[Debian-np-devel] A question to Debian NP team

[Jean-Christophe Babinet]

Hello all of you !

Guillaume told me about your work in Porto Allegre.
I'm impressed of the posibilities. I'm sure we'll get very soon a great 
distrib.

I'm sorry not to be a technician, so I can't participate and help you. My 
participation can only be at the level of the ideas.

In my mind, the big aim of the project Debian NP is to make an easy-to-use 
Debian Distrib available for "all". "all" means persons and structures. "all" 
means everybody that has a need of computer programs, a need that other 
people also have (you don't work for a closed comunity like unemployed, or 
martians, or blind people, or hair dressers, but for people that need the 
basics proposed by a computer)

This means that the work of debian NP will be used mostly by people that have 
no idea of what is a source code, but that only want the network to print a 
document, to share datas, to surf on the web, to secure, etc .....

This brings me to two remarks :
1) those needs are not specific to Non Profit Organisations
2) people will need support

and an evidence : people will use debian NP distrib if they are confident in 
the fact that it will fullfill their needs.

A company that makes business with renting bicycles, or selling rocking 
chairs, or providing consultentcy in human ressources, or i don't know what, 
will first ask : "i'm not a NPO, so why do you want me to use debian NP ?"

I precise that "make business" means to get a salary at the end of the month, 
and not sell shares on the NYSE! :-)

I propose to quit the idea of making a distrib for a certain kind of 
organisation (the NPOs), and go the the idea to make a distrib that fullfills 
the basic needs of computer networks and desktops, and that is thought to 
make support available (essentially updates and distant maintenance).

As Guillaume told you, with PraKsys, we experience to earn our wages by 
replacing some closed windows by tools that one can open without asking mama 
for autorisation:) We got this morging our twelveth (12th?) client, (we are 
very proud) that is our first Ltd client, the 11 first beeing NPO's. I don't 
need to tell you that this 12th client doesn't know that he'll get debian NP 
distrib :(!

Think also to the companies that will offer support on Debian NP. I'm sure 
they will not want to get the image of specific NPO supporters. Not that it's 
a bad image, but it's a narrow image, with no relation to our reality : the 
free softwares brings you more than what you need !

NP can mean "No Princip" or "New Past" or "Not Payable" or "Natural 
Potential"..... (my miserable english does not help for the exercise of 
finding a name:()

We could find a name that gives an idea of what is inside the distrib, and 
that not limit the usability to a certain community, even if it is a very 
nice one !

IMHO, i don't see the difference beween computer networks in companies and in 
NPOs. In both cases, the computers are grey and heavy.... :)

How do you react to that ?

kisses from Montauban

Jean-Christophe