Hello James, hello everybody,I support your idea to demonstrate a live distribution before installing Debian.
Here in Dunkirk (North of France), I use to show a laptop with Debian installed and featureful, then discuss a while, eventually launch debian-live or a child live distribution, and finally let the user launch Calamares to start the installation.
During the discussion, if it becomes clear than the computer will be used by young pupils, I propose to install Primtux (https://primtux.fr), which is a finely tuned French distribution targetting them, developed by skilled K-12 teachers.
Also, a good brand of Debian, finely tuned for W10-aware French users, is the distribution Emmabuntus-DE (https://emmabuntus.org/), which used to be a distribution made on top of Ubuntu and which is now directly Debian-based (-DE means Debian Edition). This distribution was developed together with the Emmaüs organization (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma%C3%BCs_France), whose members recycle loads of old computers. So, the distribution Emmabuntus-DE can fit low-end and oldish computers (notwithstanding fitting also high-end machines)
The only language-specific steps are at the very begin of the installation :
* language: choose France
* time zone: click on Paris (or any west-European city)
* keyboard: then the default option is OK (can be checked with the
mock input field: type anything there; for example Alt Gr+ E should
yield a "EUR" character)
Dialogs which come later are in French language, but the context is explicit enough for us to help, even when we do not speak French.
Troubleshooting:most of help requests I got after install-parties in Dunkirk are about peripheral devices which were poorly driven. For example, reviving a 18 years old ASUS Eee-PC laptop, with a Debian systems for 32 bit systems resulted in a well-working machine, but issues with the printer's support (CANON PIXMA MG2550)...
Best regards, Georges. James Addison a écrit :
[...] e.g. building our competence as volunteers, and reducing actual risks to potential installers of Debian -- could also be worth spending braintime on. So, a couple of ideas to that effect: 1) Perhaps we should encourage compatibility testing of devices, in preference to immediate on-the-day installation? - For example, invite participants to try using a Debian Live image that will not modify their system. - Even if a Live image works perfectly, we could remind participants that their operating system remains supported by their vendor until October, and -- as reported[1] recently -- that continued support options may remain available. 2) It would be good if volunteers can find time to successfully install Debian on a host before the installfest. - On a physical machine/laptop ideally - but if not, then at least in a virtual/emulated machine. - Providing feedback to the debian-boot team (e.g. installation reports[2]) could be a valuable additional output of this.Are those sensible, feasible and realistic (and/or any other adjectives)?What other ideas could help? Regards, James
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