MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-08-12 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] French students to get Linux CDs
|
French students to get Linux CDs
Ingrid Marson
ZDNet UK
August 11, 2005, 14:20 BST
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39212812,00.htm
Linux Live CDs are to be distributed to thousands of secondary school
students in a government-funded initiative
Many secondary schools students in the French region of Auvergne will
receive CDs containing free and open source software when they return to
school in September.
The project, which has been funded by the local government, will see 64,000
packs of CDs distributed to school pupils, according to Linux Arverne, a
Linux user group involved in the initiative. The project aims to get
students and their families more interested in free software.
Every student between the ages of 15 and 19 attending a school in Auvergne
will be given a pack containing two CDs. The first CD contains free software
for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, including the OpenOffice.org office
productivity application, the Firefox browser and the GIMP image editing
application. The second CD is a Linux Live CD, allowing pupils to try the
open source operating system without installing it. The Live CD is based on
Kaella, a French derivative of Knoppix.
The project has provided two CDs to make it easier for students to progress
from a proprietary desktop, said Nicolas Spalinger, a member of Linux
Arverne.
"The idea is to be progressive: start with FLOSS [free/libre and open source
software] on a Windows or Mac, try out a Live CD without the fear of messing
things up, and then install your preferred [Linux] distro," he said.
The CD packs will be distributed on 2 September along with school
documentation for parents, to give the pupils and their family access to the
software.
After distributing the CDs, Linux Arverne hopes to set up training sessions
and hopes to extend the project to younger pupils and university students,
according to Spalinger.
He said three other regions have expressed an interest in this project,
including the largest region Île-de-France, which contains Paris.
"At least three regions are seriously interested so far in our project: Pays
de Loire, Lorraine, Île-de-France. We expect other people in the Francophone
free software community will show their interest when the holiday period is
over. We think this will get big," said Spalinger.
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