that are suitable to bring open source to -kids. One of these things is Jappix, +kids. One of these things is Jappix, which I already introduced to some kids even before they got aware of -Facebook, making them see for theirselves that they do not need +Facebook, making them see for themselves that they do not need Facebook now ;).

Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to @@ -140,7 +142,7 @@ side is what I have experienced.

I believe that the right strategy is showing them the benefits. But that won't work out as long as the acceptance of free alternatives grows globally. What I mean is that if all the kids are almost forced -to use Windows, facebook, Skype, you name it at home, they will not +to use Windows, Facebook, Skype, you name it at home, they will not see why they would want to use alternatives at school. I have seen students take seat in front of a fully-functional, modern Debian desktop that could do anything their Windows at home could do, and @@ -154,15 +156,15 @@ if we had instead used it to bring education to parts of the world that need it? I have, and found it to be nothing less dramatic than plain criminal.

-

That said, the only feasable way appears to be the bottom up +

That said, the only feasible way appears to be the bottom up method. We have to bring free software to kids and parents. I have founded an association named -Teckids here in Germany that does +Teckids here in Germany that does just that. We organise several events for kids and adolescents in the area of free and open source software, for example the -FrogLabs, which share staff with +FrogLabs, which share staff with Teckids and are the youth programme of -the Free and Open Source Software +the Free and Open Source Software Conference (FrOSCon). We do a lot more than most other conferences - this year, we first offered the FrogLabs as a holiday camp for kids aged 10 to 16. It was a huge success, with approx. 30 kids taking part -- 2.51.0