kde-head Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 just read my local paper , and the local primary school has taken delivery of 20 Windows XP boxes. Which got me thinking - how would the school take it if i went down and offered 20 MandrakeMove or Knoppix CDs to them? Has anyone managed to do this and evangelise a Linux solution to a school? Just wondering... as I really hate to see schools spending money on a crappy, insecure and costly OS - and your story might give me enough courage to go down to the headmaster of that school armed with 20 MandrakeMove CDs. [moved from Talk-Talk by spinynorman] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inflexion Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 doubt it would do any good im primary schoola dn even some colleges they look at you like linux will take over the world or is far too complicated. Plus most people are brought up on m$ crap (me included, im just learning my ways now :P) Im guessin it makes life easier, especially when it comes to troubleshooting Linux - Edit xxx file problem solved M$ - Download this 60Mg patch and if that dont work re-install Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linux_learner Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 some times you find a way in through the back door. my daughters elemtary teacher, IT person and principal are considering my suugestion, but it has to be approved by the district (which would be a whole lot of schools). my suggestion was gcompris and or freedu. freedu is a live cd. so it can run on just about anything. its compatible with pc architecture and mac architecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urza9814 Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 hmmmm...that got me thinking...my school has...4 or 5 IBM labs I think, and a mac one...I should do that...but I wouldn't know where to go or what to say...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Baco Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 (edited) In France, we begin to have a significant number of schools (primary or colleges) using Linux solutions. Here, I'm currently installing a primary school with the "AbulEdu" linux based suite See http://www.abuledu.org. The "pro" (latest) version is debian based, while the community version is Mandrake (7 & 8) based. Config I'm working on: 18 thin clients (cyrix boxes, no disk, no cdrom, no floppy, no fan, 17'' flat screens) connected to a 'big' server (Pentium 2 Ghz, 1.5 Gb ram, 2x80 Gb HD + external disk for backup). Not a single Windows PC! The solution is based on top of LTSP (so you can use old-recycled PCs too). Pupils use the WinMaker light interface (but you can still choose the others). Admin (for teachers) is managed thru a nice and easy HTML interface (PHP). Contains tons of educational software (all levels, incuding Gcompris etc), web access and mail for everybody, Squid protection and firewall, intranet/internet server, USB support on thin clients, automatic updates, tech support and assistance, etc. May even accept Windows (domain) and Mac clients. Total cost (complete harware, network stuff, install, service): less than 15000 Euros. For 18 virus-proof and hassle-free stations, not too bad! Edited December 4, 2004 by Pierre Baco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmack Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 There have been a large number of schools that have gotten involved with GNU/Linux. Check out these links: Case Studies SchoolForge More are needed, many are ready to help! Good luck and enjoy! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 The biggest problem is IT managers who think they know what they're doing - I tried to get my firm to test Linux but they said they had to be MS compatible for Word, etc. Er....Open Office? People in these positions dont want to go out on a limb - but if you showed them a system running with the apps they need - well.................. Dutch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ola Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Rhere is a project in Norway - Skolelinux Some words about Skolelinux from Distrowatch: Skolelinux is the Debian-edu project's Custom Debian Distribution (CDD) in development. It is aiming to provide an out-of-the-box localised environment tailored for schools and universities. The out-of-the-box environment comes with 75 applications aimed at schools, as well as 15 network services pre-configured for a school environment. The simple, three-question installation requires minimal technical knowledge. Skolelinux is Debian, which means, among other things, that there are no license costs or worries, and that upgrade and maintenance of the software can be done over the Internet with the power of Debian's apt-get. The core goals of Skolelinux are localisation and ease of system administration. From my experience: You have out-of-th- box: Ldap server (authentication), DNS server, DHCP server, NIS server forfile shareing with linux clients, Samba server fro Windows clients, Webmin for system administration, Terminal server for terminal clients ( so cold legacy hardware) LTSP. There er ca 4 configuratin possible during instalation Server (LDAP, NIS, SAMBA, DNS, DHCP), Terminalserver, Workstation and client for terminal server. Unfortunately there is no configuration for laptops. Links: www.distorwatch.com or www.skolelinux.org Ther ere several skools implimenting this project!!! :D :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artificial Intelligence Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Next month I'm gonna install linux on two machines at the school I'm working at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kde-head Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Next month I'm gonna install linux on two machines at the school I'm working at. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'd just like to say thanks to everyone whos replied - a lot of info and hints and links there. Artificial -> a break down of how you got your desktop like that would be appreciated! Seriously deserving of that monthly award. Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ola Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Hi, Pierre Baco I tried the link you gave us but unfortunately it was only in French. I don't mind the french language it sounds besutifull, but understend just some french words. Thank you however :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urza9814 Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 (edited) I'm gonna send an email to the 'Indiana Country Technology Center'...we went there today during school...they have 3 (of 13) computer programs...they use Windoze XP, IE, Adobe Photoshop, and some Adobe movie editor...imma send 'em a buncha links, including a few mentioned here...show 'em The Gimp, Firefox, Cinelerra, etc... :P even their networking program used all windoze! :o oh, they also need a good long tour of the 'HTML Hell page'...they are encouraging people to make websites entirely in flash! I hate sites like that... Edited December 7, 2004 by Urza9814 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitor Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I've been thinking about talking to the IT team that installs PCs in the shool of my kids. Never came to it. Probably they would not accept it because they run quite some commercial (semi)-educational games (only Windows of course). And even if I could convince them, nothing would happen unless I spent quite some time on this (these are all volunteers, so if someone has an idea,...). I don't have the time to start installing PCs. I prefer spending time with my kids. I recently created accounts for them on my PC, installed all the free games that are OK for their age. I created also an e-mail account for the oldest (7 years). He now knows how to boot the machine in Linux (its a dual boot), start evolution and how to receive and send e-mails. Maybe some day? If Wine would mature enough so that I would be able to get those Windows only games working,... Ciao, Sitor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artificial Intelligence Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Next month I'm gonna install linux on two machines at the school I'm working at. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'd just like to say thanks to everyone whos replied - a lot of info and hints and links there. Artificial -> a break down of how you got your desktop like that would be appreciated! Seriously deserving of that monthly award. Wow! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Used my imagination Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonEberger Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 One big problem is people being afraid. I have a family member who is the tech. coordinator for her elementary school. She's knowledgable and can get around well in Windows. (Very good with MS Office.) She is afraid of Linux. It sounds scarey to MS-comfy folk. On the other hand, Im a grad student at NCSU. Everything is Linux or Solaris (for the Math-sciences, etc. folk) while the office workers remain predominantly on MAC or MS. Why? The expensive is so much higher, but people are afraid. Even my wife (very computer savvy, very good coder) was nervous about it. Now she lives in it. She loves it. But it's still too much for her to do alot that isn't gui based. The learning curve is steep. I think if you could convince the powerful few on a $ basis, then when people came in and they were given a Linux box instead of MS, they'd have to learn it. Then it wouldn't seem so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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