Faj
Invité
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| Lun 23 Jan, 2006 11:26 am |
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Interview avec le meneur du projet PARSIX
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20060123
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Interview with Alan Baghumian, Parsix GNU/Linux
Alan Baghumian is one of the most prominent Linux developers and enthusiastic supporters of free software in his native Iran. Besides maintaining a number of Linux web sites, he has also helped his brother Armen to developed xFarDic (a multi-language dictionary), wrote two Linux books in Persian ("Red Hat 9 Training" and "Setting Up and Running GNU/Linux Servers") and, more recently, has been working on Parsix, a KANOTIX-based Linux distribution with support for Persian (also called "Farsi", the dominant language of Iran). He has also contributed Persian translation for parts of DistroWatch.com. Alan is a living proof that enthusiasm is often all that is needed to contribute greatly towards the development and spread of Free Software, while also helping to make computers more accessible to thousands of his fellow countrymen. In this interview Alan talks about his current projects, Linux usage in Iran, and other interesting topics.
DW: Alan, thank you very much for your time. First, would you mind telling our readers about yourself? How old are you? Where do you live? What do you do for living?
AB: You're most welcome. First I want to thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I'm 27 years old, live in a small apartment in Tehran with my wife, and work as a technical manager of TalareWeb Ltd, an open source web-based software development company in Iran.
DW: When did you start using Linux and why?
AB: My first encounter with Linux was six years ago. I'd read about it and decided to have a try; as I remember, it was Red Hat 7.1. Since 2001, I have been using Linux as my only operating system at home. I started with Red Hat 8, then switched to SUSE 8.1 and 8.2, Libranet, Debian, and now Parsix 
As far as our company is concerned, we were tired of the problems with MS Windows and due to technical advantages of GNU/Linux, especially in our field of work, we made a decision in June 2002 to use it as the primary operating system in the office. We started with Red Hat 9, although these days all our workstations and servers run Debian and Parsix. We have kept one Windows machine - just to test web pages in Internet Explorer.
For me, the main reason for using GNU/Linux is its spirit of freedom.
DW: Please tell us about the projects you are currently working on. How did they start and what do you hope to accomplish?
AB: I have one main goal: to help people learn about GNU/Linux and FLOSS and to correct any misconceptions about software freedom and GNU in Iran. All of my projects have been started to help me achieve this goal.
I'm currently working on the following projects:
1. TECHNOTUX, the most popular web site dedicated to GNU/Linux and FLOSS in Iran. This web site was established in August 2003 and has more than 3,000 members, with 2,000 - 4,000 daily visits. We have three main sections there: news, technical and training articles, and community support forums. TECHNOTUX was my first project.
2.xFarDic Multilingual Dictionary. I and my brother Armen started to work on this in April 2004, mainly due to lack of any free and open source dictionary software for Persian-speaking users. Now I think that xFarDic is one of the most complete and feature-rich multilingual dictionaries in the FLOSS world, but it still needs to get more contribution from the community to become an even better tool. We'd appreciate any help on this project.
3. IranTux, an electronic e-zine about GNU/Linux and FLOSS for Persian-speaking users. We maintain a mailing list to develop its content and produce a new issue every month - in downloadable PDF formats.
4. Parsix GNU/Linux, a desktop-oriented distribution, not only for Persian-speaking people. As you might now, the Shabdix project (editor's note: another Linux distribution made in Iran, based on Knoppix) has been abandoned, so I decided to develop a new, pre-configured distribution with Persian language support and with frequent updates and other improvements. If our market grows, it is possible that we will sell commercial support in the future, but Parsix itself will remain free of charge. We already have a small community of Persian users of Parsix(/b] GNU/[b]Linux, but would like to extend it. We appreciate any comments, suggestions, testing, bug report, documentation, etc.
5. Books! I try to write one useful book every two years.
DW: Parsix has been in development for over a year. How does it differ from KANOTIX and what are its main features? Who is the target market?
AB: Parsix and KANOTIX are very similar. Both of them are based on Debian "sid" and Parsix GNU/Linux uses KANOTIX's configuration scripts and kernel in live mode. Our aim is to provide a simple, stable, clean and up-to-date desktop operating system for "newbie" users. The main differences are:
* KANOTIX is a KDE-centric distribution, while Parsix uses GNOME.
* They use different installation systems. KANOTIX's installation system is a QT-based application, while Parsix uses a classic installation system written in Bash.
* A completely different package selection.
* Documentation. We try to provide documentation for new users. Currently, the starter and installation guides have been completed and the English edition of the starter guide will be ready soon. We are planning to add much more Persian and English documentation in the future.
* Parsix GNU/Linux uses Debian's standard kernels as the default kernel after hard disk installation. It is optimised for i686 or K7, depending on system's CPU.
* Parsix GNU/Linux is optimised to be used on the i686 processors family. This gives better performance for desktop usage.
* Pre-configured applications for Persian language, such as text input, OpenOffice.org, UTF-8 locale, etc.
* KANOTIX has editions for 32-bit and 64-bit processors. Currently, Parsix offers a 32-bit edition only.
* We try to minimise the use non-free software in Parsix.
Parsix GNU/Linux - a KANOTIX-based distribution and live CD with GNOME and with input support for Persian
(full image size: 1,604kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
DW: The latest version of Parsix boots into GNOME, with its interface entirely in English. Are there any plans to offer a Persian option? Or is Persian support going to be limited to text input, dictionary and other similar utilities?
AB: The Persian translation of GNOME 2.12 is ready and we are planning to offer a preconfigured Persian UI, with a "lang=fa" boot option, in our next major release. At the moment, it is also possible to boot with "lang=fa", or to login after selecting Persian in GDM, but the user interface is not configured completely and should be tweaked by user. Here is a screenshot of what we are trying to achieve.
DW: How popular is Linux in Iran ? Are you aware of any businesses, schools or government organisations that have switched to Linux on their desktops or servers? If so, what are their experiences?
AB: Linux has become much more popular in the last two years, but in terms of deployment it still can't compare with Windows. Unfortunately, there is no copyright law in Iran, so everybody can buy cheap copies of popular software. When a user buys a PC, it often comes with more than $5,000 worth of pre-installed software applications for free (including Windows, MS Office, AutoCad, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, 3DMax and more). As such, Iran's IT industry has become virtually dependent on Microsoft and other closed source technologies. People start learning computers with Windows and other closed source software and most of them don't even know that other operating systems exist. This is not their fault, this is our government's fault, I think.
After the Council of Informatics launched a project called National OS, several governmental organisations started migrating to Linux, especially on the server side. Some of these companies used to deploy Novell NetWare or SCO UNIX servers, but have decided to replace them with Linux. GNU/Linux is already used in some governmental and private banking institutions as financial servers.
One of the most popular ways to use GNU/Linux are cache servers at Internet Service Providers. Otherwise, there is little migration to Linux desktops; the exceptions are certain foreign companies (e.g. SHELL) that do use it on their desktops - due to US export restrictions on certain goods and services to Iran.
There are a few companies that have been trying to develop Linux-related businesses. One of them is DPI IRAN. It is a main provider of mainframe-based solutions, as well as a Novell NetWare and SCO UNIX supporter for governmental organisations and banks. Recently, they have started developing their own commercial Linux distribution based on Linux From Scratch.
DW: Which would you say are the most popular Linux distributions among Linux users in your country?
AB: Fedora, Red Hat and SUSE, but Ubuntu and Debian are now also enjoying increasing popularity. Fedora and Red Hat are very easy to find, but obtaining other distributions is hard and often expensive. High speed Internet solutions are very expensive in Iran. Starting in February 2003, TECHNOTUX launched a nationwide service to provide cheap CDs and DVDs of different Linux distributions for enthusiastic users.
DW: Are there any Linux Users Group in Iran ? Are you a member of any? If so, can you give us an idea how often you meet, what sort of topics you normally discuss and what LUGs do to promote Linux and open source software among the general population?
AB: Yes, LUGIR. We try to present GNU/Linux, FLOSS and the concepts of software freedom to universities and schools. The Tehran LUG, a branch of LUGIR, has introduced weekly training sessions for the public.
DW: What do you think are the main challenges for a wider adoption of Free Software in Iran and the Middle East? How far is the ability to accept right-to-left (RTL) text input in various applications? Have these problems been mostly solved or are they still an issue?
AB: RTL support in applications is much better than 3 - 4 years ago. As far as I know, there are no longer any RTL problems in any of the key applications, but there are some small bugs in certain packages that should be solved. Many of these bugs have been reported to upstream developers. Our main issue right now is the lack of Iranian and Arabic date system support in some environments and libraries, but this can be hard to implement.
DW: Alan, thank you very much and good luck with your work!
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