X-Git-Url: https://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/7a600a812216edcfc7bba4e41b251e553361db5d..2911a0f243d5133b7b11e9d402f0352514dfafe7:/blog/archive/2012/06/06.rss diff --git a/blog/archive/2012/06/06.rss b/blog/archive/2012/06/06.rss index b7d4ac436d..efc48e2dce 100644 --- a/blog/archive/2012/06/06.rss +++ b/blog/archive/2012/06/06.rss @@ -138,5 +138,168 @@ you know of one, drop me an email. :)</p> + + Debian Edu interview: Mike Gabriel + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Mike_Gabriel.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Mike_Gabriel.html + Sat, 2 Jun 2012 14:30:00 +0200 + <p>Back in 2010, Mike Gabriel showed up on the +<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Debian Edu and Skolelinux</a> +mailing list. He quickly proved to be a valuable developer, and +thanks to his tireless effort we now have Kerberos integrated into the +<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311.html">Debian Edu +Squeeze</a> version.</p> + +<p><strong>Who are you, and how do you spend your days?</strong></p> + +<p>My name is Mike Gabriel, I am 38 years old and live near Kiel, +Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. I live together with a wonderful partner +(Angela Fuß) and two own children and two bonus children (contributed +by Angela).</p> + +<p>During the day I am part-time employed as a system administrator +and part-time working as an IT consultant. The consultancy work +touches free software topics wherever and whenever possible. During +the nights I am a free software developer. In the gaps I also train in +becoming an osteopath.</p> + +<p>Starting in 2010 we (Andreas Buchholz, Angela Fuß, Mike Gabriel) +have set up a free software project in the area of Kiel that aims at +introducing free software into schools. The project's name is +"IT-Zukunft Schule" (IT future for schools). The project links IT +skills with communication skills.</p> + +<p><strong>How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux/Debian Edu +project?</strong></p> + +<p>While preparing our own customised Linux distribution for +"IT-Zukunft Schule" we were repeatedly asked if we really wanted to +reinvent the wheel. What schools really need is already available, +people said. From this impulse we started evaluating other Linux +distributions that target being used for school networks.</p> + +<p>At the end we short-listed two approaches and compared them: a +commercial Linux distribution developed by a company in Bremen, +Germany, and Skolelinux / Debian Edu. Between 12/2010 and 03/2011 we +went to several events and met people being responsible for marketing +and development of either of the distributions. Skolelinux / Debian +Edu was by far much more convincing compared to the other product that +got short-listed beforehand--across the full spectrum. What was most +attractive for me personally: the perspective of collaboration within +the developmental branch of the Debian Edu project itself.</p> + +<p>In parallel with this, we talked to many local and not-so-local +people. People teaching at schools, headmasters, politicians, data +protection experts, other IT professionals.</p> + +<p>We came to two conclusions:</p> + +<p>First, a technical conclusion: What schools need is available in +bits and pieces here and there, and none of the solutions really fit +by 100%. Any school we have seen has a very individual IT setup +whereas most of each school's requirements could mapped by a standard +IT solution. The requirement to this IT solution is flexibility and +customisability, so that individual adaptations here and there are +possible. In terms of re-distributing and rolling out such a +standardised IT system for schools (a system that is still to some +degree customisable) there is still a lot of work to do here +locally. Debian Edu / Skolelinux has been our choice as the starting +point.</p> + +<p>Second, a holistic conclusion: What schools need does not exist at +all (or we missed it so far). There are several technical solutions +for handling IT at schools that tend to make a good impression. What +has been missing completely here in Germany, though, is the enrolment +of people into using IT and teaching with IT. "IT-Zukunft Schule" +tries to provide an approach for this.</p> + +<p>Only some schools have some sort of a media concept which explains, +defines and gives guidance on how to use IT in class. Most schools in +Northern Germany do not have an IT service provider, the school's IT +equipment is managed by one or (if the school is lucky) two (admin) +teachers, most of the workload these admin teachers get done in there +spare time.</p> + +<p>We were surprised that only a very few admin teachers were +networked with colleagues from other schools. Basically, every school +here around has its individual approach of providing IT equipment to +teachers and students and the exchange of ideas has been quasi +non-existent until 2010/2011.</p> + +<p>Quite some (non-admin) teachers try to avoid using IT technology in +class as a learning medium completely. Several reasons for this +avoidance do exist.</p> + +<p>We discovered that no-one has ever taken a closer look at this +social part of IT management in schools, so far. On our quest journey +for a technical IT solution for schools, we discussed this issue with +several teachers, headmasters, politicians, other IT professionals and +they all confirmed: a holistic approach of considering IT management +at schools, an approach that includes the people in place, will be new +and probably a gain for all.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>There is a list of advantages: international context, openness to +any kind of contributions, do-ocracy policy, the closeness to Debian, +the different installation scenarios possible (from stand-alone +workstation to complex multi-server sites), the transparency within +project communication, honest communication within the group of +developers, etc.</p> + +<p><strong>What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux/Debian +Edu?</strong></p> + +<p>Every coin has two sides:</p> + +<p>Technically: <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/311188">BTS issue +#311188</a>, tricky upgradability of a Debian Edu main server, network +client installations on top of a plain vanilla Debian installation +should become possible sometime in the near future, one could think +about splitting the very complex package debian-edu-config into +several portions (to make it easier for new developers to +contribute).</p> + +<p>Another issue I see is that we (as Debian Edu developers) should +find out more about the network of people who do the marketing for +Debian Edu / Skolelinux. There is a very active group in Germany +promoting Skolelinux on the bigger Linux Days within Germany. Are +there other groups like that in other countries? How can we bring +these marketing people together (marketing group A with group B and +all of them with the group of Debian Edu developers)? During the last +meeting of the German Skolelinux group, I got the impression of people +there being rather disconnected from the development department of +Debian Edu / Skolelinux.</p> + +<p><strong>Which free software do you use daily?</strong></p> + +<p>For my daily business, I do not use commercial software at all.</p> + +<p>For normal stuff I use Iceweasel/Firefox, Libreoffice.org. For +serious text writing I prefer LaTeX. I use gimp, inkscape, scribus for +more artistic tasks. I run virtual machines in KVM and Virtualbox.</p> + +<p>I am one of the upstream developers of X2Go. In 2010 I started the +development of a Python based X2Go Client, called PyHoca-GUI. +PyHoca-GUI has brought forth a Python X2Go Client API that currently +is being integrated in Ubuntu's software center.</p> + +<p>For communications I have my own Kolab server running using Horde +as web-based groupware client. For IRC I love to use irssi, for Jabber +I have several clients that I use, mostly pidgin, though. I am also +the Debian maintainer of Coccinella, a Jabber-based interactive +whiteboard.</p> + +<p>My favourite terminal emulator is KDE's Yakuake.</p> + +<p><strong>Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to +get schools to use free software?</strong></p> + +<p>Communicate, communicate, communicate. Enrol people, enrol people, +enrol people.</p> + + +