State of Debian Jr.
Well, just as a reminder to all who are not aware of what we're doing
with Debian Jr. we are at: http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr
Here's a brief summary of where Debian Jr. is today:
- Discussion/design of menus has drawn to a close and we are readying
ourselves to start making child-oriented menus.
- A first attempt at task-jr was created, but it is very minimal. It
will *not* populate your system with children's software. It is just
a base. In fact, I'm considering renaming it task-jr-base to clear
up this confusion. Furthermore, since I wrote it, I'm really not
happy at all with my choices of dependencies. Anyway, see
http://people.debian.org/~synrg
- Meta packages are planned (like task- packages, but don't appear in
tasksel when you do a base Debian install) which will assist with easy
installation of subsets of everything on our "Packaged" list.
- The "Packaged" list continues to be filled out. Some thought has gone
into choosing categories that make sense for children. Our menu
system is expected to mirror the structure of this list. See
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/packaged
- The logo selection process is dormant. We are waiting on one more
submission before we take the next step. See
http://people.debian.org/~darke for current submissions.
- The Debian Jr. Install HOWTO document is in progress. A draft is
expected shortly. With so little of Debian Jr. automated at this point,
this document will simply amount to a ticklist of concerns to address at
this point, with pointers to other resources as needed. This will
change over time as Debian Jr. evolves from a "bunch of packages for
children" into a more coherent, integrated entity.
- Discussion is underway on whether a debian-edu group is needed as
distinct from Debian Jr. This would not duplicate related projects,
such as SEUL/edu and OFSET, but would rather focus on the issues
specific to preparing Debian for use in an educational environment,
which Debian Jr. is not really geared towards. Our focus is more on
children in the home.
- Some discussion has happened around what the minimum requirements are
for Debian Jr. Three basic minimum systems were proposed. This needs
to become a page on the website and eventually will be incorporated into
install docs.
- There is a channel, #debian-jr, on irc.debian.org (the OPN network)
where a few core members including myself hang out, socialize, and
get some work done on the project.
Since Woody's release is generally anticipated to occur sometime
in the coming year, my New Year's resolution to release Debian Jr. in 2001
may seem wishy-washy. We are really quite at the mercy of the Woody
release schedule for the release of Debian Jr. Nevertheless, with the new
"testing" distribution, many people will be able to try out what we have
done so far without resorting to installing "unstable" and therefore have
quite usable systems for their children before the year 2001 is over,
regardless of Woody's actual release date.
We are always looking for people to help contribute. There is plenty of
work to do, and several jobs do not require the contributor to have Debian
maintainer status. Please visit the web site and list archives, and if
you are interested, join the list and drop us a note.
Ben
--
nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
Debian http://www.debian.org synrg@debian.org
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