Open source in schools

Tyler Aviss tjaviss-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
Wed Oct 24 16:59:05 UTC 2007


Yes, you could. Technically to do the following is not really "thin"
(as the clients still have a hard drive), but if you wanted to do it
the simple(r) way, then you could make a network-bootable kernel,
stick it on the drive, install grub, and how options for either
Windows or Networked-Linux in the menu.lst



On 10/24/07, Alex Maynard <maynarda-dxuVLtCph9gsA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007, Tyler Aviss wrote:
>
> > My experience with this (working in a district that is greatly Linux
> > and moreso over time) is that students and staff like it quite a lot
> > in terms of speed and functionality  compared to our locked-down
> > windows stations, but that the transition is hell unless you do a
> > really strong audit of your existing network/software infrastructure,
> > and take a good look at software that doesn't have a linux/FOSS
> > equivalent.
>
> If you use thin clients doesn't that mean that you could leave the
> existing windows machines in place as a legacy during the transition so
> as to smooth the transition?  I may not understand correctly what a thin
> client is, but I thought it meant that in the class-room you only need
> something like keyboard, screen, and good direct internet connection to
> the server?  If so, couldn't you leave the existing computers place with
> their current operating systems and add something like a switch to share
> the monitors?
>
> Alex
>
> >
> > Many of the schools here run on thin clients. They're nice to
> > administer (central server), but lack of good backups may be the death
> > of us in that arena (no server, no clients). The majority of common
> > software is available to students/staff, they can login anywhere and
> > access their files, and there are a lot of conveniences. We've
> > definitely had issues with poor planning (aka it was oftimes crammed
> > down people's throats without assessing the important windows-only
> > software), poor implementation (daisy-chained 10/100 switches, no gig
> > uplinks, servicing 50-100+ clients and one server), and
> > miscommunication. It's a good way to give the techs white hairs (in my
> > case, hair loss), and a very good way to sour staff on what might
> > otherwise be a very positive IT environment.
> >
> > So my personal opinion is somewhat mixed. I still say that a Linux
> > environment in education can be a great thing, but a poor
> > implementation creates havoc and just turns people off on the whole
> > concept.
> >
> > Things to consider:
> >
> > * Server power
> > * Redundancy
> > * Backup
> > * Existing software
> > * Existing hardware (compatability)
> > * Network infrastructure (including wiring, plain Cat5 doesn't do gig very well)
> > * Interface (KDE, gnome, etc)
> > * Security (NFS = insecure, and many others)
> > * Training
> > * etc
> >
> > If looking to switch, it's also not a bad idea at all to get people
> > started with cross-platform FOSS software, for example: Firefox,
> > Thunderbird, OpenOffice, GIMP, Blender, GAIM, most google stuff
> > (somewhat), and others. It helped here at work, and also when I
> > switched my grandparents over to 'nix from win2k, and my cousin from
> > XP. It didn't hurt that my grandparents' "Hoyle Card Games" works
> > nicely in wine, nor that my cousin finds Vista a more painful switch
> > than Linux :-)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 10/23/07, phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org <phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>> As a LUG i feel we should be more pro-active in this area.
> >>                   ^^
> >>
> >> Is that the Royal We? Or the External We (ie, you guys)?
> >>
> >> This reminds me for some reason of my colleague's memo pad that says at
> >> the top 'I've got a good idea, you do this instead of me.'
> >>
> >> The trick to getting others involved in a project is (as Tom Sawyer points
> >> out in the fence painting episode) to make it look like soooo much fun
> >> that others will *want* to join in.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Peter Hiscocks
> >> Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto
> >> http://www.syscompdesign.com
> >> USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator
> >> 647-839-0325
> >>
> >> --
> >> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> >> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> >> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Tyler Aviss
> > Systems Support
> > LPIC/LPIC-2
> > (647) 477-1784
> > --
> > The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> > TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> > How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
> >
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>


-- 
Tyler Aviss
Systems Support
LPIC/LPIC-2
(647) 477-1784
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists





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