Re: Why CMS instead of integration with Debian web?

[Knut Yrvin <knuty@skolelinux.no>]

tirsdag 15 mars 2005, 16:35, skrev C. Gatzemeier:
> Sounds like explicitly dividing and aritificially increasing the
> distance between developers and users. Sounds like a bussiness plan.
> Is this beneficial for debian-edu?

The science on how to use Skolelinux is anchored in the Scandinavian
school of system development in how to bridge the gap between the
developers and users. Some of the theory you'll find in this articles:

http://archive.cpsr.net/conferences/pdc98/history.html
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~grudin/Papers/IEEE91/IEEE91.html

So my perspective is what's benificial for the schools, the teachers
and the decision-makers to get them to use debian-edu in their
organisation. I believe that more schools that are using debian-edu,
also recruit more people to the Debian project. If you agreeing that
more users, and more developers that follows is beneficial for
debian-edu, we should not scare users away by burden them with
deemands and expectations of beeing a Debian-developer. It's smarter
to make it easier to contribute. I have got some feedback from heavy
contributors to Skolelinux that it is somethimes to difficult to
contribtue Debian. Then it's unfortunate to reject their work through
making contributing more difficult.

So in my view, the answer to your question, about what's beneficial
for debian-edu, is the other way around. Some of the way that a Debian
developer handles documentation widens the gap between the developer
and user. Just to get the CD at the Debian web-site you have to click
6 times - and find the right iso-s you have to download. To get it
from the Skolelinux-website it's 2 click away. The installation manual
in Debian is 120 pages. Installing Skolelinux is explained in 10-18
pages. When making the system more easy to adapt, then you get more
users, and then you get more developers. In a way you can 

In a way you can characterise this as an business plan. But this is a
kind of labelling that don't take into account what the teachers ask
for, and how to adopt free software in schools. By this kind of
labelling, some people could be scared away from using free
software. And at the end of the day the free software business plan is
expressed in the GNU General Public License:

  You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
  and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for
  a fee.

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

- K