Debian in Venezuela, International Projects and Debian User Groups.

Debian in Venezuela, International Projects and Debian User Groups Ana Isabel Delgado Domínguez <anubis@debian.org.ve>

Debian in Venezuela

In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, starting with the approval of Presidential Decree 3.390 for the use of Free Software in the public national administration, the national government has opened itself to free operative systems in all public institutions. The result is that the interest in free technologies is now being focused on users, many of whom have little prior experience with free platforms, and now such knowledge often appears as a job requirement for employment. Topics we wish to address include educational, school tasks, and other user focused activities. The users we have met are often generally motivated in taking part in activities and events organized by the free software community of Venezuela, and specifically in this case in Debian, Debian - Venezuela.

Free software installation fests have become particularly relevent to our community and potential users. At these events there is strong preference for and interest in both Debian itself and other free operative systems based on Debian; of every 10 computers 8 have Debian (or a derivative), this information is obtained from the analysis of events evaluations to the events of the FLISOL last three years in Venezuela.

To insist on the user is important, as point of strategy for the advance of the Project. Without users (in force) Debian would not exist. Having seen all the advantages that Debian represent in Venezuela and how our Debian's User groups have supported these efforts, we can study how to involve to countries where free software and Debian is not yet as popular - such it is the case of Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize - and how to involve the Latin Debian user in activities in favor of the development of the Project and free software in general.

We have to also consider if those who participate in the Project must be involved in a commercial activity, or wish to do so for their own interest. We should consider a practical example, for example if an employee of Company "X" started developing a package based on Debian and the company dismisses this employee in the next months, what happens to this software? Probably if it were proprietary software it would be lost to the list of orphan packages. Why?, the interest to take part in the Project is basic, and yes, can be one of his motives is that they are paid for developing software, but beyond an economic motivation, the background of the Project can continue on the basis of the GNU philosophy where it can continue by others as free software even if it is stopped by the employer.

On the other hand, a university student who has initiated a project of development of software based on Debian (orientated by a teacher of certain area) is motivated because he does it because it is what he likes - to level psychopedaic one has seen that the student is inclined in working on projects of areas of personal interest and will be frustrated when the teacher deprives the student of it -. As free software the student will be able to continue with the project whether alone or in effective collaboration with others without being deprived of his freedom to create, to propose. While software freedom gives him free rein to his invention, even he will be able to recapture as topic of final Thesis of degree his initial project; for what the brute time of work - productivity is major in a university student that in an employee of a company.

The Debian Project needs users technically as well as socially. Maintainers, Debian Developers and finally users are the corner stones of the Debian Project.

It is to this purpose where one of the International Projects to which it should him give a glimpse in depth - and at which I have been employed the last few months - the creation of "user / developers' Communities for Debian in the universities of Latin America ", specifically in Central America and countries of the south who have not yet been liberated from proprietary software monopolization.

One of the goals of Debian in Latin America is to stimulate the use and development of Debian in communities where it was not already present, and to do this it becomes necessary to center our attention on the universities. How? The principal role model to a student in general is the teacher. To manage to catch the attention of university teachers promises to create a substantial group of close developers and Debian users.

Universities: Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras Universidad El Salvador ...

How to involve to the Project definitively? MiniDebConf Panamá

Without need to have a website nor other tools, our work is done by the development of conferences in strategic places in the region with the help of other Debian User Groups and Debian developers who are interested in supporting this effort.

The idea of this MiniDebConf will appear in the BoF and in mailing list debian-devel-spanish@lists.debian.org

Panama is a strategic place of the region to use for the organization of a conference. It would also help other countries without established Debian Users Groups.

Debian must not spoil the principal objective, which comes to all easily and these interfere for the strengthening of the project with new ideas in order that the work is productive and profitable.

It is in education where the strengthening of the project rests, is for my area of action is educational: to motivate and educate teachers, students, and others who may be interested in the philosophy GNU/Linux. This route of expanding knowledge of free software has given very satisfactory results, on having motivated and to put to being employed with interest to diverse university communities at the region of The Venezuelan Andes. Since it has been the case of the Universidad de Los Andes (State Táchira - Venezuela), Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (State Táchira - Venezuela), Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira and Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala where I have been motivating teachers to develop software and courses based on Debian and incorporate it into the official repository.

In South America it is possible to observe that the goals of the President Hugo Chávez to realize a free and just society based on human values depends also on Free Software expanding. In Ecuador, the President Rafael Correa implemented a measurement in favor of the Free Software in the whole Public National Administration; in Bolivia the President Chavez has sent people qualified in free technologies to advise to the entities Bolivian Guvernamentales. This way, the countries which still have no native Debian Users Groups are more inclined to form them in the next months, thanks to this advance especially.

The rest is for coming...

The questions,

What type of motivation does move the human being to take the free software to his maximum expansion? Is it indeed a barrier the language? Let's support the Debian team i18n/l10n! How can I help?

MiniDebConf Panamá and DebConf9 Venezuela ;)