The Debian Edu and
-Skolelinux distribution have users and contributors all around the
-globe. And a while back, an enterprising young man showed up on
-our IRC channel
-#debian-edu and started asking questions about how Debian Edu
-worked. We answered as good as we could, and even convinced him to
-help us with translations. And today I managed to get an interview
-with him, to learn more about him.
-
-
Who are you, and how do you spend your days?
-
-
I'm a 25 year old free software enthusiast, living in Romania,
-which is also my country of origin. Back in 2009, at a New Year's Eve
-party, I had a very nice beer discussion with a
-friend, when we realized we have no organised Debian community in our
-country. A few days later, we put together the infrastructure for such
-community and even gathered a nice Debian-ish crowd. Since then, I
-began my quest as a free software hacker and activist and I am
-constantly trying to cover as much ground as possible on that
-field.
-
-
A few years ago I founded a small web development company, which
-provided me the flexible schedule I needed so much for my
-activities. For the last 13 months, I have been the Technical Director
-of FundaÈia Ceata, which is a free
-software activist organisation endorsed by the FSF and the FSFE, and
-the only one we have in our country.
-
-
How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
-project?
-
-
The idea of participating in the Debian Edu project was a surprise
-even to me, since I never used it before I began getting involved in
-it. This year I had a great opportunity to deliver a talk on
-educational software, and I knew immediately where to look. It was a
-love at first sight, since I was previously involved with some of the
-technologies the project incorporates, and I rapidly found a lot of
-ways to contribute.
-
-
My first contributions consisted in translating the installer and
-configuration dialogs, then I found some bugs to squash (I still
-haven't fixed them yet though), and I even got my eyes on some other
-areas where I can prove myself helpful. Since the appetite for free
-software in my country is pretty low, I'll be happy to be the first
-one around here advocating for the project's adoption in educational
-environments, and maybe even get my hands dirty in creating a flavour
-for our own needs. I am not used to make very advanced plannings, so
-from now on, time will tell what I'll be doing next, but I think I
-have a pretty consistent starting point.
-
-
What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian
-Edu?
-
-
Not a long time ago, I was in the position of configuring and
-maintaining a LDAP server on some Debian derivative, and I must say it
-took me a while. A long time ago, I was maintaining a bigger
-Samba-powered infrastructure, and I must say I spent quite a lot of
-time on it. I have similar stories about many of the services included
-with Skolelinux, and the main advantage I see about it is the
-out-of-the box availability of them, making it quite competitive when
-it comes to managing a school's network, for example.
-
-
Of course, there is more to say about Skolelinux than the
-availability of the software included, its flexibility in various
-scenarios is something I can't wait to experiment "into the wild" (I
-only played with virtual machines so far). And I am sure there is a
-lot more I haven't discovered yet about it, being so new within the
-project.
-
-
What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
-Edu?
-
-
As usual, when it comes to Debian Blends, I see as the biggest
-disadvantage the lack of a numerous team dedicated to the
-project. Every day I see the same names in the changelogs, and I have
-a constantly fear of the bus factor in this story. I'd like to see
-Debian Edu advertised more as an entry point into the Debian
-ecosystem, especially amongst newcomers and students. IMHO there are a
-lot low-hanging fruits in terms of bug squashing, and enough
-opportunities to get the feeling of the Debian Project's dynamics. Not
-to mention it's a very fun blend to work on!
-
-
Derived from the previous statement, is the delay in catching up
-with the main Debian release and documentation. This is common though
-to all blends and derivatives, but it's an issue we can all work
-on.
-
-
Which free software do you use daily?
-
-
I can hardly imagine myself spending a day without Vim, since my
-daily routine covers writing code and hacking configuration files. I
-am a fan of the Awesome window manager (but I also like the
-Enlightenment project a lot!),
-Claws Mail due to its ease of
-use and very configurable behaviour. Recently I fell in love with
-Redshift, which helps me
-get through the night without headaches. Of course, there is much more
-stuff in this bag, but I'll need a blog on my own for doing this!
-
-
Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
-get schools to use free software?
-
-
Well, on this field, I cannot do much more than experiment right
-now. So, being far from having a recipe for success, I can only assume
-that:
-
-
-
-- schools would like to get rid of proprietary software
-
-- students will love the openness of the system, and will want to
- experiment with it - maybe we need to harvest the native curiosity
- of teenagers more?
-
-- there is no "right one" when it comes to strategies, but it would
- be useful to have some success stories published somewhere, so
- other can get some inspiration from them (I know I'd promote
- them!)
-
-- more active promotion - talks, conferences, even small school
- lectures can do magical things if they encounter at least one
- person interested. Who knows who that person might be? ;-)
-
-
-
-
I also see some problems in getting Skolelinux into schools; for
-example, in our country we have a great deal of corruption issues, so
-it might be hard(er) to fight against proprietary solutions. Also,
-people who relied on commercial software for all their lives, would be
-very hard to convert against their will.
-
