<link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
<atom:link href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/index.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
+ <item>
+ <title>Debian Edu interview: George Bredberg</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__George_Bredberg.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__George_Bredberg.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Mon, 9 Jul 2012 00:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
+ <description><p>The <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu /
+Skolelinux</a> project have users all over the globe, but until
+recently we have not known about any users in Norway's neighbour
+country Sweden. This changed when George Bredberg showed up in March
+this year on the mailing list, asking interesting questions about how
+to adjust and scale the just released
+<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu
+Wheezy</a> setup to his liking. He granted me an interview, and I am
+happy to share his answers with you here.</p>
+
+<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p>
+
+<p>I'm a 44 year old country guy that have been working 12 years at
+the same school as 50% IT-manager and 50% Teacher. My educational
+background is fil.kand in history and religious beliefs, an exam as a
+"folkhighschool" teacher, that is, for teaching grownups. In
+Norwegian I believe it's called "Vuxenupplaring". I also have a master
+in "Technology and social change". So I'm not really a tech guy, I
+just like to study how humans and technology interact and that is my
+perspective when working with IT.</p>
+
+<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu
+project?</strong></p>
+
+I have followed the Skolelinux project for quite some time by
+now. Earlier I tested out the K12-LTSP project, which we used for some
+time, but I really like the idea of having a distribution aimed to be
+a complete solution for schools with necessary tools integrated. When
+K12-LTSP abandoned that idea some years ago, I started to look more
+seriously into Skolelinux instead.
+
+<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
+Edu?</strong></p>
+
+The big point of Skolelinux to me is that it is a complete
+distribution, ready to install. It has LDAP-support, MS Windows
+integration tools and so forth already configured, saving an
+administrator a lot of time and headache. We were using another Linux
+based thin-client system called Thinlinc, that has served us very
+well. But that Skolelinux is based on VNC and LTSP, to me, is better
+when it comes to the kind of multimedia used in schools. That is
+showing videos from Youtube or educational TV. It is also easier to
+mix thin clients with workstations, since the user settings will be the
+same. In our VNC-based solution you had to "beat around the bush" by
+setting up a second, hidden, home-directory for user settings for the
+workstations, because they will be different from the ones used on the
+thin clients. Skolelinux support for diskless workstations are very
+convenient since a school today often need to use a class room
+projector showing videos in full screen. That is easily done with a
+small integrated media computer running as a diskless workstation. You
+have only two installs to update and configure. One for the thin
+clients and one for the workstations. Also saving a lot of time. Our
+old system was also based on Redhat and CentOS. They are both very
+nice distributions, but they are sometimes painfully slow when it
+comes to updating multimedia support and multimedia programs (even
+such as Gimp), leaving us with a bit "oldish" applications. Debian is
+quicker to update.
+
+<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian
+Edu?</strong></p>
+
+<p>Debian is a bit too quick when it comes to updating. As an example
+we use old HP terminals as thinclients, and two times already this
+year (2012) the updates you get from the repositories has stopped
+sound from working with them. It's a kernel/ALSA issue. So you have
+to be more careful properly testing the updates before you run them in
+a production environment. This has never happened with CentOS.</p>
+
+<p>I also would like to be able to set my own domain-settings at
+install time. In Skolelinux they are kind of hard coded into the
+distribution, when it comes to LDAP and at least samba integration.
+That is more a cosmetic/translation issue, and not a real problem.
+Running MS Windows applications within the Skolelinux environment needs
+to be better supported. That is, running them seamlessly via RDP, and
+support for single-sign on. That will make the transition to free
+software easier, because you can keep the applications you really
+need. No support will make it impossible if you work in a school where
+some applications can't be open source. As for us we really need to
+run Adobe InDesign in our journalist classes. We run a journalist
+education, and is one of the very few non university ones that is ok:d
+by Svenska journalistförbundet (Swedish journalist association). Our
+education gives the pupils the right of membership there, once they
+are done. This is important if you want to get a job.</p>
+
+<p>Adobe InDesign is the program most commonly used in newspapers and
+magazines. We used Quark Express before, but they seem to loose there
+market to Adobe. The only "equivalent" to InDesign in the opensource
+world is Scribus, and its not advanced enough. At least not according
+to the teacher. I think it would be possible to use it, because they
+are not supposed to learn a program, they are supposed to learn how to
+edit and compile a newspaper. But politically at our school we are not
+there yet. And Scribus lacks a lot of things you find i InDesign.</p>
+
+<p>We used even a windows program for sound editing when it comes to
+the radio-journalist part. The year to come we are going to try
+Audacity. That software has the same kind of limitations compared to
+Adobe Audition, but that teacher is a bit more open minded. We have
+tried Ardour also, but that instead is more like a music studio
+program, not intended for the kind of editing taking place in a radio
+studio. Its way to complex and the GUI is to scattered when you only
+want to cut, make pass-overs, add extra channels and normalise. Those
+things you can do in Audacity, but its not as easy as in Audition. You
+have to do more things manually with envelopes, and that is a bit old
+fashion and timewasting. Its also harder to cut and move sound from
+one channel to another, which is a thing that you do frequently
+because you often find yourself needing to rearrange parts of the
+sound file.</p>
+
+<p>So, I am not sure we will succeed in replacing even Audition, but we
+will try. The problem is the students have certain expectations when
+they start an education towards a profession. So the programs has to
+look and feel professional. Good thing with radio, there are many
+programs out there, that radio studios use, so its not as standardised
+as Newspaper editing. That means, it does not really matter what
+program they learn, because once they start working they still have to
+learn the program the studio uses, so instead focus has to be to learn
+the editing part without to much focus on a specific software.</p>
+
+<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p>
+
+<p>Myself I'm running Linux Mint, or Ubuntu these days. I use almost
+only open source software, and preferably Linux based. When it comes
+to most used applications its OpenOffice, and Firefox (of course ;)
+)</p>
+
+<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
+get schools to use free software?</strong></p>
+
+<p>To get schools to use free software there has to be good open
+source software that are windows based, to ease the transition. But
+it's also very important that the multimedia support is working
+flawlessly. The problems with Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and whatever
+will create problems when it comes to both teachers and
+students. Economy are also important for schools, so using thin
+clients, as long as they have good multimedia support, is a very good
+idea. It's also important that the open source software works even for
+the administration. It's hard to convince the teachers to stick with
+open source, if the principal has to run Windows. It also creates a
+problem if some classes has to use Windows for there tasks, since that
+will create a difference in "status" between classes, so a good
+support for running windows applications via the thin client (Linux)
+desktop is essential. At least at our school, where we have mixed
+level of educations, from high-school to journalist-school.</p>
+</description>
+ </item>
+
<item>
<title>Why do schools waste money on IT?</title>
<link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_do_schools_waste_money_on_IT_.html</link>
</description>
</item>
- <item>
- <title>Skolelinux-intervju: Markus Gamenius</title>
- <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_intervju__Markus_Gamenius.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Skolelinux_intervju__Markus_Gamenius.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Sat, 30 Jun 2012 12:50:00 +0200</pubDate>
- <description><p>Tidligere leder av
-<a href="http://www.friprogramvareiskolen.no">foreningen som
-organiserer Skolelinux-dugnaden</a>, Markus Gamenius , har i vår vært
-i media og
-<a href="http://www.dn.no/privatokonomi/article2345489.ece">debattert
-skattepolitikk</a>, og det fikk meg til å høre om han kunne lokkes til
-å fortelle om hans inntrykk nå, etter at han ble lokket bort fra
-Linux- og <a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a>-verden
-for å overta familiebedriften. Her har vi hans betraktninger i dag,
-noen måneder etter at
-<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Skolelinux
-Squeeze</a>-utgaven ble gitt ut.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hvem er du, og hva driver du med til daglig?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Jeg heter Markus Gamenius og er 40 år. Utdannet biolog med ymse
-fag på siden. Har jobbet som lærer der jeg var driftsansvarlig på
-Ulsrud VGS i Oslo. Senere eide og jobbet jeg flere år i Linuxlabs AS,
-som jeg solgte til Redpill Linpro AS (den gangen Linpro AS). I dag
-jobber jeg med ulike investeringer, hovedsaklig i eiendom, men også i
-en del ulike IT-relaterte bedrifter.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hvordan kom du i kontakt med Skolelinux-prosjektet?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Fruen og jeg dro på en lengre seiltur i 2000, der jeg måtte ha "noe
-å gjøre" under hjemturen over Atlanteren. Jeg kjøpte et par bøker om
-Linux i en bokhandel i New York og ble veldig fascinert. Etter
-hjemkomsten begynte jeg å jobbe på Ulsrud VGS, som naturfagslærer, men
-som IT-interessert ble jeg fort en del av den nye IT-satsningen som
-skulle løfte Ulsrud og gi skolen en bedre rykte. Vi hadde ganske
-mange maskiner, som gikk på Win98 og to servere som ble oppgradert til
-Win2000. Systemene var ustabil og dårlige. På leting etter noe
-bedre, uten å knekke ryggen økonomisk, kom jeg over "Linux i Skolen"
-og Skolelinux. Jeg tok kontakt med miljøet og en gjeng møtte opp på
-skolen, der vi gjorde en liten testinstallasjon. Etter et par år var
-ryggraden på skolen Linux (Skolelinux) og vi hadde flere hundre
-maskiner, både tynne klienter (gamle og nye), bærbare (Debian) og noen
-stasjonære (Win2000). På et tidspunkt var Ulsrud den råeste IT-skolen
-og det irriterte skolesjefen i Oslo, da de satset hardt på
-Windows.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hva er fordelene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Det som gjorde at vi fikk inn Skolelinux var ene og alene
-økonomiske. Det faktum at vi slapp å kjøpe masse nye lisenser og at
-vi kunne bruke gammel hardware. Alt i alt gjorde dette at vi sparte
-mye, men i stede for å bruke mindre på IT brukte vi det vi sparte på å
-skaffe mer hardware og på den måten gi det beste tilbudet i landet til
-våre elever. For oss som driftet var det himmel å ha et system som
-gikk å administrere sentralt og effektivt. Det var heller ikke så
-dumt at vi kunne "låse" maskinene mer effektivt enn vi kunne med
-Microsoft Windows, slik at vi slapp mye feil og problemer som ble
-forårsaket av "kreative" elever.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hva er ulempene med Skolelinux slik du ser det?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Det vi slet med var mangelen av en del programmer lærerne ville ha.
-Husker ikke alle, men det var et knippe med pedagogiske programmer de
-ikke fikk. I dag tror jeg det problemet er langt mindre da det meste
-av disse kjøres gjennom nettleseren.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hvilken fri programvare bruker du til daglig?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Jeg bruker mye Apple i dag og er ikke så stolt av det, men jeg har
-både OpenOffice, Firefox og en del andre programmer på den bærbare.
-Firefox brukes mest av disse. På Apple-serveren hjemme bruker jeg
-HandBrake mye, og jeg har installert OpenWRT på flere av
-basestasjonene både hjemme og på jobben. I tillegg til det har jeg i
-flere år finansiert et prosjekt som heter
-<a href="http://www.found.no/">Found IT</a>. Dette er et prosjekt der
-vi lager et rammeverk for søk, der alt vi bruker fri programvare. Det
-er Alex Brasetvik som er daglig leder i Found IT.</p>
-
-<p><strong>Hvilken strategi tror du er den rette å bruke for å få
-skoler til å ta i bruk fri programvare?</strong></p>
-
-<p>Når det gjelder IT og skole er fortsatt økonomi veldig viktig. Så
-man må oppfylle minimumskravene (ikke være best, men bra nok) og selge
-seg inn på hvor mye man sparer. Det betyr selvsagt at man sparer på
-lisenser, men også på driftsinnsats. Men nå når jeg ikke er en aktiv
-del av miljøet lenger hører jeg nesten ingen ting om fri programvare.
-Jeg stiller meg da spørsmålet om det har blitt stille rundt miljøet,
-eller om jeg kun så det tydeligere før når jeg var aktiv? Uansett er
-det for stille rundt Skolelinux-prosjektet nå.</p>
-</description>
- </item>
-
</channel>
</rss>
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