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OpenSuSE to Release Linux Distro for Educators
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Jun 26, 2007 08:00 AM
from the not-the-best-conglomerate-word-ever dept.
from the not-the-best-conglomerate-word-ever dept.
christian.einfeldt writes "The next version of openSUSE, due out in the fall, will include an add-on CD optimized for educators. According to the Education section of the openSUSE wiki, the openSUSE community sees the add-on as a way to make it easy for school administrators to create both networked systems and stand-alone desktops for teachers and students. To tailor the add-on CD to the needs of educators, the openSUSE community is asking educators and technologists to submit their software successes, applications used, and 'HOW-TOs' for writing applications and using applications. Dubbed the SLEDucator, the package collection is being included as an add-on, as opposed to a new distro or a fork."
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the SLEDucator (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. The article also mentions edubuntu... which is a bit of a better name I guess (worth a look too if you run linux and have kids).
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Looked at it, loved it, got it running now on an old laptop for the 4yo. Can't get the wireless networking running, but she's still working through the "games". Wish there were some more puzzles; for some reason they're her favorite.
SLEDucator (Score:2, Offtopic)
Stop, Vile Fiends! I am the SLEDucator! (Score:4, Funny)
Now just break out your Toboggins and Snow Shoes! (Score:2)
What is different? (Score:5, Funny)
- Does it complain about the pay?
- Does it blame parents for poor computer performance?
- Does it have TV commercials promoting itself?
- Does it claim to be a "professional" distribution even though "home" distributions have better performance?
- Is it certified?
- Is the government paying for it?
- Does it work on 30 documents but tell you that you'd be better off paying more and only doing 25 documents?
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
-uses LTS in school district
-doesn't get summer off
-knows techs aren't part of the teachers union
-no commercials, no crap,no budget, just work as hard as you can
-doesn't bitch
Being the tech director (sole technician/network admin/everything guy in a system with 250 desktops, 13 servers, 1200 accounts), and having tested SUSE enterprise for distribution, I know it isn't close to edubuntu as far as being ready for school distribution. I know some CIO's/techs are saying SUSE is ready
Pay Attention People (Score:2)
I don't have the time, money, or political support
Because his superior(s) up the chain have got other socio-political arrangements with entrenched software vendors that most likely violate the intent of every corruption law on record.
Much like Moses bringing back the ten commandments from a mountain top, software probably materializes on his desk regardless of the time he spent creating a report on vario
Yawn (Score:1, Informative)
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Good approach (Score:3, Interesting)
Schools generally don't have large IT department loaded with hardcore Linux geeks.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I've read about 1,000 variations on this sentence over the past few years, and I haven't been able to puzzle it out. Maybe I'm dense, but I've never figured out why diversity is a problem that threatens to make all our heads asplode. You don't see Baskin-Robbins cutting back to serving only vanilla and chocolate because people have avoided their store, heads dizz
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Since this is
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OK, let's use it. The fact is most people really know almost nothing about cars, and the fact is that there *are* many car brands. To add insult to pain, car companies have merged (a lot) and still they *insist* about having a lot of brands when they could easily merge brands along with companies and even save a real big hill of bucks.
Neither producers nor consumers fill that having so many car brands is hurting the ma
Re: (Score:1)
When there is a defacto choice it is easier to simply go with the industry standard, and that is Windows.
I'm not saying it's right or best for the school district, but administrators do it because it's easier.
I think you miss the point (Score:2)
Also, diversity and "myriads of choices" is not per definition a function of "free software". Nor is the opposite.
But confusion, bad overview, high demands for planning and high demands for technical skills *IS* the result of too much diversity and an abundance of choices. This is true for any kind of software or product - free, open, closed and commercial.
While the power of Linux and FOSS in general is its diversity it is al
Re: (Score:2)
Its the same effect that herd/flock/swarm/school behavior exploits; when a predator can't single out an individual from the group its pretty hard for them to select prey.
Heres an experiment you can try at home.
Try getting a cat and some small fluffy objects that the cat may like
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Some cats, and some people are readily capable of thoughts/actions outside of herd mentality.
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I'm not accusing them of *herd* mentality.
I'm accusing them of *predator* mentality.
Re: (Score:2)
Very few humans can be classed as predators now days based on behavior.
And yes, this is part of my college degree, and state certification as a Veterinary Technician.
Humans as predators have not been an issue in nature since cities were formed. (yes- a small, but insignificant % have been, and will always remain predators in the terms you want to compare us with cats.)
Now all we need is a similar add-on for SMBs (Score:4, Insightful)
Making tools which allow educators and people in small businesses to deploy and administer a small networked Linux environment is a great idea. And the lack of such tools is often what intimidates non-Linux-geeks from adopting Linux.
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They already released the code to make your own distribution trademark free and information how to make your own openSUSE based ditribution [opensuse.org].
Join their mailinglist, discuss and you might be amazed of what is possible. The educators part came there because of demand.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I am the guy who would be able to push such a product/distro/add-on to the SMBs
I will be following SUSE and openSUSE more closely in the future though. I think that the more business-oriented approach that Novell has, strengthens Linux
Re: (Score:2)
You can tell them WHAT those SMB's might want and need. The programmers will not have that information. Don't think that because you don't program you can't contribute. Feedback is contribution. Interacting by actively joining the mailinglist is even better.
Let them know. Tell them directly and they will listen.
Oh and just to show you that Novell is doing tjing
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Apple called ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple called ... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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(maybe I should post this AC, naaaaa)
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It never worked for Apple? At one time the only computers you could find in schools were from Apple, from the student labs to the principal's desk.
If Apple hadn't screwed up price-wise, your PC would be running a motorola cpu, not an intel.
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My point was that the motorola cpu was a much nicer one to program on - no segmented memory model - and that it wasn't only Apple that was using motorola cpus at the time. If you've ever written in assembler, you know how much of a PITA the segmented architecture was. Even if you didn't use assembler, you had to keep 6 different memory models in mind, TINY, SMALL, COMPACT, MEDIUM, LARGE, HUGE.
What a mess. Overlaying code? don't go beyond 64k (32k in some cases). Added a few lines or changed some compiler
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I believe the idea was that by having Apple computers in schools, when parents purchased a PC for home they would buy Apple, because that is what their kids were used to.
In reality, what happened is most people bought PCs (In the "IBM and compatible sense", so don't get pendantic) because that's what they used themselves in the workplace.
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Actually, a lot of parents bought Apples for home use, until the price differential between an Apple and a no-namn clone became too large to ignore.
Of course, we're seeing the price differential has now vanished - for many users an iMac has a lower TCO than a Windows box, by the time you add in antivirus and antimalware and anti-flavoraid-of-the-day subscriptions, and the quicker obsolescence of the windows box. Throw in a copy of parallels and they have no reason to move their windows programs from xp.
k12ltsp (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, tell me about it.
Why Linux in Education Fails (Score:4, Interesting)
Sound of silence (Score:2)