Lightning_talks_3.webm

[applause]

Thank you very much.
Next step is Stefan Weil

talking about PalMA and Debian
in Mannheim.

Thanks. Hello and welcome everybody.
My name is Stefan Weil,

and I am going to tell you about a
Debian based freeware development

at Mannheim University Library.

Large parts of our library are located in
Mannheim Palace,

and there we transformed a former reading
room into a modern learning center

which opened in spring last year.

This learning center provides different
kinds of places for working in groups,

and most of them have a large monitor
where the group members can share

their presentations and any documents.

Students bring their own devices -
laptops, smartphones or tablet computers.

They should be able to use the team
monitors by wireless LAN,

without any cables.

Existing solutions did not match
our requirements,

so we wrapped existing technology in a new
web application which we called PalMA.

The team monitor shows some short
instructions how to use PalMA

(which is an abbreviation of
"Present and learn in Mannheim").

Other libraries which adapted PalMA later
have chosen a different name like

SPrinT (which stands for
"Study and present in teams").

As soon as a user connects to the
PalMA URL, he or she gets a web interface

which controls all aspects of PalMA:

This is what the user sees in the browser,

and in the upper right corner, you
see the connected group members,

then the user can show web pages
in the left lower corner

on the team monitor.

He can upload different kinds of files
(also in the left corner) for displaying

on the team monitor, or he can use

screen mirroring of the local display
on the team monitor.

The team monitor can show up to
4 different windows at a time

by changing the screen layout.

You see this in the left part:
there are 5 different screen layouts.

Each window supports scrolling and
zooming and other operations

via the web interface.

The web user interface is available
in several languages,

most of them were contributed
by students of our university.

Each PalMA monitor is controlled by a
Debian GNU Linux system

running a display server, a window
manager, web server and different kinds

of viewer applications which are
started on demand.

The user runs a web browser and optionally
a VNC server for screen mirroring. Today,

PalMA is usable in a trusted environment
like a university or private network.

At least 7 libraries currently use it
for group working places.

Nevertheless we believe that PalMA
can be improved further

and that there are more useful
applications for PalMA.

You can find more information
on our website and also on GitHub.

And I'd be happy to get your feedback or
new contributions for PalMA.

Maybe there are also Debian developers
who are willing to support special

software for libraries.

In any case, just drop me an e-mail.

Thanks for your attention.

[applause]