[PLUG] Installing GNU/Linux on school computers

[Yogesh Powar]

Hi Jonas,

As always, thanks for the detailed response.
Please see inline.

On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 4:04 PM Jonas Smedegaard <jonas at jones.dk> wrote:

> Hi Yogesh,
>
> Quoting Yogesh Powar (2023-07-10 09:50:36)
> > >
> > >
> > > This is kind of an obvious comment, but before doing something like
> > > this you should figure out what kind of outgoing software support
> > > there would be. If there isn't any, then the students are unlikely to
> > > use these computers, and will use something they find easier. Unless
> > > they are already very adept with Unix-like systems in general, and
> > > Linux-based systems in particular, which seems unlikely.
> > >
> > Yes. Makes sense.
> >
> >
> >
> > > And from a more bottom line perspective, if there isn't anyone to
> > > maintain the machines, they will eventually stop working. Even Debian
> > > can't completely run by itself, and does require some maintenance.
> > >
> > True.
> > They have a computer teacher. May be we can get him started to to mainten
> > the system. Or teach him how to seek help.
>
> Beware that the teacher will likely have limited time and attention.
>
Ack. I missed this point.


>
> Even assuming the the computer teacher is enthusiastic to learn about
> linux, he wil probably have spare time to invest in this new task, on
> top of his existing duties as a teacher.
>
> I've made that mistake many times of over-estimating the time of others,
> when their enthusiasm was equal to my own.
>
Ack.


>
>
> > Another option is we begin with only 2 machines instead of 20. And once a
> > month or two revive them if broken.
>
> If you start small then the systems become a premium rather than a
> commodity for the students: You want most possible students to explore
> and make mistakes in their own pace, not standing in line for few
> moments with them or only the top students getting access to them.
>
I meant, we start from 10% and then to 100%. Assuming the efforts for
installation
depends on the number of machines. (I know you have suggested Debian
Installer
in later part of the email)


> When the school is already ok with allocating the hardware for more
> systems, I suggest to make use of that - e.g. by a) investing some (of
> your own!) time into constructing a dead simple (for the teacher!)
> routine to reset a system to pristine state, and b) propose to have
> plenty machines available but also some spares (for the teacher to not
> expect *all* of them to be in working state *always*), i.e. setup all of
> them (after having created some automated tool that only requires time
> for them all to complete) but suggest the teacher to only expect 12 or
> 15 of them in class, to have spare ones to quickly replace to not waste
> time during class.
>
It's a good idea to reserve some machines to save time at the time of
machine breakdowns.


>
> Even with a fully automated reset procedure, you should still expect to
> pay the school a visit now and then, as such procedure can only
> meaningfully cover *software* flaws - hardware slowly falling apart is a
> different art which I suggest you don't try train the teacher in
> handling but instead yourself or a team you form act as "mechanics" to
> make "routine checkups" on the system park.
>
Ack.


>
> The simplest way to offer automated reset of software is to compose a
> [preseeding] file for Debian Installer for a fully automated install,
> and then burn e.g. 10 identical install CDs with that preseeding file
> added.  It might take several hours for an install to complete, but
> when fully automized you can setup many machines in parallel and the
> only real cost is time.  The result is certain to be a pristine generic
> Debian installation that teacher and students alike can consult the
> internet for help using (as opposed to a custom setup that you might
> think is "better" for that school but to some extend binds them to you
> as the expert of what exact system they have).
>
Sure. Will explore the Debian installer's pre-seeding file.


>
> If you don't see the benefit of keeping it generic (which I strongly
> recommend you to consider first), there are numerous semi-standardized
> custom systems, the most famous probably being [DebianEdu] and [FAI].
>
Will explore DebianEdu & FAI.


> I have some experience with running Debian systems at elementary schools
> and highscools for the past 25 years, using plain Debian, DebianEdu,
> FAI, and more custom-tailored ones.  Some years ago me and my partner
> made a 3 month [visit to India] to meet fellow hackers interested in
> custom-tailoring Debian.  I am quite happy to share opinions and
> practical details, if you are interested.
>
Ok. Wow.


>
> Regarding localization, perhaps Debian nowadays perfectly covers the
> needs or Marathi - I honestly don't know.  But if you consider making
> improvements, you might take inspiration from the [Sweecha Project],
> whom I have found to be nice folks working on that topic for another
> language - Telugu.  They might have some insight to share e.g. about
> which subtasks are easy or hard.
>
> Whatever you do, enjoy!  I know it is an exciting task to engage in :-)
>
Thats on the spot.


>  - Jonas
>
> [preseeding]: https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/apb.da.html
>
> [DebianEdu]: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu
>
> [FAI]: https://wiki.debian.org/FAI
>
> [visit to India]: https://couchdesign.dk/india/
>
> [Sweecha Project]: https://swecha.org/content/swecha-project

Ack

-- 
Thank You

Yogesh Powar
https://yogeshpowar.github.io/blog/
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