Putting a package together

[Nick Hockings]

I read recent posts to this list with interest. I too am planning projects to 
promote free software in schools and elsewhere. 

THE BIG PROBLEM:

Part of the reason for slow progress of GNU/Linux in education is we haven't 
made a big dent in the desktop market YET. We need not only to run SAMBA 
servers for LANs of MS-Windows desktops, but to replace MS on the desktops.

Unfortunately this means good document interchange with MS-Office users is an 
absolute requirement, or the first movers will not be able to communicate with 
those still using MS-Office. 

Fortunately Open Office does now allow the user to read and write MS-Office XP 
and earlier formats. This makes desktop conversion a real option for lay users. 

(Todate the K-Office filters have not allowed the user to read and write the 
current MS-Office formats. I hope the Kompany will catch up on this point.) 

A further unexpected gift to our cause is the fact that existing MS-Office 
users are loathed to "upgrade" to XP because it offers no extra feaures of use 
to them, and presents a monthly rental cost. Thus the proprietary software is 
no longer gratis to use once you've bought it, and the cost argument will help 
us to convert non-upgraders to Open-Office as a way to exchange documents with 
Office-XP users.

The snag here is that Open Office is only a realistic option on a Pentium 3 or 
faster. For the older machines P1, P2 and contempoaries we must offer Open 
Office (or K-Office if the get the necessary filters) through a terminal server 
network.

A SOLUTION:

I would like to put together a 100% free software distribution that focussed on 
the the needs of schools and other desktop LAN users. That is, a distribution 
specifically intended to be installed by minimally trained administrators on 
whatever hardware they have.

This means having a very comprehensive set of drivers for all conceivable 
hardware, and a focused selection of lay user apps. 

THE ISSUES:
1) Which existing distribution to base it on?
I would like to use Debian Woody , because the .deb package management system, 
and the Debian Social Contract make it technically and ethically desirable. 
I do not know if it is suitable for Pentium 1 terminals, and whether its new 
installation system is easy enough for newbie administrators.

2) Which apps to include, and which to exclude?
I would like to incluce important lay user & educational apps, but only the 
best of each type, and they must all be 100% free software.

WHAT TO DO WITH IT
Stamp tens of thousands of CDs and send them to every school and every 
politician in your country. (The unit cost of mass producted CDs is small 
enough for magazines to give them away already.) That should put the issue of 
free vs proprietary software into the political debate everywhere. 

Nick Hockings

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