Ostrich Lessons In Oregon?

dalslad writes "Oregon Schools Prove Linux Saves Money, says the headline but this article says "One has to wonder if Northwest school districts took ostrich lessons; they must represent the biggest secret in the Linux community. If their successes occurred in New York, Microsoft would be fighting for 5% of the PC desktop share". Maybe so? I've seen a lot of sites with Linux success stories, but the K12 Linux projects show progress I never knew existed." Yeah, I don't think that the schools are going to prove to be the sole factor in Linux on the desktop, but it's a good step. More importantly, I think the success of the system depends on projects like the K12 Linux project and its like, especially for broader individual usage.

Re:Oregon, Slashdot, Microsoft and Google...???

[MrSkunk]

Ummm, did you actually try that search, or are you just trying to spread some FUD? I just searched google for 'Oregon Microsoft Slashdot' and I got 4,230 results.

If you want to find info on slashdot related to oregon and slashdot, then you can search for 'Oregon Microsoft site:slashdot.org'. That returns 244 results.

Re:Schools aren't the defining factor?

[gregfortune]

And that's the same factor that influenced the adoption of UNIX systems in the 70's and early 80's. The universities received their copies free or at drastically reduced costs and then students demanded UNIX like environments when they entered the workplace.

I teach UNIX/Linux at the local university and I've heard the last line in your comment verbatiam from several students each quarter. If we can get kids started on it even earlier.....

Re:My Wife and Kids (slightly OT)

[moorg]

This article [linuxjournal.com] includes references to educational linux software. Overall it's a great article.

You may also try looking at the Linux Journal topic Linux in Education [linuxjournal.com].

In addition, there is a Knoppix remaster [ofset.org] that's intended for schools.

Have you tried Wine?

MainBrain School

[ErikSev]

Just a quick and shameless plug, MainBrain [mainbrainschool.com]allows schools to set up an amazing website which lets parents check grades, attendance, discipline, and all sorts of other information. It runs on Linux, using Perl and MySQL.

Check this school administration software [mainbrainschool.com] and let me know what you think.

Re:Flexibility vs Practicality

[miu]

Small businesses (read 1-10 people) tend to be a bit more practical. They're specifically interested in whether you can do the particular job they need you to do.

I've had the opposite experience, small businesses need someone who can wear lots of different hats, large companies are more likely to need a highly skilled specialist.

Money Money Money

[Anonymous Coward]

Something being overlooked is the fact that school districts, especially in Oregon at the moment, are running a little low on funds. There's no choice: they'll take what's available for free and like it.

With business, or the home user, there's more a choice. It's more of an economics cost/benefit equation, instead of "well, we've got next to nothing in the budget so let's see what we can get."

Re:Personally involved in Oregon (portland) linux.

[MoronBob]

I am a unix admin for the largest k12 school district in Colorado and am meeting stiff resistance to the use of Open Source here. Most of the critics here are astonished to learn that the majority of the internet's web sites run on an "Open Source" product called apache. The district as a whole seems to shun anything not from MicroSoft or Novell. However a colleague and I are starting a Pilot Project using Linux and Open Source at the charter schools within the district. Most of them are very progressive minded and interested in exploring alternatives to the norm. We are installing a terminal server from the K12 linux terminal server project, squid proxy servers, Star Office and Open Office. Open Source is not a panacea but meets some of the needs of cash strapped schools and districts. This district like many others is currently facing budget problems that will eventually force it to rethink its position on open source. Fiscal responsibility is required of those who are stewards of public funds. When many governments and school districts start to show significant savings by the use of open source it will be very difficult to justify using expensive software. I for one plan on being ready to help school districts and governments make the migration to open source.

A little background

[lilbudda]

What the /. community doesn't know is the politics and current situation going on in Oregon. Oregon, silicon forest, has the worst unemployment rate of the country. Second, and due to that, being we only have income and property tax (no sales!), the legislature is facing huge budget crunches. Criminals are being let out, school years are the shortest in the country and a whole host of other services are being axed. Government and schools need to save $$ wherever possible and I think linux could lead the way... check out my article at http://news.designtechnica.com/talkback21.html