Dave mate, good to see ya. How is IT in schools in the UK? From what the techs at my schools feel me in Australia itās not great here. It would make sense for me to transition from teacher to tech in schools but I have been told to do anything but
Cheers Bazzawill,
Schools in the UK have been through some pretty big changes in the way theyāre run over the last 5 years or so.
They were previously run like small businesses, with the buck stopping with some kind of ops manager or ultimately, the head.
The job was a lot more varied back then, you got to stick your fingers in ALL THE PIES. Which was great for a young tech. Although lack of funding was a problem, and you were regularly nursing ancient equipment long past the point it should have been retired.
Recently schools were instructed to form academy trusts where multiple schools group together into large organisations, run by the more successful schools in the trust.
So now itās just like working in branch offices of any other large corporate network, with all the silliness that goes on in large bureaucratic organisations on top. Not that great.
Pay for a senior tech is reasonable, but would be a step down from a teacherās salary in the UK.
How are Australian schools run? Are they structured into large districts or more independant, does it vary from state to state over there?
Yeah. I kinda wanna go back to that. I remember it fondly!
That was back in the day when I was running the software myself on a server. It just got too much overhead to keep maintaining it when we stopped doing LO. I tried to find a way to bake it all into HTML and keep it online but couldnāt figure it out.
Hi, Dave, BTW! Glad youāre around! 
Where are you from?
Itās complicated 
Originally from the Ruhrpott in Germany, now living in Copenhagen
What do you do?
Usually I touch keyboards for money 
(and write some JavaScript, muahahaha) my weekend job is photographer 
How did you find this place?
Iām escaping the great culling of 2021 as so many of you, originally I was pointed at Linux Outlaws after I had infected a friend with the Linux bug
Why are you here?
Iāve gotten involved with some Tarkov co-content creations and am generally happy to lurk around forums. Iām always happy about Fab putting in some work to dive deep into some topics and maybe Iāll actually be able to provide some feedback if things are a forum thread anyways
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Hi there 
Iām yet another nerdy follower from the Linux Outlaws days.
Physicist by diploma, Software developer by trade, Parent, Living in Israel.
I also fondly remember the GNR podcast, for providing some company during long hours of driving.
These days I do not have such regular ādead timeā to pass, but TPC is high on my short-list, because it is both fun to listen and manages to dive into serious topics.
Since writing (about non-technical stuff) does not come naturally to me, I guess I am mainly here because @fabsh had said that feedback helps keeping the podcast up 
I appreciate Fabās reporting and podcasting style. We need more such content in these crazy times, so keep up the good work!
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Where are you from?
Originally, the Maritimes in Eastern Canada. Now eastern Massachusetts in the U.S. Soon Western Massachusetts.
What do you do?
Perl mostly. Nothing productive at home. E.g. one hobby task lately has been going through Linux from Scratch attempting to avoid use of udevd. That sentence should demonstrate how I never get anywhere with my plan to contribute more to free and open source software. Also trying to learn Smalltalkā¦ more evidence in the same vein. Put together a shed recently for my son and his mom. Probably better off sticking with Smalltalk.
How did you find this place?
Previous episode. Itās good. Was having trouble keeping emails down to size. Except sometimes I write really dumb things in forums.
Why are you here?
Found it after listening to a Software Freedom Conservatory Podcast (which Dan edits) and remembering Iād meant to go back to a LO episode (or other recording?) with Bradley Kuhn as guest. Found this instead and was hooked pretty quickly.
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Oh cool! A maritimer! Iāve recently been watching this Tarkov streamer called DeadlySlob whoās from PEI. Iāve been slowly accumulating Maritime knowledge through him. Such as that the Cajuns weāre originally from up there, which seems crazy to me. 
Okay. You already officially have the coolest hobbies in here. I really need to get my ass in gear and start at a Muay Thai gymā¦
Thanks, man! And thanks for the continued support! 
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Schools in Australia do have local groupings (I canāt think of the term right now), but that is more for the teaching staff and even then I donāt really notice it. But techwise I think there is a mix of top down burocracy and school freedom. For example our LMS has only just been updated to the modern version because we have a new principal, previously we were running an ancient version. However, the state department of education is working behind the scenes to develop or purchase a standard that will be rolled out in all schools (currently each school could chose a different LMS (not that there are that many)).
Yeah, I remember you mentioned him on the show. At the time I think you used the words, āfrom the middle of nowhere,ā and I was thinking, āhey now!ā 
Canāt complain though. While going to PEI for us before age 7 was like going to Disneyland ā great place ā I have my places I label middle of nowhere, e.g. Labrador City (sorry Terry).
The expulsion was like 18th century ethnic cleansing, eh? Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie
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I meanā¦ he himself says its the middle of nowhere. It takes him hours to just get somewhere where there are people he isnāt related to. 
Also, you gotta remember, I am a city boy. I grew up in this moloch:
Fair enough. Though the island is larger than the Ruhr region its whole populace could probably move there and not drive up rents substantially. But I bet this guy is from Charlottetown and pulling your leg a little. Or not. Certainly there are places in the Maritimes where telling your last name will elicit a guess at which town youāre from.
That was a joke. Still, it is the middle of nowhere from my perspective. Exactly, because it is larger than the Ruhr area and has a population of less than 150,000 people. It has a population density of 25/km2! The borough I live in now has a population density of 7,727/km2. I can reach 7 major motorways in a 15-minute drive. Deadly takes half an hour to get into town! 
Oh, heās out in the country then. Man, his streaming money must go really far. I once saw a weirdly random sheet of paper stapled to a telephone pole in Boston, MA advertising a beachside house on south shore PEI. Picturing these guys in Summerside drinking beer, saying to hell with craigslist, letās go there, we can see a Red Sox (baseball) game, staple a dozen or so of these, then ā¦ profit. Anyway, the price was unbelievably low.
The Ruhr is this cluster of decent sized cities. Is it like one vast metropolis or does each city still have a distinct feel?
Hello everybody,
Wow, Iām really late to the party!
My name is Fadi Mansour, I was born in Syria, but currently residing in the Czech Republic.
Iām currently a technical manager (no booing please 
) at an automotive supplier.
I learned about this from the Private Citizen Podcast.
I would love to be part of the community Fab is creating, although sometimes Iām not having enough time or energy. But there are interesting topics to discuss, but Iām unable to keep up 
.
Nice to see you all!
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Itās really Germanyās biggest city. Feels a bit like London: A city of continuos suburbs with a couple of distinct city centres.
Hey, Fadi! Nice to see you! Thanks for coming along! 
Donāt feel pressured to keep up. Read what you want and ignore the rest. No obligations here. Just content and some social exchange when and if you want it.
One of the reasons I am replacing the Discord with this is that I couldnāt keep up with the Discord either. This should be easier to manage.
Thank you Fab for the kind words.
Iām still trying to find a way to be part of the community without requiring too much time.
We live in an information overload world.
And letās see how this new communication platform will fare, I couldnāt wrap my head around Discord, as the conversations get mixed up.
Although they seem to have introduced a way to create mini-threads.
One of my wishes at some point in the past, is to find/create a tool for better discussions, Iām an old timer, and I feel the need for threaded conversations.
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Providing input once in a while is more than I can ask! 