Re: Who is using Debian-Edu

Mike Gabriel <[email protected]> Wed, 15 May 2024 05:49:35 +0000
Newsgroups	gmane.linux.skolelinux.devel,gmane.linux.debian.devel.education
Organization	DAS-NETZWERKTEAM
Message-ID	<20240515054935.Horde.HKq0VgQpLX94JSLLQRyfK9i@mail.das-netzwerkteam.de>
Hi George, hi all,

On  Di 14 Mai 2024 23:32:17 CEST, Holger Levsen wrote:

>> I live in Australia. Here in Australia I think there are a few people
>> who are willing to use Linux as their primary OS, mostly a few retired
>> people, and a few IT professionals. When it comes to IT professionals
>> even those who work with Linux servers tend to use Windows on their
>> laptops (or company desktops). I think this is sad, but it is what I
>> see happening.
>
> i'm cc:ing [email protected] but I really suggest you mail  
> [email protected], because
> "sunweaver" can "only" tell you how Debian Edu is used in norther Germany and
> elsewhere, but also, he is way too busy :( so he will probably not reply.

I am quite busy indeed. With my company Fre(i)e Software GmbH we are  
consulting for companies and governmental entities in Germany and the  
Netherlands at the moment. We work a lot on Debian-centric development  
projects, but also do work based on openSUSE, Ubuntu, etc.

We also support / sponsor Debian Edu work (e.g. with staff power  
during q4/2023). Personally, I am also involved in Debian Edu  
development and in my freelancer business we support 3-4 schools (one  
NEW) that use (want to use) Debian Edu.

We are not doing heavy marketing for FLOSS, we let school teachers /  
decision makers find us and if they want a fully FLOSS stack, we are  
there.

>> As for schools, here in Australia many schools use either Windows or
>> move to Google Chrome.  Sadly I have never heard of an Australia
>> school using Linux.
>>
>> I look forward to seeing a greater adoption of Linux by the general
>> community. But will this ever be a reality?
>
> 20y ago i was in a talk about the ghandi motto/mantra:
>
> first they ignore you
> then they laugh at you
> then they fight you
> then you win
>
> 20y ago, linux in india was already on the stage between fight and  
> win. i'm sure
> australia will follow soon! ;)

I share Holgers foresight. The FLOSS train has started rolling in  
Europe, also in India, possibly elsewhere, too. At some point it will  
have an intrinsic impact, I believe that even large IT tech businesses  
will not be able to stop it or compete with it, their only chance will  
be to hop on.

At the moment, I am consulting for a governmental state  
(Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany) where we prepare the migration  
of +-/ 26.000 Windows notebooks to Linux notebooks.

>> If you have time, I would appreciate chatting with your (or anyone
>> else who is involved in Debian-Edu), about Linux adoption, etc. While
>> I know a few people who use Linux either personally or professionally,
>> I don't know anyone who is actually interested in promoting or
>> improving Linux.

I'd be happy to give a private session on Linux at schools or Linux in  
public sector in a video call session. To increase the impact, find me  
a group of people (not just you) who are interested in the topic,  
ideally with people from the Australian government, Australian school  
decision makers, etc. With an audience of 10-20 people, I am happy to  
do a non-profit 1.5h workshop on FLOSS in education or FLOSS @  
government.

Thanks for getting in touch!
Mike

-- 

mike gabriel aka sunweaver (Debian Developer)
mobile: +49 (1520) 1976 148
landline: +49 (4351) 486 14 27

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