X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/01450f233accdc7b367ec19dcc89cf80803d3989..6196540208cefd9393f65a7e9223a34e7e0a6fdb:/blog/archive/2014/03/03.rss diff --git a/blog/archive/2014/03/03.rss b/blog/archive/2014/03/03.rss index 76e04225c0..e281fdeeb3 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2014/03/03.rss +++ b/blog/archive/2014/03/03.rss @@ -6,6 +6,93 @@ http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + Debian Edu interview: Roger Marsal + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Roger_Marsal.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Roger_Marsal.html + Sun, 30 Mar 2014 11:40:00 +0200 + <p><a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu / Skolelinux</a> +keep gaining new users. Some weeks ago, a person showed up on IRC, +<a href="irc://irc.debian.org/#debian-edu">#debian-edu</a>, with a +wish to contribute, and I managed to get a interview with this great +contributor Roger Marsal to learn more about his background.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>My name is Roger Marsal, I'm 27 years old (1986 generation) and I +live in Barcelona, Spain. I've got a strong business background and I +work as a patrimony manager and as a real estate agent. Additionally, +I've co-founded a British based tech company that is nowadays on the +last development phase of a new social networking concept.</p> + +<p>I'm a Linux enthusiast that started its journey with Ubuntu four years +ago and have recently switched to Debian seeking rock solid stability +and as a necessary step to gain expertise.</p> + +<p>In a nutshell, I spend my days working and learning as much as I +can to face both my job, entrepreneur project and feed my Linux +hunger.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>I discovered the <a href="http://www.ltsp.org/">LTSP</a> advantages +with "Ubuntu 12.04 alternate install" and after a year of use I +started looking for an alternative. Even though I highly value and +respect the Ubuntu project, I thought it was necessary for me to +change to a more robust and stable alternative. As far as I was using +Debian on my personal laptop I thought it would be fine to install +Debian and configure an LTSP server myself. Surprised, I discovered +that the Debian project also supported a kind of Edubuntu equivalent, +and after having some pain I obtained a Debian Edu network up and +running. I just loved it.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>I found a main advantage in that, once you know "the tips and +tricks", a new installation just works out of the box. It's the most +complete alternative I've found to create an LTSP network. All the +other distributions seems to be made of plastic, Debian Edu seems to +be made of steel.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>I found two main disadvantages.</p> + +<p>I'm not an expert but I've got notions and I had to spent a considerable +amount of time trying to bring up a standard network topology. I'm quite +stubborn and I just worked until I did but I'm sure many people with few +resources (not big schools, but academies for example) would have switched +or dropped.</p> + +<p>It's amazing how such a complex system like Debian Edu has achieved +this out-of-the-box state. Even though tweaking without breaking gets +more difficult, as more factors have to be considered. This can +discourage many people too.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>I use Debian, Firefox, Okular, Inkscape, LibreOffice and +Virtualbox.</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 don't think there is a need for a particular strategy. The free +attribute in both "freedom" and "no price" meanings is what will +really bring free software to schools. In my experience I can think of +the <a href="http://www.r-project.org/">"R" statistical language</a>; a +few years a ago was an extremely nerd tool for university people. +Today it's being increasingly used to teach statistics at many +different level of studies. I believe free and open software will +increasingly gain popularity, but I'm sure schools will be one of the +first scenarios where this will happen.</p> + + + Dokumentaren om Datalagringsdirektivet sendes endelig på NRK http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Dokumentaren_om_Datalagringsdirektivet_sendes_endelig_p__NRK.html