It has been way too long since my last interview, but as the
-Debian Edu / Skolelinux
-community is still active, and new people keep showing up on the IRC
-channel #debian-edu and
-the debian-edu mailing
-list, I decided to give it another go. I was hoping someone else
-might pick up the idea and run with it, but this has not happened as
-far as I can tell, so here we are⦠This time the announcement of a new
-free software tool to
-create a school year
-book triggered my interest, and I decided to learn more about its
-author.
-
-
Who are you, and how do you spend your days?
-
-
My name is Yvan MASSON, I live in France. I have my own one person
-business in computer services. The work consist of visiting my
-customers (person's home, local authority, small business) to give
-advise, install computers and software, fix issues, and provide
-computing usage training. I spend the rest of my time enjoying my
-family and promoting free software.
-
-
What is your approach for promoting free
-software?
-
-
When I think that free software could be suitable for someone, I
-explain what it is, with simple words, give a few known examples, and
-explain that while there is no fee it is a viable alternative in many
-situations. Most people are receptive when you explain how it is
-better (I simplify arguments here, I know that it is not so simple):
-Linux works on older hardware, there are no viruses, and the software
-can be audited to ensure user is not spied upon. I think the most
-important is to keep a clear but moderated speech: when you try to
-convince too much, people feel attacked and stop listening.
-
-
How did you get in contact with the Skolelinux / Debian Edu
-project?
-
-
I can not remember how I first heard of Skolelinux / Debian Edu,
-but probably on planet.debian.org. As I have been working for a
-school, I have interest in this type of project.
-
-
The school I am involved in is a school for "children" between 14
-and 18 years old. The French government has recommended free software
-since 2012, but they do not always use free software themselves. The
-school computers are still using the Windows operating system, but all
-of them have the classic set of free software: Firefox ESR,
-LibreOffice (with the excellent extension Grammalecte that indicates
-French grammatical errors), SumatraPDF, Audacity, 7zip, KeePass2, VLC,
-GIMP, Inkscapeâ¦
-
-
What do you see as the advantages of Skolelinux / Debian
-Edu?
-
-
It is free software! Built on Debian, I am sure that users are not
-spied upon, and that it can run on low end hardware. This last point
-is very important, because we really need to improve "green IT". I do
-not know enough about Skolelinux / Debian Edu to tell how it is better
-than another free software solution, but what I like is the "all in
-one" solution: everything has been thought of and prepared to ease
-installation and usage.
-
-
I like Free Software because I hate using something that I can not
-understand. I do not say that I can understand everything nor that I
-want to understand everything, but knowing that someone / some company
-intentionally prevents me from understanding how things work is really
-unacceptable to me.
-
-
Secondly, and more importantly, free software is a requirement to
-prevent abuses regarding human rights and environmental care.
-Humanity can not rely on tools that are in the hands of small group of
-people.
-
-
What do you see as the disadvantages of Skolelinux / Debian
-Edu?
-
-
Again, I don't know this project enough. Maybe a dedicated website?
-Debian wiki works well for documentation, but is not very appealing to
-someone discovering the project. Also, as Skolelinux / Debian Edu uses
-OpenLDAP, it probably means that Windows workstations cannot use
-centralized authentication. Maybe the project could use Samba as an
-Active Directory domain controller instead, allowing Windows desktop
-usage when necessary.
-
-
(Editors note: In fact Windows workstations can
-use
-the centralized authentication in a Debian Edu setup, at least for
-some versions of Windows, but the fact that this is not well known can
-be seen as an indication of the need for better documentation and
-marketing. :)
-
-
Which free software do you use daily?
-
-
Nothing original: Debian testing/sid with Gnome desktop, Firefox,
-Thunderbird, LibreOfficeâ¦
-
-
Which strategy do you believe is the right one to use to
-get schools to use free software?
-
-
Every effort to spread free software into schools is important,
-whatever it is. But I think, at least where I live, that IT
-professionals maintaining schools networks are still very "Microsoft
-centric". Schools will use any working solution, but they need people
-to install and maintain it. How to make these professionals sensitive
-about free software and train them with solutions like Debian Edu /
-Skolelinux is a really good question :-)
-