I am happy to report that I just sent out +this +announcement:
+ ++The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu +Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0 + +Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its +various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations +and laptops which will work together on the school network. With +Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can +roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within +hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications +pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian. + +For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and +installation instructions are available, including detailed +instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as +setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password +for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length +of at least 5 characters! + + [1] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie > + +Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you +tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer +reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all +the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week? +Check out Debian Edu Jessie! + +Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world, +mostly in Germany and Norway. + +About Debian Edu and Skolelinux +=============================== + +Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], is a Linux distribution based +on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely +configured school network. Immediately after installation a school +server running all services needed for a school network is set up just +waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable +Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after +initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other +machines can be installed via the network. The provided school server +provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service, +centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other +services. The desktop contains more than 60 educational software +packages[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and +schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop +environment. + + [2] <URL: http://www.skolelinux.org/ > + [3] <URL: http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html > + +Full release notes and manual +============================= + +Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features +and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full +list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for +the English version.) For some languages manual translations are +available, see the manual translation overview[5]. + + [4] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features > + [5] <URL: http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ > + +Where to get it +--------------- + +To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use + + * ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso + * http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso + * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso . + +The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095 + +New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27 +=============================================================================== + + +Installation changes +-------------------- + + * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present. + +Software updates +---------------- + +Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg: + + * Linux kernel 3.16.x + * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10, + LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to + choose one of the others see manual.) + * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38 + * !LibreOffice 4.3.3 + * GOsa 2.7.4 + * LTSP 5.5.4 + * CUPS print system 1.7.5 + * new boot framework: systemd + * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07 + * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02 + * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14 + * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0 + * golearn 0.9 + * tuxpaint 0.9.22 + * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie. + * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for + installation. + * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release + notes[6] and the installation manual[7]. + + [6] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes > + [7] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual > + +Fixed bugs +---------- + + * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break + DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect + information is corrected (Debian bug #710362) + * and many others. + +Documentation and translation updates +------------------------------------- + + * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French, + Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for + Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish. + +Other changes +------------- + + * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main + server takes more time. + * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631 + doesn't work. + +Regressions / known problems +---------------------------- + + * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about + exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694 + and Debian bug #762103). + * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug + #764594). The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node. + * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not + work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access. + Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie. + +See the status page[8] for the complete list. + + [8] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie > + +How to report bugs +------------------ + +<URL: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs > + +About Debian +============ + +The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly +free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of +the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of +volunteers from all over the world work together to create and +maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a +huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal +operating system. + +Contact Information +For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send +mail to press@debian.org. + + [9] <URL: http://www.debian.org/ > ++