[Raphael Hertzog] > I'd love to see that happen if it doesn't prevent us to provide a > simple single-desktop CD image ... for home use or whatever. That's > the key point for me : we should not focalize on a single thing and > let people work where they want.
A single-desktop CD image would be the focus of another Debian sub-project (debian-desktop). No need to have that focus in debian-edu. And having a specific goal and a limited focus in debian-edu will not stop anyone from making modifications to make it easier to use debian-edu in new and interesting ways. I think it is better for each sub-project in Debian to have a clear and limited goal for the project, instead of trying to include everything. If it is to include everything, it is the Debian project, not a sub-project. A limited goal will make it easier for everyone to pull in the same direction, and will produce a better result. When the initial goal is accomplished, a new one can be found. The result will always be a better Debian system, step by step. > That doesn't mean that each person should work on its own little > thing. But that we must have separate goals covering all possible > aspects of education. We won't reach all the goals at the same time > but that's not a problem. I believe we must choose one goal at the time, and work together to get there. This will not block anyone from working on their goals, but it will get more people working on the same goal. I suggest making the goal of debian-edu to make one CD image including every software package and service needed by the primary schools (age 6-16), and preconfigure the software to work out of the box after it is (almost) automatically installed on server, workstations and thin client servers. This will include finding, translating and packaging desktop software, choosing and configuring server software, and writing documentation and lecture materials for the teachers and system administrators. All end user software shall be available in the pupils native language. The services should support simple centralized administration, and make it possible to automate most routine operations done at a school. We want all our changes to be included in Debian, to make sure more people get to use them and to increase the quality of our changes due to more testers and developers. This is the expressed goal of the Skolelinux project. We are almost there. When this goal is accomplished, the result will be useful also outside primary schools, but by limiting the initial goal, it will be easier to get everyone to agree on how things should be done. A lot of flexibility will have to be hidden or removed to reach this goal. My experience is that most admins/teachers in primary schools are not empowered by all the options and "control" provided by Debian. They want something to work. If we use the flexible Debian packages, and provide reasonable configuration out of the box, a lot more schools will be able to start using a well-configured network of servers and workstations. Making this system is not rocket science. All the services is already present. Most of the desktop software is already present. Some of the sysadmin tools for automatic user and host administration is already present. All that is needed is for someone to spend the time to find, choose, configure and tune among the 9000 packages in Debian. Some packages are still missing in Debian and need to be packaged, but this is the minority. Simple installation is important. If it can be configured after installation, it should be done after installation. For skolelinux, we decided to specify the IP-ranges used, and ask people with existing IP network to use a maskerading/NATing router if their existing network uses a different IP range. This make it easier to preconfigure the services, and thus make sure everything works out of the box. (If someone really want to change the IP range used by Skolelinux, they are of course free to do so, but this will currently not be supported out of the box. It should not be too much work to get it working out of the box, but we are focusing our efforts on more important parts at the moment.) Hm, I guess I should stop here. This is long enough now. Is this something more people would want to work on, or should debian-edu move in another direction. The Skolelinux project will still continue, but a little slower without the help from all of you. :)
