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Linux Business Education

Linux Desktops Catching On In Education 379

Posted by kdawson from the penguin-in-the-classroom dept.
digihome writes to point us to an appreciation of the state of Indiana's project of moving students from Windows desktops to Linux. In about a year, 22,000 students have made the switch, using a variety of Linux distributions. The crn.com writer tried switching his own two children to Linux laptops. From the article: "'So Dad,' [the 10-year-old son] asked. 'What is the difference between Linux and Windows?' I tried to explain but it was a waste of breath. 'What difference do you see?' I asked back. 'Nothing, really.'"
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Linux Desktops Catching On In Education More

Linux Desktops Catching On In Education

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  • No reason to switch (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:15PM (#17119166)
    Well, since there's no difference, I might as well stick with Windows.
    • The problem with something different is that it's different. If your kid has the same thing as everyone else, the good stuff will work the same and the bad stuff will be dismissed because everyone feels the same pain. But if it's different, all that bad stuff is going to be glaringly obvious. Because it has different bad stuff, your kid will point out, correctly, that "Windows doesn't do that." You may have the same number of great programs, some that are completely unique or that you would never consid

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by A. Bosch ( 858654 )
      Well, there IS one difference. The price.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by bubkus_jones ( 561139 )
        That depends on how they got Windows. I'm sure a vast majority only "buy" Windows when they get a new computer, where the actual cost of the OS is much lower than a "box" copy, not to mention it's all mixed in with the rest of the cost. I doubt many "average joe/jane" computer users even realize that they're paying for it.

        They buy their computer from Best Buy/Walmart/Futureshop, hook up the cables and Windows is right there, with it's friendly "Welcome" screen. It's not like they can easily choose to not ha

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by newt0311 ( 973957 )
          interesting note on that. If you can prove to microsoft that you did not boot up the OS on that brand new computer, you can request to get the cash for the OS back (i.e. the $100 you will have to pay) so there is still a sizable cost difference.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Jason Earl ( 1894 )

          Which is why the obvious solution is to purchase thin clients instead of PCs. Heck, if you are careful to buy motherboards that support PXE you can even buy cheap barebones computers without an OS or hard drive and use them for thin clients. If you are really looking to go cheap get yourself a pile of donated Dell or HP machines, pull out the hard drives and throw them away. Now connect them to a Linux terminal server and enjoy.

          Instead of hundreds of boxes to administer you have one server (possibly tw

    • $100 difference (Score:2, Informative)

      by Browzer ( 17971 )
      "Xandros Professional 4 lists for $99, versus anticipated Windows Vista pricing of $199"
  • that can be changed very quickly...
  • 'What difference do you see?' I asked back. 'Nothing, really.' What a detailed, well thought-out response. Kid must have spent a whole 3 seconds coming up with that one.

    • Re:clearly they're the same. (Score:5, Funny)

      by thewils ( 463314 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:22PM (#17119360) Journal
      Then the parent smacked the kid upside the head with a perl manual, and the child was thusly enlightened.

    • 'What difference do you see?' I asked back. 'Nothing, really.' What a detailed, well thought-out response. Kid must have spent a whole 3 seconds coming up with that one.

      Actually, for someone whose fairly new to computers without a lot of depth in platform-specific applications, there probably isn't that much major difference. Sure, there are a bunch of cosmetic differences, but they likely don't seem important, and the functional differences are beneath the surface. They look, in broad outline, a lot the sa

    • I use Linux at my home. I had a tough time convincing my wife to use it, but, really, it has all the application she needs, and she uses it just as she would use Windows. When I'm using my home computer, most of the time I don't even notice I'm using Linux, instead of the Windoze machine at work.

    • definition of difference (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mateo_LeFou ( 859634 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @05:28PM (#17120612) Homepage
      My confidence in smooth Linux migrations for ordinary users took a pretty good hit over thanksgiving, when (for kicks mostly) I booted my mother's machine with Austrumi. My mother uses the computer *only for checking her hotmail and clicking the links she's sent by friends. I don't think she could do a google search without help. I set the firefox startup page to her hotmail account, and for good measure invited her to gmail. Well a day later I basically had a mutiny on my hands. My mother was very put off about having to find the "Compose" link in gmail. Incidentally, she's also kinda put off by the 2-3 dozen spam messages in her hotmail box every day. My brother insisted that i "put it back". Near as I can tell, he was looking at his fantasy football web pages and got a dialog about mismatched certificates, and concluded that I had broken the machine. What I'm saying is that there's a class of user for whom change == malfunction. Some of these people are CEOs, btw.

  • Linux in place of windows (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MECC ( 8478 ) * on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:17PM (#17119236)
    Reminds me of the time I loaned a thinkpad running ubuntu to a roomate of mine, who I would say was a garden variety computer user. She had no idea what linux or ubuntu was. I showed her how to launch firefox and openoffice. She was working on term papers that same day, no need for me to do anything at all. That said, I still think even ubuntu has some ground to cover when it comes to interoperability with windows and I do think that ground will have to be covered in the desktop arena by linux rather then MS (who won't/can't do it). Still, it seem that for about 95% or so of the things the average home users does with a computer, the differences between linux and windows seem to be fading fast.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by PFI_Optix ( 936301 )
      What would make Linux the killer desktop app that it almost is, is a seamless way to run Windows programs, including installers.

      If I could drop an application CD in a Linux system and install a Windows app with minimal fuss, that'd pretty much be the end of Windows in my household. I'm not talking about using Wine (which I tried once, didn't take to it and never went back), I'm talking about just running the .exe or clicking "Install" in the autorun box (yes, those should work too) and getting my app the sa
      • I disagree. All we need is one major desktop vendor to make a stripped down custom distro and sell it installed on their computers. A distinct line of desktops (no OS option, just Linux), no mention of the words Linux or Windows, and a small set of applications - Firefox, OpenOffice, etc. Just a simple bar at the bottom to open any app. Very few configuration windows, if any. Locked down so no applications can be installed, but automatic package updates from the vendor. Sell it for $300 to $450, below

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by aaronl ( 43811 )
        I do that with Windows applications under Ubuntu at home, at work, and on my laptop. Get installer, double-click, install, and execute. It works under both Wine and Crossover Office (wine). As pointed out, it works with Cedega (wine), too. I use uTorrent this way, with no troubles. I occasionally use IE6 to access poorly designed sites, I run my brewing software, fire incident tracking software, GIS data viewer, a few games, and so on. The only software that I've had trouble with is stuff based on .NE
    • Give Windows another 5 years or so and it will be ready for the desktop.

  • Great, where do we sign up... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PFI_Optix ( 936301 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:18PM (#17119244) Journal
    ...for training?

    I work at a school district. I'm the most Linux-saavy of the four IT employees, and I'm still very much a novice. For us to make a transition to Linux, we'd need training and good support. It's been talked about, but sticking with MS has (at least on paper) come out being cheaper for the time being. And that's not even addressing the problem of teachers who are scared enough of Windows, IE, and MS Office; it's pulling teeth to get them to use StarOffice.

    So how about it? What's a good way for us to make the leap into Linux without dropping a load of cash?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by PDXNerd ( 654900 )
      No offense, but why would you need training to do a job you were hired to do in the first place? My employers never trained me to learn or know Linux, and yet I learned it on my own. I learned it in my free time and my resume looked better than ever. I know, I know - it's strange when people do things of their own free will to better themselves and their prospects. Support? What is this support you speak of? Have you ever needed to call tech support on your IT-supported desktops for Windows? If you answered

      • Re:Great, where do we sign up... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by 0racle ( 667029 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:38PM (#17119710)
        No offense, but why would you need training to do a job you were hired to do in the first place?
        I don't see the OP saying he was hired to be a Linux admin and asking for training after.

        Why give them a computer that only ships with a programming language default of "VB script"?
        Do you honestly think that just because children were given a system that comes with 1001 scripting languages they are going to do anything different with it then they did with Windows? Here's a hint, they won't. They don't care that Windows comes with WSH that will run Javascript and VBScript, they don't care that a default Linux install has Perl, Python, Ruby and who knows what else.

        • Re:Great, where do we sign up... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by PDXNerd ( 654900 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @05:00PM (#17120098)
          Do you honestly think that just because children were given a system that comes with 1001 scripting languages they are going to do anything different with it then they did with Windows? Here's a hint, they won't. They don't care that Windows comes with WSH that will run Javascript and VBScript, they don't care that a default Linux install has Perl, Python, Ruby and who knows what else.

          I did. I programmed in BASIC, Pascal, C before I was 12 and later C++ (and a masochistic teacher gave me a fortran book, but I dropped that after chapter 2) - all before the age of 17. I enjoyed learning these languages, and I know I'm not alone in this. I had options - most kids don't. And I'm not even a "professional" programmer, though I do code for my work occasionally.

          Look, I'm not saying all kids are going to scream for joy and poop their pants at the site of a Ruby interpreter, but is there *really* anything the "Windows" kids will be missing out on by running Linux - even if it's just to give those few kids who would use it a chance to code?

          I don't see the OP saying he was hired to be a Linux admin and asking for training after.

          No, you see the OP saying something like "I don't know Linux and neither do my co-workers here in IT." I'm just saying that not knowing information should not be a barrier to your *consideration* of adoption. If this is a good choice for you (which they said it was, cost of training being the barrier) and this is the only thing holding you back from a proposal, download some Slackware or Gentoo install disks and LEARN.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by FiveLights ( 1012605 )
        it's amazing that people are jumping on the linux bandwagon. What with the warm, welcoming, and supportive arms of the linux community!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by grcumb ( 781340 )

          it's amazing that people are jumping on the linux bandwagon. What with the warm, welcoming, and supportive arms of the linux community!

          The warm, welcoming and supportive arms of the Linux community [sic] are generally full, and looking for a way to share the load. So when someone comes along and refuses to join unless someone else carries their burden for a while, some tend to be a bit incredulous. People who reduce the burden of others tend to be very warmly welcomed.

          This isn't a defense of the one, no

      • Re:Great, where do we sign up... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by PFI_Optix ( 936301 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:53PM (#17119976) Journal
        No offense, but why would you need training to do a job you were hired to do in the first place?

        Oddly enough, I was hired to support some 500 Windows-based PCs. I'm also the only person actively advocating the possibility of moving some of those over to Linux. For that to happen, the OTHER THREE PEOPLE IN MY DEPARTMENT would need training.

        I know, I know - it's strange when people do things of their own free will to better themselves and their prospects.

        And I'm doing that with Linux. But not everyone wants to spend the time to learn it on their own; they're happy with the status quo if they can't get a crash course in good Linux admin.

        Have you ever needed to call tech support on your IT-supported desktops for Windows?

        Yes. I've been in contact with a Microsoft rep several times about cleaning up our deployment process so that we can make better use of our time during the summer.

        If you answered "yes" for anything other than an RMA, you're either an idiot or - well, an idiot..

        Ahh, the famed friendliness of the Linux community strikes again.

        make your desktop Linux.

        Not possible. I have to use Windows-only apps and don't have the time to spend on the clock making them (maybe) work under Linux, nor can I take them home with me since they're network-based. We don't have the budget to buy me extra computers (and I'd object to tax money being spent that way anyway, it could be better used in a classroom) so I don't get any toys.

        I would prefer my children be taught on a very versatile operating system which will keep their interest

        Yet you seem determined to put me, the only FOSS-friendly voice in an entire school district, off by calling me an idiot.
        • You will never get a signoff unless you can make it work without retraining in an educational environment. The first step is, as the GP said (albeit quite rudely in general - but I often resemble that remark) to put Linux on your desktop, and get all the required programs running on it or find credible alternatives to them. If you are not willing or able to put in the effort to make that happen, how are you ever going to migrate to linux? You're going to have to put up or shut up.
        • He seems to be a portion of the segment of the Linux community that I have to resist throttling when I meet them in person.

          I also have had to call support lines before (and not always MS's) for strange problems that we had at the non-profit I worked at a few years ago. We worked with a lot of specialized programs that, shall we say, had some real issues with our switch to XP when we rolled out new desktop machines. So bad, in fact, that we were reinstalling all of the new machines with Win2k for several months until the companies who made the software figured out what the problems were and fixed them. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to work.

          We're not even going to get into the server issues. Some of those were grand fun and took entire days to figure out and I am a loooong way from being an idiot.

          For what it's worth, good luck in learning Linux. Some parts are easy, some aren't (just like any other OS). The ability to code little scripts to automate things is nice, but that doesn't help your end users a whole lot (though most end users don't need to worry about it anyway). My best advice to you would be to find the local Linux User's Group and start talking to them and going to meetings while playing around with things on a personal machine. Eventually you'll pick things up.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Critical Facilities ( 850111 )
          Don't let the blowhards get to you. Truth is, I'm still teaching myself Linux. I was first exposed to it years ago when I was pursuing ProSoft's CIW Certification (what a waste of money). Anyway, I was intrigued, but wanted a way to tinker with Linux so I could learn it at my own pace and to a greater degree than was being done in the classroom.

          I, like you, was in a position where I needed a Windows box for a variety of Windows-Only apps I was using, and for a while was quite frustrated as to how

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ArcherB ( 796902 )
      Remove the hard drives, install DVD-ROMS and burn a bunch of Live CD's.

      Granted, you won't be an expert overnight, but you won't screw anything up either! Or at least nothing that a reboot won't fix.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SnowZero ( 92219 )
      So how about it? What's a good way for us to make the leap into Linux without dropping a load of cash?

      Definitely start with the apps, which will make the underlying OS less of an issue. Switch from MS Office to OpenOffice (should get biggest money savings here), from IE for Firefox, and so on. Once all the apps are cross-platform, changing the platform will be a lot easier. Wait for an major upgrade cycle to switch the OS, where both options would require retraining anyway. Stick with XP for now, but wh
    • ``And that's not even addressing the problem of teachers who are scared enough of Windows, IE, and MS Office; it's pulling teeth to get them to use StarOffice.''

      Why would they find StarOffice (BTW: why not OpenOffice.org?) scarier than MS Office? Has somebody been telling them that teh linux iz only for teh 1337 h4x0rz?

    • Re:Great, where do we sign up... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by RAMMS+EIN ( 578166 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @05:11PM (#17120294) Homepage Journal
      ``And that's not even addressing the problem of teachers who are scared enough of Windows, IE, and MS Office; it's pulling teeth to get them to use StarOffice.''

      I think people who are scared of Windows and other proprietary software, or don't know how to use it, or computers, at all, are prime candidates for teaching free software to. It's people who are already familiar/proficient with proprietary software who have a more or less legitimate case for sticking with it.
    • You can try a live cd linux, that runs off the cdrom drive and motherboard memory.
      Mine, Rapidweather Remaster of Knoppix Linux, is designed to run well on older computers, that originally had Windows 98 on them. You can keep Windows 98, and run the live cd to try it out. I have a rather lengthy Getting Started Guide here [geocities.com], and screenshots of the linux system are below in my signature.
      An application is included to partition the Windows 98 hard drive, to provide a swap area, to improve performance.
      There's more

  • Gates kills kittens (Score:3, Funny)

    by GrayCalx ( 597428 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:20PM (#17119290)
    I'm surprised the author didn't go with the ol' "Microsoft Windows kills kittens. You don't want your OS to kill kittens... do you Timmy?"

  • The difference... (Score:5, Funny)

    by alyawn ( 694153 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:20PM (#17119306)
    Dad: "The difference is, Son, that it didn't come pre-installed."
    Son: "What does installed mean?"
    Dad: "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"
    Son: (mumbles) "I wanted a PS3 not stupid leaf-nuts...."

  • Just Wait (Score:3, Funny)

    by RAMMS+EIN ( 578166 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:21PM (#17119334) Homepage Journal
    No difference between Linux and Windows? Just wait until they use their shell scripts, customizations, and self-written software with Windows.

  • As a Microsoft fan, but a *nix user. (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I am going to be taking on a new project/job. I am a Windows Network Admin in the States. I've been asked to maintain seven orginizations that will be using some form of an Open Source OS. I'm fine with this as I also use a Mac and run most of my servers using BSD.

    They are going OSS because of the cost of licenses. This is a near 3rd world country and money doesn't come free. Even though I'm taking a 95% paycut, I plan on learning as much as I can and using what ever else is "free".

    *IF* the applicatio

  • Sheesh (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Reality Master 101 ( 179095 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .101retsaMytilaeR.> on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:25PM (#17119424) Homepage Journal
    These kind of articles are just dumb. Of course, you're not going to see issues in the first half-hour, if people are just using a browser. The issue comes when the kids wants to load on some Windows software that all their friends are using, then suddenly the operating system matters dramatically. "I put in the CD that came with my iPod, but the computer isn't working." "I got this cool game for my birthday, but it's not working."
    • > The issue comes when the kids wants to load on some Windows software that all their friends are using, then
      > suddenly the operating system matters dramatically. "I put in the CD that came with my iPod, but the computer
      > isn't working." "I got this cool game for my birthday, but it's not working."

      Yea numbnuts, you have to make sure the software is compatible with your computer. Guess what, you can't stick a Gamecube disc into a PS3 either, so what? You can't play Doom3 on that old 1999 vintage W

    • Re:Sheesh (Score:5, Insightful)

      by swillden ( 191260 ) * <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @05:15PM (#17120374) Journal

      I put in the CD that came with my iPod, but the computer isn't working.
      1. Throw the CD away
      2. Click "Add/Remove Programs" from the menu
      3. Type "ipod" in the search box
      4. Select the program it finds (rhythmbox) and install it
      5. Start rhythmbox from the menu, put songs on your iPod.

      If you think that's too hard, well, my nine year-old managed it without assistance. He's not particularly computer savvy.

      Not sure why kids would be doing any of this at school, though.

      I got this cool game for my birthday, but it's not working.

      That's a good thing, IMO. I'd think schools would agree.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by DragonWriter ( 970822 )
      The issue comes when the kids wants to load on some Windows software that all their friends are using, then suddenly the operating system matters dramatically.
      As far as school districts are concerned, that's probably another stroke in favor of Linux. They probably don't want students loading (intentionally or not) popular Windows software (including malware) onto their machines.

  • sure... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by smithcl8 ( 738234 )
    This is a great idea, but the school system is still required to buy the computers, regardless of if they have Linux or Windows. My wife teaches in Dearborn County, IN, which is in the southeastern corner of the state. To this day, they don't have a single one of these systems, nor do they have anything else instead. The teachers at her school don't have their own working computers, much less the students, as the state of Indiana doesn't push a technology agenda like the rest of the real world.

    Over

  • Way to point out the strengths... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by shrapnull ( 780217 ) * on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:27PM (#17119458)
    Let me get this straight: He claims Linux is equal to Windows by using web-based email, web-based chat clients, web-based music stations, and web-based text processing.

    I fail to see how this article has anything to do with the pro's and cons of a Linux desktop, since you can do any of those same things on any platform with a web connection and browser with a flash plugin (for pandora).

    Let's see what his 10 year old has to say about it when he wants to play the latest PC games, copy music to his iPod using iTMS, and/or run software his friends are running.

    I'm sorry, I AM a K-12 admin for a fairly large school system (10,000 desktops) and we use Windows for several non-linux bashing reasons: Exchange, AD, compatibility with other districts, and price/support to staying the course as opposed to rebuilding everything.

    My sysadmin desktop of choice? I use FreeBSD and Ubuntu with remote desktop. Just because I can handle it, doesn't mean everyone here can, especially when they use Windows at home. One thing about teachers, you don't rock their boat. Let their classroom be about them and their students and all is well.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by wfberg ( 24378 )

      Let's see what his 10 year old has to say about it when he wants to play the latest PC games, copy music to his iPod using iTMS, and/or run software his friends are running.

      Do you want kids at school to play the latest PC games, copy music and run their own software?

      I'm sorry, I AM a K-12 admin for a fairly large school system (10,000 desktops) and we use Windows for several non-linux bashing reasons: Exchange, AD, compatibility with other districts, and price/support to staying the course as opposed to reb

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ArcherB ( 796902 )
      Let's see what his 10 year old has to say about it when he wants to play the latest PC games, copy music to his iPod using iTMS, and/or run software his friends are running.

      As an school admin, you should be asking yourself if you want them doing this stuff to YOUR school computers?
      • My point is the boy (or girl?) didn't know enough about the machine yet to make a valid assertion to a preference. I'm probably one of the biggest open-source zealots I know, but that doesn't mean I think we should cram adoption down people's throats. My 3 children each run Kubuntu and love it for flash games and tux-related desktop games (we leave most gaming to the consoles at home).

        We did investigate a Linux migration in our district, but the cost of a rebuild up front is too much to handle (a very lar

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by cwgmpls ( 853876 )

      Let me get this straight: He claims Linux is equal to Windows by using web-based email, web-based chat clients, web-based music stations, and web-based text processing.

      Well, yes. A forward-thing system administrator has to be taking note of the fact that 90% of what we currently deliver to our users can be done, in some form, over the web.

      Let's see what his 10 year old has to say about it when he wants to play the latest PC games, copy music to his iPod using iTMS, and/or run software his friends are

  • all the comments... but no real thoughts? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zappepcs ( 820751 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:30PM (#17119532) Journal
    It appears that most of the /. community doesn't really remember desktop computing before, say about Windows95?
    All the derisive comments about Linux used to apply to Windows... for a very long time. One of the good things
    about that problem is that it taught many of us to work with computers, rather than simply use applications.
    Learning to use Excel or Word is not learning to use a computer. Figuring out how to run Doom on a pc is not
    learning about computers.

    Linux is a GOOD way to learn about computers... Things like network configurations and why you need them, what
    is HAL anyway? What are all those programs in the 'running processes' list? Why do I need to block ports?

    I would have thought that here on /. such things would be important... guess not

  • bad idea here... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by soapdog ( 773638 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:30PM (#17119536) Homepage
    Here in my university in Brazil, they moved all the computers to linux (fedora) and guess what, it is destroying our capacity. We're a journalism and film school, now, how can our students be eligible to internships if they don't have Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro to learn? I really like the GIMP, OO and other F/OSS initiatives, I have linux at home in one of my machines but no way the students will be able to do state-of-the-art desktop publishing and film editing using linux, that was a bad idea from the start and it's reflecting now, the last film festival promoted by our city (actually by our university) had not a single movie made by us!!! Linux simply killed our capacity to produce here...

    I'd exchange it anytime for Mac OS or Windows for doing DTP and film.

  • It's all about who run the Linuxes (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fluor2 ( 242824 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:32PM (#17119568)
    1. Make a good login. Kerberos auth to a LDAP
    2. Keep windows- and linux-passes synced to LDAP.
    3. Home folders must be auto-mounted. Same folder as in Windows.
    4. Be sure to keep the home folders fast in linux. Try DFS or similar on Windows servers to share them (Windows 2003 R2 DFS works great).
    5. Be sure to set somebody that actually know how to repackage RPM's to distribute them. You want to configure everything so it works the best way for your educational needs (plugins, settings etc).
    6. Try using the same installation procedure for both Windows and Linux, so you can change OS fast on a classroom. PXE, boot a Win-PE or similar. Symantec Ghost can be used for installing both small windows images or linux images. After imaging, be sure that the OS can configure itself automatically without any user input (e.g. get computer name from DNS etc). ...and..
    7. Do not select nerds that mostly don't like Windows to do this!

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by bockelboy ( 824282 )
      My god, if an admin can do that on a school's budget, why the hell are they working for the school?

      It's still a fairly good trick to get Windows and Linux to coexist gracefully based on Linux servers. That's worth some money.

  • Well son (Score:5, Funny)

    by ellem ( 147712 ) * <ellem52@g3.14159mail.com minus pi> on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:34PM (#17119616) Homepage Journal
    "'So Dad,' [the 10-year-old son] asked. 'What is the difference between Linux and Windows?'

    Well son the big difference is that all your friends will be playing games and posting nude videos of themselves and you'll be loading kernels and learning the intricacies of Sokoban but hey, no viruses in Pine!

  • Some quick questions on linux software (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nightspirit ( 846159 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @04:37PM (#17119674)
    Looking at the software my family uses (mom, dad, grandparents, brother, inlaws) all of them could probably switch to linux except for my brother (games). Most of the software they need seem to be:
    1) Browser (covered by linux)
    2) Email (variety of options on linux)
    3) Office (open office or something similar)
    4) IM client (is there a good linux IM client that interacts with windows messenger?)
    5) Greeting card software (anything good on the linux end?)
    6) Family tree software (same question)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jZnat ( 793348 ) *
      IM clients: Gaim, Kopete, aMSN

      Greeting card software: I'm sure there's plenty of web-based Flash ones

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by VJ42 ( 860241 )

      4) IM client (is there a good linux IM client that interacts with windows messenger?)
      Have you tried GAIM [sourceforge.net]?

  • 2007 (Score:2, Funny)

    by KingoftheAges ( 965041 )
    Maybe this is a sign that 2007 will be the year of the Linux desktop. Right?
  • The only differences my son notices between Windows and Linux are:
    1. Those internet Shockwave games only run on Windows.
    2. He can't play the Shockwave games because Windows keeps crashing.

  • Do you think this linux revival in American schools has all to do with the funding (and lack thereof)? Because linux gives two advantages: Using old hardware longer and use cheaper (note: I'm not saying free) software. I don't see any other advantages.

    ----
    How do you switch to linux? Simple: Start simple. Use it for word processing and surfing. Work from there to some more unfamiliar ground.

  • Linux for Our Kids (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mdrebelx ( 972995 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @06:00PM (#17121128)
    I have some personal insight with the kids using Linux. We have four daughters ranging from 3 to 10. All of them want to be on the computer, and particularly the Internet. Well it certainly cuts into Dad's time grinding to a new level on WoW when they want to play dress up their Stardolls or feed their Neopets. (Okay, kidding there, sort of.) To solve the never ending fight for computer time I took some old, non-XP friendly computers and installed Kubuntu. All of our computers, Kubuntu or XP, have Firefox for browsing and OpenOffice for documents. Guess what? The kids could care less which computer they use and barely even noticed a difference until I pointed it out. Our eldest looked at me when I explained she was using Linux, got a puzzled look and said "So?" Enough said. My wife has had more trouble adapting and for the most part avoids the Linux boxes only because "its different" even though she admits she can still do all the things she normally does. Exposing the kids to a variety of systems only gets them more attuned to the underlying similarities so that they are less inclined to be intimidated by something new as much of the older generations are.

  • Linux on desktops (Score:3, Informative)

    by SethBrown ( 585099 ) on Tuesday December 05, 2006 @09:17PM (#17123328) Journal
    I have no idea how education in the US works, but it seems to me that Linux would be a great benefit to schools if they used the idea of diskless workstations. It would reduce a lot of the management problems. Even if fat clients were insisted on, Linux would still be easier to manage, even remotely. In addition, Linux is also useful even if Windows is insisted on.

    In my day-to-day working environment, we use Linux on diskless workstations. We can deliver either a Windows desktop or a Linux desktop to the user, simply changing one line in a file. (The Windows desktop is provided by using rdesktop to login into Windows Terminal Server. The Windows machine itself is a virtual server running on the free VMWARE server. The VMWARE server runs on top of Slackware Linux.)

    I can see a scenario where a teacher can set up an entire classroom of diskless workstations simply by using a webform to select which environment she or he wants for the particular class. Since all configuration is done at the server, there is no need to go around to each individual workstation to install software/do upgrades etc. All software maintenance/configuration is done at the server.

    The only maintenance is of the server and the network infrastructure, not the individual workstations. And a lot of the work is already done for you by the LTSP, which has a special interest in education. It's really amazing that teachers are not aware of the wonderful work which has been done in this area.

    I remember being part of a group that got the LTSP project up and working without even reading the documentation one afternoon.

    The thing is that Linux offers the ability to do so much more for much less cost. And yes, there is a cost in training but that is true of ALL software. And the training cost is offset by the reduced maintenance cost.

    In addition, using a diskless workstation environment places control over the desktop in the hands of the system administrator, not in the hands of some virus writer.

    If diskless workstations won't cut it, you can try LiveCDs which can be customised to suit the exact needs of the educator. Try SLAX which is easily modified. The great benefit of LiveCDs is that the educator can give them out to the students. Think of having the entire course on a LiveCD which the student can take home and use for homework.

    I think people don't realise the incredible potential of Linux in education. Their previous experience with Windows, has them so shell-shocked that the mere idea of change is overwhelming. It's true that Linux has not yet been fine-tuned to meet all expectations. But with good will and elbow grease, that will change.

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