Educational Collaboration

[Kermit Jones <kermit@freelifeministries.org>]

Hello All,

   I am writing this letter in hopes of  uniting several different - 
yet similar - projects.  I am a firm believer of not re-inventing the 
wheel, and I hope that by bringing several wheels together, we'll be 
able to build something bigger as a collective.

   My name is Kermit Jones and I am the founder of a non-profit in the 
U.S. that provides free technical support, hardware and software to 
homeschoolers, schools, churches, libraries and other non-profits.  
Naturally linux is a perfect fit.  I see, however, a many other 
organizations and individuals doing similar tasks and often repeating 
the sames steps over and over.  I think there is a better way, and I 
hope you each will take a moment to consider my proposal.

   For those of you not familiar, Morphix is Linux distribution based 
Knoppix and, therefore, based on Debian.  This LiveCD feature, many of 
you know, is an excellent way to quickly have an instance of Linux 
running and it allows people to check various issues out before 
installing. (forgive me Alex)

   One of the tremendous strengths of Morphix, and the main reason my 
non-profit has chosen it, is that it very easily allows for 
customization of a LiveCD.  Want KDE? Place the KDE-MainModule into the 
mainmod directory.  Want to add OpenOffice? Place the 
OpenOffice-MiniModule in the minimod directory.  One of you has 
graciously offered to begin working on a LTSP-server-MiniModule, with 
the distant possibility of a client minimod that automatically detects 
and configures a kernel and modifies the necessary files on the server 
based on MAC addresses.  Think of how painless that would make a LTSP 
lab setup.

   The folks at DebianEdu have a great start of educational .deb 
packages and meta-packages.  They are in need of package maintainers, 
though.  They reference the Ofset distribution Freeduc and ask for any 
integration of those programs into the DebianEdu system.  That's great, 
because the lead Freeduc maintainer produces SciLix, which is a 
University focused LiveCD and he is using Morphix with an 
Educational-MainMod.  Freeduc/Ofset has one of the most comprehensive 
lists of Educational Software selections.    SkoleLinux has some great 
things going on, as well.  I really like the options of configurations.  
Server, client, workstation, etc.  However, how much easier would it be 
to simply maintain a module for each, insert, compress and burn a custom 
CD for that purpose. 

   This isn't designed to be a summary of projects, though.  We all 
have similar goals of Linux in Education/Schools.  No one has enough 
developers or enough documentation.  But together, I think we could 
accomplish far more than the simply sum of our efforts.

   Our non-profit wants to help.  There are several things we are in 
the process of implementing.  First, a LiveCD distribution.  It allows 
homeschoolers and schools to run the programs without a need to install 
(much like the FreeducCD).  Second, we are writing documentation that 
explains how to implement each program in the classroom setting.  A 
recommended Lesson Plan of sorts.  Third, we are applying for Federal 
grant money that will allow us fund projects that directly support our 
mission.  If you are getting this email, you qualify, though we are 
still in the process of obtaining the necessary funding.  It may not be 
a lot, but we are going to try to fund others as much as possible.  It 
may be monetary or hardware.  Or both.

   We are also drawing volunteers from various sources.  In many 
instances, the clients we serve want to give back somehow.  They often 
cannot code, but they are willing to test installation routines, 
programs, etc.  They are willing to use a program and say, "Gee, this 
would work well in ____ and _____ subjects.  Here's how to implement 
it."  We will also use them to rate programs on their viability for use 
in education.  It will allow review to point out what programs are 
awesome and which ones need helping along.

   So you can see we're trying to coordinate a lot of things to achieve 
our goals.  My hope is to first start by supporting some of the .deb 
maintainers and mini-mod maintainers (and morphix.org since it's the 
platform).  We'll branch out from there.  We will also maintain a server 
for the .deb and mini-mods related to education.  I have a nice machine 
I'll put out there for you to do builds, etc., if it's needed (dual mp 
2800+s with 1GB and SCSI 15K.3 drives).  If you need equipment, odds and 
ends, I'll ship to you as I get it in.  Whatever it takes to help you be 
more productive.

   But if we can all get to a common base, it would allow for faster, 
more efficient work.  Insert your module, change locales for language 
support, compress and burn.  You instantly have a LiveCD customized for 
your specific need.  There could even be mini-mods based on the levels 
of education (Primary/Secondary/College).  Morphix has a nifty "Install 
to HD" icon that quickly installs it.  I know Alex wants some help in 
adding some features, but just think... once you get it where you want 
it, you don't have to worry about the base installation method or 
hardware detection.  The base Morphix module takes care of that.  KDE is 
taken care of. Just add your Edu-mini-mods and go.

   It's the same module approach many PHP programs use today.  It 
allows for easy customization via apt-get, too.  It allows you to focus 
on one or two key areas, like a specific mini-mod and language 
translation for your culture.  In short, it allows for several countries 
to have nearly identical educational distributions localized for their 
region.  That means that "new" documentation simply needs to be 
translated in many cases, and not written from scratch.

   My apologies for the length of this letter.  I've still only 
scratched the surface.  I realize some of you have been doing this for a 
long time... years even.  But please consider that uniting together 
allows for a better use of resources, frees up your time to focus on 
needed tasks, and give a broader base of users and feedback for 
improvements.

   If you want to know more about our non-profit and 
philosophies/goals, you can download our White Paper:
http://www.freelifeministries.org/WhitePaper.pdf
http://www.freelifeministries.org/WhitePaper.sxw
http://www.freelifeministries.org/WhitePaper.rtf

This email is to simply touch base with you to see if you would be 
interested in proceeding in a joint venture.  Please let me know if you 
have any questions.

Very respectfully,
Kermit Jones
President
Free Life Ministries